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Surely, this movie can't be 20 years old?
It is, and don't call me Shirley!
How can it be, that time has now passed to the point where
films released in the 80's are reaching their 20-year milestones?
I know I felt old when they were promoting the re-release
of the Star Wars Trilogy as its 20th anniversary. But at least
that was a 70's movie - AIRPLANE! only makes it worse because
we're 20 years past a whole new decade.
Taking a cue from the airplane disaster movies that had been
huge in the 70s, AIRPLANE! tells the same story, sort of.
While the early Mel Brooks parodies BLAZING SADDLES and HIGH
ANXIETY can be seen as light influences on AIRPLANE!, the
film was really quite groundbreaking in its style and genre
for the time. The team of Jim Abrahams and brothers David
and Jerry Zucker, who had previously made the equally loony
KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, became pioneers of the "gag" film. This
type of film was less reliant on big set-ups for laughs and
instead threw up as many jokes on screen as the filmmakers
could possibly dream of. Some of them stuck and some of them
didn't. But more often then not, the jokes were huge laughs
and therein lies AIRPLANE's biggest on-going asset: the movie
is legitimately funny, whether you liked it or not.
With Robert Hayes, the ZAZ tam found a leading man that even
Alan Smithee would be fond of. Not until his co-starring turn
in the underappreciated 80s television classic Angie, would
he find a more commanding role that completely utilized his
comedic charms (Donna Pescow, where are you when we need you?)
Julie Hagerty, as the film's leading lady, perfects the total
ditz role while yet appearing completely in on the joke. No
one in the history of cinema has ever blown a co-pilot like
she did. But the breakout star here is Leslie Nielsen. Nielsen's
work prior to AIRPLANE! had been heavily dramatic but his
deadpan delivery of some of the film's most hilarious lines
created a career segue, which provided him with far more fame
and success than he had seen previously in his more "legitimate"
work. Throughout the 80's and into the 90's, Nielsen would
team with and without the ZAZ team for films like the NAKED
GUN series and REPOSSESSED, always providing the same stability
to the outlandish lines and premises, even if the films weren't
always as funny.
But with regards to AIRPLANE!, it is very funny and has become
a classic in every sense of the word. From the insane bickering
that the airport voiceovers do (Listen Betty, don't start
up with your white zone shit again!) to the instantly memorable
high point of a jive talkin' Barbara Billingsly, AIRPLANE!
covers the gamut of things you never thought you'd see and
hear to things you never knew you wanted to see or hear. It
started a genre of its own, but still remains the pinnacle
of that genre. I guess I picked the wrong week to stop reviewing
DVDs!
class="purple">Video: How Does The Disc Look?
This first ever widescreen release of AIRPLANE! boasts a
nice, new anamorphic transfer from the good folks at Paramount.
While keeping the 20-year-old status of the film in mind,
I was amazed at how great this looked. Colors are good with
no smearing or blooming. Detail can be a bit too soft at times,
but I think that is more in the photography than the DVD mastering.
Blacks are good and deep with generally good shadow detail
that only occasionally gets slightly muddled. The real drawback,
and it's not that big, is the film grain that is visible sporadically.
It's most noticeable when there are scene transitions or images
are superimposed, but it's rarely distracting. Edge enhancement
is minimal and the whole thing just looks really, really nice.
Especially for a (everyone cry with me now) twenty-year-old
film.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Originally released theatrically with a mono
soundtrack, this new DVD has been upgraded with a remastered
Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Don't get too excited yet. While
I found the video to be impressive, there was obviously less
that could be done with the original audio. What you essentially
get here is a limited mono soundtrack with slightly more impressive
stereo music. Surrounds are subtle to invisible, and really
only get used for musical reinforcement. The fidelity of the
track is limited and there's no low end to be found. Slight
distortion was heard but is not too bad considering. I did
manage to catch at least one discrete rear effects though,
so I guess that's something. In all, a passable remaster,
but one that is nothing to get too overly excited over. It
does the job but not much beyond that. Worrisome though is
Paramount's exclusion of the original mono track in English.
You get a French mono track, but not in English. I don't suppose
that will worry too many people though.
class="purple">Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Just like they did with the NAKED GUN films, Paramount and
the filmmakers have recorded a lively audio commentary
for the film that provides double the laughs. Although with
this commentary I found the filmmakers laughing tons more
than I was. The tracks still funny but a lot of what they
are laughing about seems known only to them. Co-writers and
directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker and producer
Jon Davison (but not the guy from That's Incredible!) all
provide their share of memories. The track's definitely funny,
I just found the NAKED GUN ones to be slightly better (What
are you going to do? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hasn't killed anyone
- yet!). Also included is the film's original theatrical
trailer in anamorphic widescreen and mono sound.
Parting Thoughts
If you love AIRPLANE! as much as I do, this review isn't
going to make a bit of difference. I think the disc is definitely
worthy of a purchase for fans. Paramount's delivered the goods
where it counts and even if the remastered sound isn't the
highlight of the disc, I commend the studio for at least giving
it the effort. Good thing we've got a gladiator movie coming
out soon, that way I can say I've seen one. Recommended.
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