"Airplane/Airplane 2" - 06/08/03 - 06/14/03

[Morticia]

This is a thread to discuss the technical and/or thematic merits of "Airplane" and "Airplane 2".

The purpose being to foster intelligent discussion of films without resorting to "It's a piece of crap." or "It's the greatest film ever." (And so that we all can gain a bit of a film education from everyone.)

We'll discuss a new film each week. Either slade or I will post the film in this forum in advance, and lock the topic until the first day of discussion.

Thanks everyone. We are open to any ideas about running this forum.

****SPOILER WARNING**** of course this entire thread is going to be full of spoilers.

[aedavela]

"Air Israel, would you please clear the runway?"

[aintnosin]

It's probably good to review both of these since they're basically the same movie.

Airplane was the spiritual descendent of Mel Brooks movies like Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety, but itself gave birth to a whole-subgenre of "in-your-face", "everything-against-the-wall-and-hope-some-of-it-sticks" comedy.

Unfortunately, except for Police Squad, Top Secret, and the Hot Shots movies, this genre kind of ran out of steam almost as soon as it started. The first Naked Gun movie wasn't bad but it almost had too much of an actual plot to qualify for this genre of movies. Airplane 2 was a pale retread of the first, inspired only in parts (remember "I need a little breather."? ).

After that, we're left with:

• Mel Brooks' post-Spaceballs career - where he weakly imitates the very genre of comed he inspired.
• Scary Movie 1 & 2
• Spy Hard

Then the Farrely brothers took over and bodily functions became more important than puns and visual in-jokes.

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

Originally posted by aintnosin
It's probably good to review both of these since they're basically the same movie.

I can't agree with you there. Airplane was a Zucker/Abrahams production. Those guys had absolutely nothing to do with its awful sequel.

I can't really say much about Airplane II because I haven't seen it in many years (I probably won't see it anytime soon). The original is absolutely one of the finest comedies ever made. Just one joke after another for 88 minutes. The amazing thing is that almost all of the jokes work. Non-stop laugh fest.

I would recommend fans of Airplane to also check out Kentucky Fried Movie. Airplane was originally written as a short skit for Kentucky Fried Movie.

[aintnosin]

Originally posted by MurDiddlyUrdler
I can't agree with you there. Airplane was a Zucker/Abrahams production. Those guys had absolutely nothing to do with its awful sequel.

Keep reading and you'll get to the part when I declared Airplane 2 a "pale retread of the original."

When I said they were basically the same movie, I only meant that the sequel didn't have any truly original ideas but simply tried to duplicate the first almost blow by blow.

[3DMan]

Airplane! is the funniest movie ever made, to me. When I see shit like the Scary Movie series, they may be funny, but are way too specific and modern in their joke references. I mean, Airplane! spoofs genres in general. Most of it is timeless, which is why I think it is a more lasting movie. The movies that Scary Movie references I don't think will be remembered and thus Scary Movie(s) will not be. My 2 cents.

And I'd like to ask, has anyone ever been kicked in the head with an iron boot? Of course not, that never happens, it's a dumb question..skip that.

[tqpix]

I agree about Airplane 2 being a carbon copy of Airplane. It's still funny, however.

The many stars that appeared in them and the hillarious writing makes these movies must sees.

"Surely, you can't be serious."
"I am serious... And don't call be Shirley."

I only saw these two movies on TV; did I miss anything--like nudity, swearing, etc.--that could've been cut from the TV version?

I haven't seen these movies in a long time. I held off purchasing the DVDs, because I'm waiting for the special editions.

[aintnosin]

Originally posted by tqpix
I only saw these two movies on TV; did I miss anything--like nudity, swearing, etc.--that could've been cut from the TV version?

There's a quick "tit shot" while everyone is panicking after Elaine asks them if anyone knows how to fly a plane. It was rated PG after all.

[Morticia]

"Get that finger out of your ear. You don't know where that finger's been"
-- Robert Stack, "Airplane!"

This stuff was done in "Police Squad" on TV but it didn't work. Did people have to pay too much attention to enjoy it? Did the big screen and 'captive audience' let you see everything and keep your attention -- rather than doing homework or the dishes?

Some of my favorite parts of "Airplane" are the little things:

Incidental Characters -- Johnny in the control room. Has me in stitches every time. "Auntie Em! Toto! It's a twister! It's a twister!"

Oddball sight gags -- the horse in Mrs. Oveur's bed.

Elmer Bernstein's score -- The funniest part of this comedy is that it's based on the Airplane in Peril movies ("Airport", and a few more mentioned in the commentary that I can't recall) and it has such a 'serious' score written by a well-respected composer. Would a less pretentious score weaken the comedy? Since "Airplane II" had basically the same score, with "additional music" written by somebody else, I'd say yes. "AII" used "Battlestar Galactica" as a theme music but it wasn't the same.

