An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
Writing
Joke density that rivals machine gun fire.
Acting
Leslie Nielsen's straight-faced genius rebirth.
Direction
Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker: three directors, one chaotic vision.
Director
Jim Abrahams
Robert Hays
Ted Striker
Julie Hagerty
Elaine Dickinson
Leslie Nielsen
Dr. Rumack
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Roger Murdock
Lloyd Bridges
Steve McCroskey
Peter Graves
Capt. Clarence Oveur
Robert Stack
Captain Rex Kramer
Lorna Patterson
Randy
Jill Whelan
Lisa Davis
Ann Nelson
Hanging Lady
Jim Abrahams
Religious Zealot #6
Jonathan Banks
Gunderson
Stephen Stucker
Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs
Frank Ashmore
Victor Basta
Craig Berenson
Paul Carey
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This film single-handedly killed the 1970s disaster movie genre by parodying it so perfectly that audiences could never take 'Airport' or 'The Towering Inferno' seriously again.
Leslie Nielsen was a dramatic actor for 30 years before this; the directors cast him specifically because of his serious persona. He spent the next three decades playing nothing but comedy.
US
