A contender for Greatest Comedy Ever Made, Airplane! is groundbreaking for a couple of reasons. For starters, it popularised movie spoofs, and though that's something very few may still be thankful for in the wake of all the Scary and Epic Movies, Airplane! also introduced a wide audience to a form of straight-faced, satirical comedy that still reigns today. Like so many comedies, not every joke in Airplane! hits, but those that miss are swiftly forgotten thanks to the next barrage of sight gags, one-liners or bouts of ingenious wordplay. The film also warrants praise for giving dramatic actor Leslie Nielsen's career a second wind by transforming him into a deadpan comedy star for the ages. Resembling a live action cartoon, Airplane! is so hugely inventive and full of rapid-fire quippery that you get the feeling the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team only never topped their debut because they crammed decades of saved material into its running time. Repeated watches are for those jokes you missed the first time because you were too busy laughing.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
