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Airplane!

Airplane!

Comedy · 1980

An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.

Movie details

Airplane!

“What's slower than a speeding bullet, and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound?”

1980 Comedy 1h 28m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Airplane!?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Comedy · 1987

An irritable marketing executive, Neal Page, is heading home to Chicago for Thanksgiving when a number of delays force him to travel with a well meaning but overbearing shower curtain ring salesman, Del Griffith.

Top Secret!

Top Secret!

Comedy · 1984

Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Comedy · 1986

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

Airheads

Airheads

Comedy · 1994

The Lone Rangers have heavy-metal dreams and a single demo tape they can't get anyone to play. The solution: Hijack an FM rock radio station and hold the deejays hostage until they agree to broadcast the band's tape.

Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire

Family · 2019

A crew of rugged firefighters meet their match when attempting to rescue three rambunctious kids.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Comedy · 1999

When diabolical genius Dr. Evil travels back in time to steal superspy Austin Powers's ‘mojo,’ Austin must return to the swingin' '60s himself - with the help of American agent, Felicity Shagwell - to stop the dastardly plan. Once there, Austin faces off against Dr. Evil's army of minions to try to save the world in his own unbelievably groovy way.

Happy Gilmore 2

Happy Gilmore 2

Comedy · 2025

Happy Gilmore isn't done with golf — not by a long shot. Since his retirement after his first Tour Championship win, Gilmore returns to finance his daughter's ballet classes.

Boeing, Boeing

Boeing, Boeing

Comedy · 1965

Living in Paris, journalist Bernard has devised a scheme to keep three fiancées: Lufthansa, Air France and British United. Everything works fine as long as they only come home every third day. But when there's a change in their working schedule, they will be able to be home every second day instead. Bernard's carefully structured life is breaking apart

Mayday

Mayday

Action · 2026

When a U.S. Navy pilot on a top-secret mission during the Cold War gets trapped behind enemy lines, his only chance at survival is to form an alliance with an eccentric ex-KGB agent.

Hot Shots!

Hot Shots!

Action · 1991

The gang that created Airplane! and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this spoof. Topper Harley is a talented but unstable fighter pilot with an axe to grind: clearing the family name. His mission is to avenge his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers. He also gets involved in a relationship with Ramada Thompson, a woman with an unusually talented stomach. Hot Shots! makes fun of a variety of other films, from Dances with Wolves to The Fabulous Baker Boys.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jim Abrahams · Jerry Zucker · David Zucker

Written by

David Zucker · Jim Abrahams · Jerry Zucker

Robert Hays

Robert Hays

Ted Striker

Julie Hagerty

Julie Hagerty

Elaine Dickinson

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen

Dr. Rumack

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Roger Murdock

Lloyd Bridges

Lloyd Bridges

Steve McCroskey

Peter Graves

Peter Graves

Capt. Clarence Oveur

Robert Stack

Robert Stack

Captain Rex Kramer

Court is in session

Put Airplane! on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Arthouse Gremlin

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.