AIRPLANE (1980) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | MOVIE REACTION 

From those of us in the comments, I just wanted to say good luck, and we're all counting on you.

You skipped the little girl coffee scene. One of my favorite parts.

14:30.....That's the real Ethel Merman, folks. She was a famous Broadway performer, but she was also in films and television.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop watching airplane! Reactions…

If you would had watched to the end of the ending credits, you would see what happened to the guy waiting in the taxi cab

26:29. He said "altogether".....so they said it altogether. 😁

Leslie Nielsen is surely a comic legend and don't stop here. And don't call me Shirley...

It's a shame that this generation doesn't get all the jokes, especially the Ethel Merman joke. Ethel was one of the legends of Broadway, film and TV in her era. That he thinks he's Ethel Merman and it cuts to Ethel Merman in the bed, singing, had us rolling when we were kids. Same with the Native Tribe when Stryker was showing the leader how to shake hands. When the leader holds out his hands and Stryker slaps them...that was a thing back then. It was an alternative greeting to a handshake and was used most often in sports competitions. "Gimme Five!" was a phrase that went along with it. Eventually, this gesture graduated to the HIGH FIVE, which still exists to this day.

I don't think anyone ever considered this controversial when it first came out. We weren't worried much about things like that. It was funny or not. Complete stop.

Jimmy Walker the Airplane window washer was a very funny guy. He is famous for saying Dyn-o-mite !! This movie is a parody on a lot of older movies and commercials.

The opening was a "Jaws" parody. Many of the jokes you won't get because they were topical at the time this was made. Many of the actors in this were dramatic and were making their comedic debuts. The "coffee" lady did a commercial thinking the same thought in it. The Mayo Clinic is a famous clinic here. This was the last movie to have a PG rating. It was replaced with PG13. Most of the dialog is from the movie "Zero Hour".

You didn't show the part where Barbra Billingsley talks jive to the two black guys. It's hilarious because Barbra played the mother on "Leave it to Beaver" a 50's sitcom where she plays a typical 1950's mother of 2, very prim and proper.

I saw this with my Dad, a long time airline employee. He immediately picked up the sound that the airplane made is that of a propeller driven aircraft!

This movie is definitely in my top 3 comedy movies! There are so many quotable lines from this movie! An absolute classic imo!

I saw this opening night in 1980 when I was 13 years old in a packed theater. I don’t think I have ever heard such loud sustained laughter in my entire life before or since.😂

Not sure if you could handle it, but Blazing Saddles has a lot of funny stuff.

With a movie like Airplane, there are jokes coming at you left and right, so you really have to pay close attention (and not talk over the dialogue), otherwise you'll miss a lot of the jokes.

"It's an entirely different kind of flying.... All together." "It's an entirely different kind of flying."

Watching Millie being horrified at some of the jokes was funny. This is actually a loose parody of a movie called "Zero Hour" with some other bits thrown in. classic!!

The fact that the automatic pilot gets his own credit as “Otto”!!

If you guys liked this, you'll love the TV show _Police Squad!_ Or _The Naked Gun_ movies.

I'll second whoever pointed out that nothing was controversial at the time. People had honest senses of humor and didn't censor themselves

The George Zip jokes were referencing a famous old movie about Knute Rockne who coached the Notre Dame football team. A player named Gipp gave them a pep talk before the big game and told them to "go out and win one for the gipper"

It's full of well done goofiness.

It is based off a 1950s film that is a drama about a plane in trouble. This movie is really a parody of that film. The little old lady that would not take a drink is a dead ringer for the woman in that film.

The heart patient was a semi regular, who became a regular (and one of the main characters) on the show The Love Boat.

If you enjoyed this one there are similar types of jokes in *(The Naked Gun)* Starting *Leslie Nelson* who played the "Doctor" in *(Airplane)*

Today, pilots and copilots cannot eat the same meal.

They're not going to get some of the visual jokes that most Americans are going to get. The tail of the plane in the clouds, combined with the music, is like the Shark in Jaws. The guy taking off his metal arm is like 'the one armed man" in the movie The Fugitive, and so on. There is going to be several more they won't understand.

James asked if the guy playing the co-pilot was the basketball player, yes that is Kareem Abdul -Jabbar (former name Lew Alcindor), who played for Milwaukee Bucks then Los Angeles Lakers teams. 🏀

Did anyone notice that the jet engines sound is propeller engines?

This film was produced by brothers David and Jerry Zucker. The woman on the plane that kept trying to put on her makeup and smearing it all over her face was their mom.

It broke my heart when Millie said "Are we aloud to laugh?" YES ........if it's funny you can laugh......don't worry about what other people think.

You have to watch it at least twice more to catch all the jokes. This one is shooting jokes like a machine gun. Impossible to catch them all in 1 go.

