Airplane! is an American comedy film, first released on 27 June, 1980, produced, directed, and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Airplane! starred Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lorna Patterson. For release in Australia and the Philippines, Airplane! was re-titled as Flying High.

Airplane! is a spoof of the disaster movie genre. It is unique among film parodies in that Airplane! (originally designed for a 20-minute sketch) is a virtual remake of the 1957 Canadian airplane disaster movie Zero Hour! The earlier film featured Dana Andrews in the role of Lt. Striker, for instance, and Airplane! includes numerous jokes and gags that derive directly from the 1957 film. The plot device of the food poisoning incident, which figures prominently in the story line of Airplane!, also came from Zero Hour!

Airplane II: The Sequel, first released on December 10, 1982, attempted to tackle the science fiction film genre, though there was still emphasis on the general theme of disaster films. Although most of the cast reunited for the sequel, the writers and directors of Airplane! chose not to be involved.

In the short term, Airplane! received slight recognition. Abrahams, Zucker, and Zucker received the 1981 Writers Guild award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium, Jill Whelan was nominated as Best Young Comedienne by the Young Artist Awards, and the film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy) and a BAFTA for Best Screenplay.

Over time, however, Airplane! has received significant recognition. It was voted as the 10th-funniest American comedy in AFI's "100 Years... 100 Laughs" list and it ranked number 6 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Airplane! also has the distinction of being one of the few PG-rated films to feature prominent female topless nudity (its sequel, Airplane II: The Sequel, also contained female topless nudity). The PG-13 rating was not in existence when the movie was released.

This is a spoof of the airport disaster movies. When the crew of an airplane are struck by some form of virus, the fate of the passengers depends on an ex-war pilot who is the only one able to land the plane safely! The passengers represent a selection of interesting wacky characters who seem to take every word for its literal meaning. Written by Sami Al-Taher

Ex-Navy pilot Ted Striker has been nervous about flying ever since THAT incident during the war. He's on a flight which would cause anyone concern: he seems to be the only sane person aboard. Of course, everything that could possibly go wrong on this flight will go wrong... what do you expect with a co-pilot who doesn't realize he's a basketball star, and an air traffic controller with a substance abuse problem? Written by Murray Chapman

Ted Striker just got dumped by his long-time girlfriend Elaine Dickinson, who works as a stewardess at Trans American Airlines. In his wish to get her back, he follows her aboard the plane, although he has had a deep aversion against anything winged since he lost several men in the war. During flight, he tries to contact her again and again, but as the crew and many passengers get seriously ill due to a bad fish meal, he has no chance to get to her. In fact, Ted Striker seems to be the only healthy person aboard that has piloting experience. Now, it is up to him to get the bird down in Chicago safely, before the poisoning starts causing casualties. But Ted Striker's aversion really is a serious psychosis, which breaks open and needs to be cured - right now. Written by Julian Reischl