The defence The Sentimental Softie
“It owes the canon nothing.”
The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.
Back to trending 
Airplane!
Comedy · 1980
An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
Movie details
Airplane!
“What's slower than a speeding bullet, and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound?”
1980 Comedy 1h 28m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.7 / 10
284.8K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
97 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
78 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.3 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Airplane!?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Top Secret!
Comedy · 1984
Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Comedy · 1986
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
Airheads
Comedy · 1994
The Lone Rangers have heavy-metal dreams and a single demo tape they can't get anyone to play. The solution: Hijack an FM rock radio station and hold the deejays hostage until they agree to broadcast the band's tape.
National Lampoon's Vacation
Comedy · 1983
Clark Griswold is on a quest to take his family to the Walley World theme park for a vacation, but things don't go exactly as planned.
Happy Gilmore 2
Comedy · 2025
Happy Gilmore isn't done with golf — not by a long shot. Since his retirement after his first Tour Championship win, Gilmore returns to finance his daughter's ballet classes.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Comedy · 1999
When diabolical genius Dr. Evil travels back in time to steal superspy Austin Powers's ‘mojo,’ Austin must return to the swingin' '60s himself - with the help of American agent, Felicity Shagwell - to stop the dastardly plan. Once there, Austin faces off against Dr. Evil's army of minions to try to save the world in his own unbelievably groovy way.
Hot Shots!
Action · 1991
The gang that created Airplane! and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this spoof. Topper Harley is a talented but unstable fighter pilot with an axe to grind: clearing the family name. His mission is to avenge his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers. He also gets involved in a relationship with Ramada Thompson, a woman with an unusually talented stomach. Hot Shots! makes fun of a variety of other films, from Dances with Wolves to The Fabulous Baker Boys.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Comedy · 1988
When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Lift
Action · 2024
An international heist crew, led by Cyrus Whitaker, race to lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane at 40,000 feet.
The Naked Gun
Comedy · 2025
Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save the world: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. Following in his father's footsteps, he must solve a murder case to prevent Police Squad from closure.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jerry Zucker · David Zucker · Jim Abrahams
Written by
Jim Abrahams · David Zucker · Jerry Zucker
Robert Hays
Ted Striker
Julie Hagerty
Elaine Dickinson
Leslie Nielsen
Dr. Rumack
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Roger Murdock
Lloyd Bridges
Steve McCroskey
Peter Graves
Capt. Clarence Oveur
Robert Stack
Captain Rex Kramer
Court is in session
Put Airplane! on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”
It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.