This was not typical of 1980s comedy. That’s why it stood out. There was nothing else like it at the time.

Not a controversial movie. We were more inclusive of jokes back then. Lots of cultural references from American sports, television, music, and movies here. Got to be pretty old to catch them all now. Not many know who Ethel Merman and Barbara Billingsley are today.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people laugh less at the funniest movie of all time.

This movie is almost a scene-for-scene spoof on the 1957 movie, Zero Hour. There are several RU-vid episodes comparing the two side by side and some of the comedy in this movie makes a lot more sense if you see that. Also some elements of another disaster movie, Airport. ---- When the plane starts off, it satires a well-known (at the time) 1944 wartime movie, Since You Went Away. A soldier is saying goodbye to his girl at the train station, the conductor comes up in his railroad garb, pulls out his pocket watch and says "Better get on board, son." The breaks away from his girl's embrace and get onto the train, standing in the vestibule between coaches, with the top of the dutch door open. The locomotive starts to slowly pick up speed as indicated by the tempo of the chugging noise (as does the airplane), but the two lovers continue talking. He throws his watch to her as a parting reminder. She then has to start running, almost bumping into several station lampposts. You can watch just this scene on RU-vid: Since You Went Away, chasing the train ---- Movies spoofed: Jaws (opening scene) Saturday Night Fever (bar scene dance) From Here to Eternity (embracing on the beach) (Also spoofed in Shrek 2) The Godfather (horse in the bed/severed horsehead in the bed)

You can always tell which reactors have never seen Jaws.

I'm just starting to watch but I fear a lot of the humor will go over your heads. A lot of the jokes are based on 70's American pop culture including television and commercials of the time. Even young Americans don't get a lot of the jokes.

Growing up watching this movie, I had to watch it a few times to get the hundreds of the smaller details worked into the movie along the way. It took me the second time to realize that there was propeller sounds when they showed the 'jet' plane flying. The Pilot (Peter Graves was in the famous American TV series, 'Mission Impossible' and his brother James Arness was a famous cowboy actor who starred in the TV series 'Gunsmoke'). The Doctor is a very serious actor and starred in the movie 'The Poseidon Adventure'. Rex Kramer was played by classic actor Robert Stack, and McCroskey was played by great American Actor Lloyd Bridges, who has two famous sons Jeff and Beau, and lastly, L.A. Lakers and Basketball great Kareem Abdul Jabbar. But in the end, it was a movie for the times (1980s), so most of the comedy was from/for that era. But I hope that comedy like this is still universal.

The radar range gag was about microwave ovens that were based on radar technology. For many years in the US at least, microwave ovens were advertised as "radar range" ovens.

A lot of famous actors, slapstick, references to social and cultural events and other movies.

*#FYI** Always watch the credits especially on comedies (You can delete them in editing if there's nothing there.* (In this one that guy is still sitting in the cab)

The opening is a parody of The Jaws and the suit he wore is a reference to another movie Saturday Night Fever

That ominous music in the beginning is the theme from "Jaws". Hence the airplane tail playing sharkfin through the clouds.

You guys missed the post-credits scene! 😂

I think you guys might have just won the award for the most missed jokes haha. Anyhow, keep up the good work. 🙂

This movie was not controversial in 1980. All people under 40 would think something like this would be controversial.

It's hard for people to review this movie on youtube because every time you make a comment you miss a joke. They're literally one right after the other.

One of the guys playing a Hare Krishna on the plane later became famous as “Joe Isuzu”, selling Isuzu cars in TV commercials.

You missed it, after the credits you'll see the guy in the cab one last time

Trivia: Robert Stack (Rex) did all his own stunts when walking into the airport and 'fighting' all those people.

26:37 lmao this joke is about the difference between "altogether" (meaning "entirely") and "all together" (meaning, to say something as a group at the same time). lmao 🙂

I think the funniest part of this reaction is watching these young kids completely miss all the topical gags. 😂

Barbara Billingsley (Mrs. Cleaver in “Leave it to Beaver”) was pure magic. “I speak jive.”

Back in the 1970s, there were a bunch of religious sects that would approach people with "free" flowers, fully expecting to be paid for them. They were quite annoying. The Jive lady was beloved TV actress, Barbara Billingsley, who played the mom on Leave It To Beaver. She and the two black men worked out what to say in Jive. They became fast friends and remained so for the rest of her life. She said that this movie rejuvenated her career. The "glue sniffer" was Lloyd Bridges, father of Jeff and Beau Bridges. He initially didn't want to do the movie because he was a well known "serious" actor. His sons convinced him to do the movie and it rejuvenated his career as well because he was brilliant at comedy. He was also in the Hot Shots movies. This movie is a parody of the rash of disaster movies in the 1970s, like the Airport movies.

