Have You Seen: Airplane! (1980)

In our series "Have You Seen?" we discuss a movie that some of us know well and others have just now seen for the first time. Our conversation focuses on the experience of someone watching the movie for the first time today and their reaction.
This week we revisit "Airplane!" from 1980 starring Leslie Nielsen and Julie Hagerty, in which we talk about our favourite gags, why the humor in Airplane! has held up more than 40 years later, and why comedies today aren't as funny.
#firsttimewatching #airplane #airplanemovie

[@dennydowling2169]

Airplane isof its time so many of the jokes will not be fully understood by a modern audience

[@EyeofTheStormMoviePodcast]

There’s a few jokes like that but most are more universal which is why I think it’s found a new audience on Tiktok, Shorts and such much like Family Guy.

[@dennydowling2169]

@ hard to explain Jim never vomits at home if you don’t know the reference. Everything related to Barbara Billingsley t requires a a faitly fetailed explanation as to who she is and why it’s funny.

[@EyeofTheStormMoviePodcast]

@@dennydowling2169 The Hare Krishna joke is also dated because that's not really a thing anymore. But by volume most of the jokes are pretty universal I think. And there are so many that it doesn't matter if you don't get a couple.

[@therealjamesbaker9138]

The remake of Naked Gun is also mentioned. I for one won’t be watching it. Doesn’t translate well to 2025 tastes. It will either be about a minute long or it won’t be funny. Extremely unlikely to be anywhere near the level of the original. Another movie which should be left well alone….

[@KingInJello]

Naked Gun is mostly slapstick and absurdism, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work today. Whether people will show up for a straight comedy is another issue.

[@therealjamesbaker9138]

Airplane is an all-time classic. Unfortunately it’s not DEI/woke-friendly and would never get made in 2025, not a snowball in Hell’s chance. Hopefully they don’t ruin its legacy by remaking it. Airplane 2 is mentioned here. There is actually a sequel - which came out 2 years after the original. However the humour is lost, one movie was enough and it falls well short of the standards of the original. It’s really something for completists & due-hard fans…