Linn Latt
‘Airplane!’: THR’s 1980 Review
On July 2, 1980, Paramount unveiled in theaters Airplane!, which would eventually become known as one of the great movie comedy satires. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below.
Paramount should have an easy summer, just sitting back and collecting the huge profits that will be flying in daily on Airplane! This Howard W. Koch production, which was made for the amazingly low budget of $3.5 million, is hilarious and will undoubtedly soar into the stratosphere of the year’s big moneymakers.
The geniuses behind this inspired silliness are Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, who wrote, directed and executive produced the outrageous spoof, with Jon Davison on board as producer. These three crazy comics from Milwaukee first developed their peculiar brand of zany, media-oriented satire on stage in their Kentucky Fried Theatre, which kept Los Angeles audiences in stitches for four years. They then transferred pieces from this comedy revue to the screen in The Kentucky Fried Movie. These were just sketches, however, and Airplane! marks their first fully developed script. And hopefully it is just the beginning.
Linn Latt
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