One of my all time favorite movies of all time. I still use some of the jokes from the movie.

If there is a world record for most uses of "oh my days," James might have challenged it in this reaction. I noticed that Millie was trying not to laugh and only partially succeeding at the scene of the woman passenger getting slapped. I read that the actress suggested they (pretend to) hit her more.

19:28.......The co-pilot is played by Kareem Abdul-Jabar, a famous basketball player.

I guess you two haven’t seen Jaws yet.

This movie actually has several famous actors/ celebrities, you might want to look them up. I would recommend using the closed caption/ subtitles all movies before 2000. The sound can be tricky on some TVs.

So you guys haven't seen JAWS? And btw airports were really like this in the early 80's, moonies in robes trying to pin flowers on you, and the coffee jokes were because of a series of popular coffee commercials then. The beach scene was spoofing a famous movie "From Here to Eternity". The pilot was from a famous series Mission Impossible and was the brother of the guy who played Matt Dillon in the long running western Gunsmoke.

George Zipp and the Doctor's pep talk were a parody of Ronald Reagan's (presidential candidate when movie came out) character George Gipp in "Knute Rockne All American" (1939) along with other Reagan references. Fun reaction video! tupperware trivia: after the War, Tupperware purchased the former Royal Ordnance Factory munitions factory near Wigan UK in the late 50s. After the movie was released, Tupperware ceased manufacturing in Wigan around early 80s but the original factory building is still in use as a carpet manufacturer.

Watching Airplane? "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you." 😅

There are already so many 'in jokes' that these reactors (and many others) don't "get" because the references are over 40 years old. BUT... I'm convinced that if audiences re-watch this film (and the NAKED GUNs, etc) then research skits and dialog, they can learn more of those lost references and enjoy the films all the more.

There are so many references from the time period that are simply impossible for you 2 to understand in their hilarity. The plane fin in the beginning, for instance, is a parody of the blockbuster movie Jaws. So many more as well.

The opening scene and music where you see the tail of the jet going back and forth through the clouds is a homage to the 1975 movie Jaws. The whole movie is one comedic gag after another. A couple of the things you may not have picked up on: (And there are probably more) The man in the door opening yelling, "Goodbye darling," and the sound of the plane was actually the sound of a train pulling away from the station. The sound of the plane engines while in flight are of propeller engines and not jet engines. The disco scene in the bar is a homage to the movie Saturday Night Fever.

Almost no one gets the “it’s a totally different kind of flying altogether” joke.

I love Airplane! Hearing you say you've never heard of the movie makes me feel ancient,I saw it in the theater in 1980. Here's some trivia for you. The announcers who argue over the airport intercom were a real married couple who actually made the announcements at LAX at the time. The two guys in the "Where's the forklift" scene are David,and,Jerry Zucker,two of the directors of the movie. The Mayo Clinic is a real highly respected medical research clinic. The joke was just the jars of mayonnaise is the background. Although the plane is a jetliner,every shot of the plane flying uses the sound of a prop plane. Kareem Abduhl-Jabbar was in fact a(VERY) famous basketball player for the Lakers. The song Staying Alive was slightly sped up for the movie. Most assume Airport! was a parody of the series of disaster movies Airport in the 70s ,but was actually an almost shot for shot remake of the 1957 film Zero Hour. Someone has actually edited a side by side comparison which can be found on RU-vid. I could go on forever,but,I'll stop.

Sadly, the movie theater I saw this in with my brother, sister and my brother's friend when I was 15 has given way to an entirely new shopping center...altogether...

25:21 when Rex walks _through_ the mirror…

It's an entirely different kind of reaction. Altogether.

Good thoughts! Can't wait until you're back with us, again! We miss you!

I Love this movie . it was groundbreaking when it came out with all serious actors in comedic roles

You have to watch the entire movie. You have to watch the credits and read each line. There are jokes within the closing credits plus one additional scene.

Hello from America, James and Millie. Love your reactions. This movie is a classic spoof of the 70s disaster movies directed by Irwin Allen. The nun with the guitar was Maureen McGovern, who sang the radio version of "The Morning After," which was the famous song from "The Poseidon Adventure," an early major disaster movie by Allen. Leslie Nielsen (the doctor) was the captain of the ship in that movie. You may want to check out the six-episode long "Police Squad" and/or the Naked Gun movies. And back to this movie, the Ethel Merman cameo at 14:17 was her last movie appearance, and it was a great one!

Now you need to watch Saturday Night Fever, with John Travolta. You will get the dance scene

This is a parody of an old 40s film starring Dana Andrews. It was a drama with exactly the same plot. Even the names of the characters were the same.

