10 Film Parodies Better Than The Original

3. Airplane

Original Movie: Zero Hour

From one Leslie Nielson classic to another, Airplane is a lot a like The Naked Gun they both have that fast-paced comedic style and they’re both directed by the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams. But Airplane might just be a little bit better, partly because it came out first meaning it was more ground-breaking than its spiritual sequel and partly because its one of the only parody movies to become more well known than the film its parodying.

Zero Hour came out in 1957 and has almost the exact same plot as Airplane. I’ve never seen it and I’m willing to bet you haven’t either. So that begs the question how good is a parody movie that its still funny even if you haven’t seen the film its parodying? The answer phenomenal and that’s exactly what Airplane is.

It’s a masterpiece of comedy with endlessly quotable lines. The main characters drinking problem and Leslie Nielsen’s dead pan delivery are just a few of the classic moments that stand out in this film. Yes, the tone of the movie is cheesy and juvenile and while that may be a criticism of a lesser film Airplane is quite often at its funniest when its being cheesy and juvenile.