I saw "Airplane!" in the theatre, but "Airplane II" waited till cable. I've seen them both numerous times on TV and DVD since then. Did this work better in theatres? I can watch "Airplane!" alone and still howl with laughter at Otto or the "Red Zone/White Zone" bickering. Gomez and I are constantly using "...and Leon's getting laaaarger" at opportune moments. The film we most quote may be "Young Frankenstein" but "Airplane" is a very close second. ("Mulholland Dr." may be 3rd, but that's another topic. Altogether.) um, that was a cue

I actually learned to stay and watch the credits because of "Airplane". There's some funny stuff tucked in there, and though 'regular' movies aren't quite as funny, I do learn a lot by watching them. Off the top of my head, I wonder if MST3K came up with their "stinger" idea from "Airplane!" So there.

"Airplane 2" was not from the "Airplane" crew of ZAZ, as Mur stated. This one uses a lot of the same sort of gags...

Boy: Can I ask you a question?
Striker: What is it?
Boy: It's an interrogative form of sentence, used to test knowledge. But that's not important right now.

...but they usually fall flat. William Shatner redoes the "Top Dog, Big Man, Numero Uno Honcho, Head Cheese" that Robert Stack did from the first movie. Shatner does a GREAT job of lampooning his Captain Kirk but redoing these lines that Stack did so well in the first film was ... not effective.

Effective gags in the second movie (for me) are "Danger: Vaccuum" and "Scraps is a boy dog, isn't he?". We use these a lot. And "...get that ship down and DOWN SAFE" is a great sight gag.

One 'brilliant' imdb comment suggests that because "Airplane!" was rated R that's why it was funnier than "AII". They're wrong. It's rated PG, has LESS boobies than "Airplane II", and is MUCH funnier than "Airplane II". It's all about the writing, and timing. Perhaps lightning doesn't strike twice. *KA BOOOM*

[aintnosin]

Originally posted by Morticia
This stuff was done in "Police Squad" on TV but it didn't work. Did people have to pay too much attention to enjoy it? Did the big screen and 'captive audience' let you see everything and keep your attention -- rather than doing homework or the dishes?

I think it worked, but I was paying attention.

[Morticia]

Originally posted by aintnosin
I think it worked, but I was paying attention.

Duh, me too aintnosin (I loved that show) -- but it only lasted what, 12 episodes? The general public who went to see "Airplane!" wasn't exactly making "Police Squad!" the hit show of the season. I was only speculating, as I didn't have a clue why it didn't last.

[aintnosin]

Originally posted by Morticia
Duh, me too aintnosin (I loved that show) -- but it only lasted what, 12 episodes? The general public who went to see "Airplane!" wasn't exactly making "Police Squad!" the hit show of the season. I was only speculating, as I didn't have a clue why it didn't last.

Actually, it was only six episodes.

Oh, and Paramount...

Where is the Police Squad DVD?!

[Monterey Jack]

"Flying a plane's just like riding a bike, only it's a whole lot more difficult putting trading cards in the spokes!"

[AlexJS]

Originally Posted by Morticia

Duh, me too aintnosin (I loved that show) -- but it only lasted what, 12 episodes? The general public who went to see "Airplane!" wasn't exactly making "Police Squad!" the hit show of the season. I was only speculating, as I didn't have a clue why it didn't last.

In my undergrad screenwriting class we got to watch one eposode of PS! - the one involving the orthodontist i think. My prof had a very good point - while it is funny, it only lasted a half hour so it was hard to convey any plot amid all the jokes.

The scene in the elevator is a prime example - it attempts to fill the audience in and move the story along, but there are soooo many sight gags - the cowboys-and-indians shootout, the swimming pool, etc - it's hard to follow. (The scenes with the shoeshine man did the same thing but much more effectively since there were fewer distracting jokes. )

Nutcases like me don't mind watching it over and over again, but I imagine most folks just scratched their heads and turned the channel.

[reapersaurus]

Airplane was THE BOMB when growing up.
Every kid that was anybody knew the movie, and recited the lines for years.

It's hard to get across to youngsters nowadays (*old man voice*), but back when there were very few modes of entertainment, kids grabbed on fiercely to something that resonated with them.
It's not like there was much else out there.
I'd have to put Airplane (to a lesser extent Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles) and Ghostbusters as the most influential comedies of all time for Gen-X and later Americans.

[Notoriousaurus]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

Airplane was THE BOMB when growing up.
Every kid that was anybody knew the movie, and recited the lines for years.

And don't forget top secret! another favourite!

[reapersaurus]

Top Secret was virtually unknown in my circles.
Real Genius, sure, but Top Secret didn't have nearly the kind of market penetration and lasting impact on kids that Airplane did.

Mind you, I'm completely talking out my ass here.
I'm just saying it how I remembered it.