Airplane!

Way back in 1992, we anointed the comedic masterpiece Airplane! the funniest movie ever, and with good reason. The ZAZ boys — writer-directors Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker — are to humor what Phil Spector is to music. There’s so much going on in every frame of Airplane!, watching it feels like being pummeled by a Wall of Laughs. The genius of the film is amplified by this disc’s stellar commentary, which features the ZAZters as well as producer Jon Davison. They point out everything: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did the film so that he could buy a carpet; there’s a scene where you can see Scotch tape holding the set together. Sadly, the commentary also points out this DVD’s biggest flaw: One of the jesters lets slip that there’s a TV cut of the film out there that features an extra 10 minutes. Why isn’t it on this disc? Why isn’t there anything more about one of the funniest movies ever made than a commentary and a theatrical trailer? Paramount really dropped the ball here, letting the opportunity to appropriately enshrine this classic slip through its fingers. B-