Airplane! (1980)
Is that a shark fin in the clouds? Hunting down prey? A shadowy scavenger of the skies? No... it's just a plane! An airplane!
That's how the movie starts, the 'official parody' of the Airport series, and from there on it gets crazy. Well, that's the scene it starts with. That text ^ I just made up. It starts with promise of bizarre and innovating comedy, and on that end it stays shark and delivers!
I like old comedies like this particularly in how they play with words, like on Captain's Oveur and Roger's first name. Over? Roger. And there's a Clarance in the background. The movie puts clever attention to simple puns, even if it some times goes a bit overboard with the all those drugs. And all those flashbacks! Too many flashbacks.
The parody seems loosely based mostly off of the second Airport movie, with references to the romance in the fourth, but not so much the first and third. Leslie Nielsen (the white-haired guy from the Naked Gun series) plays a doctor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays himself (kinda), and I don't recognize anyone else, but they all fit their roles like Royces.
I could elaborate a lot on details regarding puns and parody specifics, but I'm thinking such aspects would be better left unrevealed if you plan on watching this. What you should know is: it's crazy, it's cheesy and traditionally excessive comedy at its best - before it really became too excessive. Difference between this and the newer variants? The jokes don't harm anyone, no matter how savage they get. And they joke about everything: religions, genders; touchy stereotypes alike. Great watch.
rated 4/5: fo shizzle