![]() ![]() In our current cultural climate, it would be easy to put “Airplane!” on a no-fly list of offensive films for its depiction of women, minorities and so much more. Had the ZAZ team chosen to focus on certain people or groups more than others, an argument could be made that it had an agenda.īeyond “Airplane!,” ZAZ collectively made one TV show (the short-lived but brilliant “Police Squad!” that later begat the hit “Naked Gun” movies) and two more hilarious films, “Top Secret!” and “Ruthless People.” They captured lightning in a bottle for a time, then each went on to make their own successful films, including “Hot Shots!,” later “Scary Movie” sequels and “Ghost.” But the movie doesn’t revel in its satire either. By the end, no character is left unscathed, even the ones we’re rooting for. When a passenger asks Elaine for some “light” reading material, she hands out a leaflet of famous Jewish sports legends. ![]() Indeed, “Airplane!” still works so well because the openly Jewish trio shamelessly spoofs its wide range of targets, including Jews, without cruelty. The jokes piled up quickly and audiences had to ride the joke flow, expecting the unexpected. It's now no secret that the ZAZ team lifted the basic plot and entire exchanges from “Zero Hour!,” the 1957 thriller they were satirizing (the ZAZ team bought the remake rights for “Zero Hour!” to be safe) and cribbed ideas from “Airport 1975.”īut however derivative any one frame of film footage was, ZAZ revolutionized movies by crafting a comedy that made you laugh because some aspects felt inappropriate, others broached edgy topics, and others still seemed illogical but somehow worked. In his original three-star review of “Airplane!,” Roger Ebert found that the film “compensates for its lack of original comic invention by its utter willingness to steal, beg, borrow and rewrite from anywhere.” But the point is that it was original in how it created a unique mix of such elements with rapid-fire glee. And then there was the witty word play: "Surely you can't be serious?" “I am serious - and don’t call me Shirley.” And yes, coming at the beginning of the ’80s, it delved into gratuitous nudity and cursing, though it stopped short of totally overplaying its hand. This was a topsy-turvy world where the roughest bar brawlers are feisty Girl Scouts, a military commander fights his way through religious recruiters at LAX, and a Boeing 747 sign features “no smoking” and “no screwing” light displays.
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