I saw Airplane! over the weekend, and so decided to finally take a look at the film that inspired it, Zero Hour! I’m sure Liz is working up a complete review of this flick for her series on disaster movies, so this is a quick glance mostly contrasting the original film with its comedic remake.
#1 by lyzard on August 3, 2009 - 5:16 pm
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The prospect of trying to review this seriously isn’t getting any more attractive…
The moment that really leapt out when we were first watching this was during the landing when the doctor sticks his head into the cockpit: “I just wanted to tell you – good luck, we’re all counting on you.” ZAZ wisely left that alone, since it is quite bizarre enough as it is.
#2 by Ken Begg on August 4, 2009 - 8:11 am
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C’mon, Liz, we’re all counting on you. (Actually, doesn’t the ZH Doc just say “I just wanted to tell you good luck”?) Just the complicated backstory alone merits a peek at least, much less the Crazylegs connection.
Of course, the ZAZ boys also had Nielsen spiel that line three times during the scene, so they didn’t strictly leave it along.
#3 by lyzard on August 4, 2009 - 4:33 pm
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True; but it’s more the “wandering into the cockpit and interrupting at a critical time” aspect that stands out.
All this reminds me that I really need to track down a copy of Terror In The Sky: Doug McClure as the pilot, Roddy McDowall as the doctor, Kenneth Tobey as the captain…I am so there.
#4 by Blake on September 2, 2009 - 6:14 am
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I was watching the end of “Scary Movie 3” the other night, and Leslie Nielsen says that same line at the film’s climax, although it is set up in a way that he ends up inadvertently solving the conflict without even realizing it. I thought that was a nice touch (well, Leslie Nielsen was really the only thing that made that film watchable).