9pm Saturday AIRPLANE! - 1980 PG Comedy/Drama
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must land a commercial airplane full of passengers safely.
This parody comedy takes shots at disastrous movies that were released in the 70s. When the passengers and crew of a jet are incapacitated due to food poisoning, a rogue pilot with a drinking problem must cooperate with his ex-girlfriend turned stewardess to bring the plane to a safe landing.
Ted Striker, a former pilot haunted by a WWII trauma and a broken heart, boards a flight to win back his ex-flame, Elaine Dickinson. However, his plans are quickly derailed when an in-flight food poisoning outbreak incapacitates the crew and most passengers. With the plane careening out of control, Striker must overcome his fear of flying and pilot the plane to safety with the help of a gruff air traffic controller.
Starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lloyd Bridges.
TRIVIA
- Bridges was initially reluctant to take his role in the movie, but his sons persuaded him to do so.
- Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and Leslie Nielsen were cast because of their reputation for playing no-nonsense characters. Until this movie, these actors had not done comedy so their straight-laced personas and deadpan delivery amplified the satire, making it both poignant and hilarious.
- Aeromexico was the only airline to buy the movie for their in-flight entertainment.
- The "I gotta get out of here!" scene where a stewardess tries to calm down a hysterical passenger was actually improvised on the spot.
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