AIRPLANE! (1980) Movie Reaction! | First Time Watch! | Robert Hays | Leslie Nielsen | Julie Hagerty

Comments · 1K

• ST

  @stonecoldku4161 · 10 months ago

  The White Zone and Red Zone PA announcers were the actual PA announcers for LA International Airport, and they were married in real life.

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• CH

  @chijamie64 · 10 months ago (edited)

  Barbara Billingsley was the old lady speaking jive.  She played the mother in the 1950's TV series "Leave It to Beaver", and was the epitome TV mom of the perfect, all white, American nuclear family, which is why this scene is so great. This movie revived her career.  The producers initially offered the bit role to Harriet Nelson (another white TV mom from the 50's). She turned the role down, then after the success of the movie (featuring Barbara), she allegedly said it was the biggest mistake she ever made.

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• HO

  @horseshoe2blah201 · 10 months ago

  The longest running joke in the movie is the background noise of the engine's propellers.  It is a jet engine plane.

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• MR

  @mrprez74 · 10 months ago

  I love that someone finally recognized Jimmie Walker aka JJ Evans!😃

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• FA

  @farristhompson1757 · 10 months ago

  Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit watching Airplane! reactions.

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• MO

  @MoMoMyPup10 · 10 months ago

  You both saying "Kareem!" at the same has got to be an all-time highlight from the 8 million reactions I've watched. Cool to see not one, but both guys know who he is.

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• JO

  @johnallen4465 · 10 months ago

  This movie was revolutionary cause those older actors were only ever in serious dramas so people had never seen them in a comedy like this. Also the man who checks the microwave was Mike from Breaking Bad.

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• FA

  @Fast_Eddy_Magic · 10 months ago

  They knew Ethel Mermen!?!? 👍

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• DA

  @DavidStebbins · 10 months ago

  You were absolutely right that the directors/writers wanted actors to play it straight. That's specifically why they hired the four older male actors (Peter Graves - Captain Oveur, Lloyd Bridges - Chicago Airport Manager Steve McCrosky, Leslie Nielsen - Doctor Rumack, and Robert Stack - Rex Cramer). They had all had long careers as leading men in dramatic and action movies, but hadn't done comedy, so they were perfect straight men. Leslie Nielsen was so good it lauinched an entire second career for him in comedy movies. Some other trivia: the older lady who 'speaks Jive' is Barbara Billingsley who played the completely iconic American Mom in the 50s and 60s TV series Leave it to Beaver. The lady whose husband 'never has a second cup of coffee at home' used to think the exact same phrase in a series of Yuban coffee commercials in the 70s. The announcers during the opening credits were actual LAX Announcers, and were married to each other.

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• AN

  @anumeon · 10 months ago

  Fun fact. When the guy who plays Ted read the script he was on a flight. And he laughed so much that a stewardess came to check on him to see if he was alright. He just let her take the script to read it. And she showed it to the rest of the crew, and they all laughed non stop.. That was how he knew that he had to be in the movie and that it was going to be a hit. :)

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• CH

  @chijamie64 · 10 months ago

  This movie launched a movie comedy revolution. I saw it in the theaters on July 6th 1980, it opened on July 3rd, I believe.  To this day, I have never been in a movie theater watching a comedy, where all 300 people in the theater were literally rolling out of their seats laughing NONSTOP FOR 90 MINUTES!  It was epic!

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• GA

  @gavinsheridan4680 · 10 months ago (edited)

  Modern reactors miss 35 - 40% of the references. From Here to Eternity, Win one for the Gipper, Walton & Lanier, jive speak, Jim never has 2nd cup at home, June Cleaver, twice a day newspapers …

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