Obviously a comedy classic (the American Film Institute says so!), this 1980 film from the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker still remains the base of the spoof comedy genre that became more popular with the introduction of the team's "Naked Gun" series (and Leslie Neilsen movies in general). It later evolved (although some may question the use of the word "evolved" with "spoof comedy" in the same sentence) into the kind of slapstick that the Farrelly brothers have made popular with "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary".

The film does back itself up with a plot about a former pilot(Robert Hayes) trying to get back together with his former girlfriend, but the main reason to watch the movie is the sheer volume of sight gags and various verbal jokes that are thrown out. Whether they work or not, the effort isn't lost on the audience. Some of the jokes that don't work are almost funny on their own because they're so absurd. Some of the jokes seem a bit dated at this point (20 years later), but the majority of them still are able to pull a solid laugh or two.

The acting is certainly not great, but captures the silly nature of the overall movie pretty well, and keeps the comedy flowing. At this point, comedy has advanced and become something rather different than "Airplane", but still, the film deserves notice as one of the more successful comedies in recent years.

The DVD

VIDEO: Paramount has done as good as they probably could with the film's low-budget look and the film's age. There are times when sharpness is not as strong - the picture appears noticably soft at times, but I didn't find this to be a major distraction. Detail is okay as well. Some scenes that are dimly lit seem murky and not very well-defined.

Colors are not terribly enjoyable, and the picture as a whole seems a little washed out looking, with no strong colors to be found, leaving the presentation looking bland. Considering the age of the movie, print flaws aren't too bad. Some marks and slight scratches appear at times, but these seemed pretty much few and far between. A slight bit of pixelation and shimmer comes up in a few scenes. Grain is visible, but remains pretty light.

Keeping in mind that "Airplane" is and never was the most visually stunning motion picture, I think that Paramount has done as good as they can do with the film. A few minor bumps now and then, but this is probably the best looking edition on video now.

SOUND: The film's original mono soundtrack has been remastered here to Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and with the film's age and limited budget, there's not too much gained here. The music becomes a little bit more lively, but the quality of the audio still remains rather thin and flat. Surrounds very rarely come into play, but they are used appropriately. Of course, the fact that Paramount has taken the effort and time to remaster the original mono track is appreciated..

MENUS: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds.

EXTRAS:

Commentary: This is a commentary from producer Jon Davison, writer/director Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker and David Zucker. Although the commentary isn't as funny as their commentary tracks for the "Naked Gun" movies, I suppose the group can be forgiven due to the fact that this movie is now 20 years old. It's actually pretty remarkable about what they do remember as they go through the list of studios that they pitched the film to before finally settling on Paramount early in the discussion.

It's one of those commentaries where one of the group mentions something, and then the rest of the group lock into that topic and go onwards with it. There's only one point where the group goes into silence, but the rest of the track is filled with lively and often hilarious chat about the making of the movie. Again, it's not quite as funny as the "Naked Gun" commentaries, but it's certainly much funnier than any of the Farrelly Brothers commentaries. I have no trouble with the Farrelly Brothers films, which are certainly funny - but they could learn a lot about doing a commentary from listening to this track.

Trailer: The film's original trailer is included.

Final Thoughts: Paramount has put effort into making the low-budget "Airplane" look and sound as good as it can; the commentary also offers another nearly hour and a half of laughs, as well. Recommended. lt