Which movie has not only got the greatest number of jokes in it, but also the greatest number of gags that work, and not just the half arsed ones shoved in there for filler?
It's Airplane! of course, the directing debut team of David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams. An ever so straight faced spoof of the melodrama Zero Hour, Airplane! takes nearly every Airport gag in the book and spits them back out at you at an alarming rate. Robert Hayes and Julie Haggerty make excellent leads (Hayes deadpan exclamation directly to camera, "What a pisser!" is my favorite moment in the movie) but it's the hiring of established 60's movie stars Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and the never-better Leslie Neilson, all with their deadpan but cheesy deliveries, that pushes this into genius territory. A special mention must go to Stephen Stucker's camp Control Tower operative Johnny who nearly steals the whole show.
If it wasn't for the genius of John Landis, Airplane! would be my favorite comedy ever.
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