NAKED GUN is similar & stars Leslie Nielson (The Doctor in Airplane). Absurd comedy GOLD!!!!

This was hilarious watching your reaction to this American Classic for those who are fans of this type of comedy.

The joke about the Ronald Reagan film was in the movie as well as the George Zip gag. Was because at the time Ronald Reagan was president of the US before being president he was governor of California and before that he was an actor. That played a dying football star names George Ghip. Who told the Dr. just before he died. The character tells the Dr to tell the teammates to "just win one more for the ghipper"

As a Chef I carved Prime Rib for Sunday night buffet, when the Pilot came through I mentioned the Co-Pilot had Prime Rib on his plate & the Pilot & Co-Pilot are not allowed to eat the same meal. He reminded me I was a passenger on the outbound flight & if I poisoned both of them, I was going down with the plane. Pilot: "I'll take my chances, put med-rare on the plate."

Highly recommend Top Secret. The best of the genre imo.

This is a different type of movie for you two.... altogether.

Have y’all seen Jaws? The opening plays off the Jaws theme and the tail of the jet is supposed to look like a shark’s fin.

I think these reactors missed many of the jokes. lol

Didn’t even notice the propeller noise coming from a jet 😂

First time I saw this movie was in December, 1978. I remember because my youngest son was 3 months old and his dad didn't want to leave him to go to the movies. He stayed stone faced through the whole movie. I, on the other hand, laughed so hard I missed half the jokes and had to go for a 2nd viewing. Much of this you probably can't relate to because it was based on current topics. Example, the guy left in the taxi was Howard Jarvis, a California lawmaker who authored CA Prop 13 that put limits on property tax. Still funny to me after all these years .

Read the IMDB trivia for this movie and watch the post credit scene regarding the cab rider. A lot of jokes are geared to US people from the past (like me). This makes the movie even more hilarious, even today. You may have been surprised at what they got away with as a PG movie - however, there was no PG-13 at the time and PG was quite a wide rating. R was used for outright sex and graphic violence. As for the "brakes" on the plane, that's not how a plane decelerates. A plane is heavy and requires full thrust and proper flaps to gain the proper wing shape for lift. Once on the ground, simply stop applying thrust and the massive jet will roll to a stop on its own. In some airports, thrust is used to taxi to the gate, while others are towed. Engines may remain running to generate power for lights and other electrical services.

The make-up woman was the mother to the Zucker brothers they were 2 of the 3 directors…

Ever seen The Kentucky Fried Movie? Probably 90% of the jokes will go over your heads, but it is freaking hilarious. “Zinc Oxide and You” is still used as ~code~ for those of us who are of a ~certain~ age.

Have you seen Mel Brooks' comedy films? He'd pick a movie genre (say, horror) & write a parody of a movie in that genre (generic Frankenstein) while packing in everything & anything that fits the genre & setting. One warning: Robin Hood: Men in Tights is based directly on the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring an actor who didn't even try for an English accent, hence comedy Robin's quip that he can speak with an English accent. And his scifi parody is not directly based on Star Wars. The characters are only loosely inspired by the ones in the 1977 movie; and there's no Luke character. The movie, made with the consent of George Lucas, jokes about merchandizing, because Lucas feared buyers would get Spaceballs merch confused with his universe; & the Han Solo parody is dressed like Indiana Jones as part of the same agreement. (It also helps to be somewhat familiar with scifi movies from the 60s & 70s, since there are a lot of references that are visual jokes.)

Seriously, it's 2024 and it's their first time seeing this iconic comedy? Wow!!

Gotta love the flight plan: Chicago to Atlanta, via Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.

It's good to see people still enjoying this even when they are too young to catch 35% of the gags. The references to commercials and old movies are nonstop. The actors were mostly famous for straight, noncomedy roles and told to play it that way. Just their being who they were in a movie of this caliber was humorous. Airports later disallowed Chrisnas and Moonies from begging near the ticket areas. (One time my brother and I were flying and he took a flower from one of these guys at a fast pace. He later gave it to the flight attendant and she got all flustered and spilled a drink on him.) The airport at LAX had a very annoying repeated message telling drivers not to park near the drop off area with one male and one female voice alternating. The jive talking bros were assisted by the actress Barbra Billingsly who was the mother in Leave It To Beaver, a very straight-laced role. The slap of the native was a standard meeting that later became the high five but back them one would precent his hands, palms up for the other to slap down on as a greeting. just a few run on facts

Shirley knew you 2 would really enjoy this movie 😎

At ~14:58. She's not really playing that guitar, it's an overdub. I play guitar and her fingers are nowhere close to what's actually being played lol

I remember all the other movies this movie spoofed. It's even funnier if you saw those movies first.

You really should watch the classic 70s disaster films to truly get some of the jokes.