Flying High!

After all the gloom and doom in the news these days, I thought I'd take a look at a 40-year old movie. I came across the pamphlet for a movie called Flying High. It looked familiar and sure enough it was for a movie I'd seen several times in the 80s and 90s.

Oops, sorry, wrong film. I am of course talking about Airplane!



At the top of some pages, there are Parody points which I have utilized a translating device to decipher. Alas, it doesn't do a very good job.

Even now we are fully satisfied with the maintenance. Even if the aircraft is distorted as seen in the photo, I don't mind flying. (Aleda Reda Airlines)

The plane used by the famous pilot, George Kennedy is not on board. Therefore, even if you fall into a state of panic, you will not be able to collect it. We sincerely wish you a pleasant flight. (Airport Airlines)

If you have a visceral disease or are pregnant, your abdomen will be kinked. If you have too much laughing and have a twist, come visit our hospital. (Immortal Hospital)

This machine was ordered by Mr. Ronald Reagan. It may transform into a more emergency vs. Soviet plane. (Kentucky Fried Airlines)

Here are some photos from the movie...

Apparently "Flying High" is an alternative title to "Airplane". I think it works better.

So many movies were parodied throughout this flick. Such as Jaws in the opening credits, Saturday Night Fever, From Here to Eternity, any War Movie especially the first YouTube above, Zero Hour, etc.

Some of the jokes don't hold up well. Such as the Hare Krishna gags and the "Smoking or No Smoking" bits.BUT every line spoken by:
Peter Graves (Ever seen a grown man naked/ Ever been to a Turkish prison/ Do you like movies about Gladiators?)
Leslie Nielsen (I am serious and don't call me Shirley--twice!)
Lloyd Bridges (Looks like I picked the wrong time to quit smoking/ drinking/ amphetamines/ sniffing glue.)
Robert Stack (All right Striker, you listen and listen close. Flying a plane is no different from riding a bicycle. It's just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.)
Who knew Barbara Billingsley could speak Jive so convincingly!

Here's a highlight of some of the better gags.

The gags with J.J Walker and the village son't resonate well with modern audiences. Still funny though.

I thought Kareem Abdul Jabbar held his own against some real actors.

I rather liked the running gag of Ted Striker telling his story to various passengers and then they'd commit suicide to escape his rambling. Including James Hong as a Japanese soldier committing harakiri.

Otto may be up on some sexual harassment charges in today's age.

A cute couple. Where are they now?

I loved the cast of dramatic actors playing it straight. It worked so much better than comedic actors. I found the effeminate guy in the Air Traffic Control Room to be more annoying than funny. And he was the only one not playing it straight. Best quote (stolen from Wiki): Graves rejected the script at first, considering it tasteless. On the DVD commentary, Abrahams said, "I don't understand. What did he think was tasteless about pedophilia?"

I hope you can track the movie down. It offends pretty much everyone at some point.