Airplane! 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Airplane! 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 19, 2024

Paramount has released the 1980 comedy film 'Airplane!,' directed by the trio of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker; and starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, and Leslie Nielsen; to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video. For this UHD release, Paramount has simply ported over the existing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that accompanied the film's 2020 "Paramount Presents" Blu-ray release. There are no extras on the UHD disc, but the 2020 Blu-ray is also included and houses the extras from that issue. In short, this is a fairly standard Paramount UHD drop with the typical video-only upgrade. Do note that at time of writing, this UHD is exclusive to the ZAZ: The Collection! three-film UHD set which also includes a newly released UHD disc for Top Secret! and a non-SteelBook version of The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.

For a full film review, please click here. Note that this link points to the 2011 Blu-ray, not to the 2020 Blu-ray which is included with this release.

Airplane! 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the UHD disc output at 1080p. They are not representative of the UHD/Dolby Vision image you will see on your screen.

This is Paramount's third major release of Airplane! on high definition physical formats, following the 2011 debut release and the 2020 4K remaster (one of the earliest installments in the "Paramount Presents" line). This new 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release is almost certainly sourced from the same master used for the 2020 Blu-ray, so the question is whether the resolution gain and the color boost can yield an image that is better to the point that it warrants an upgrade. The answer is, fortunately, yes.

While not my favorite of the ZAZ movies (that goes to The Naked Gun), there is no denying that Airplane! is a quintessential 80s Comedy that deserves the very best treatment on the UHD format. I don't think it quite earns the sort of "out of the park" transfer the film demands, but it's definitely a good one. It was the third of the three ZAZ! films I looked at for review, and I feel like it's almost exactly on par with both Top Secret! and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! in terms of overall UHD performance. It's also the "least" of the upgrades over the counterpart Blu-rays because it was the only of the three films to receive a remastered Blu-ray release prior to its UHD, so the upgrade here is a little more subtle than it is for the other films (especially Top Secret!). But the 2160p resolution does bolster some of the critical textures in the film, bringing much-needed clarity gains to the screen for a number of elements. Probably the most obvious are in the instrument clusters inside the plane's cockpit, especially in close-ups thereof but evident in other shots as well. Gauges and readouts are sharper and more easily legible, not to mention more revealing of the various textures thereon. Of course, character close-ups show more depth and clarity than the remastered. Blu-ray; never has Sweaty Stryker looked so clear! The image offers a good (I wouldn't call it "handsome," though) grains structure that maintains a nice filmic look for the duration.

The Dolby Vision color grading comments really follow what I found to be true of the other films, especially Top Secret!. This is not a movie with intense color explosions or vivid tonal output. It's not dull or dim, either, but the Dolby Vision does bring some added, appreciable, and appreciated depth to various colors, like the hues on the inflatable pilot. The improvements are generally subtle and fans aren't going to experience the film all over again for the first time, visually, but the improvements certainly do bring out the very best in the film's sort of unassuming color spectrum. Some of the real areas of improvement come in skin tones (more lifelike), black levels (especially the detail on the pilot suits) and whites (which are more obviously brighter, especially crisp white dress shirts and the film's title).

As with the other two ZAZ! films on the UHD format, I spotted no overtly grievous print issues and no plainly evident encode maladies. This may not be a super upgrade over the remastered Blu-ray, and it's not a superstar in the UHD arena, but it is quite easily the best Airplane! has ever looked for home consumption. Fans should be pleased with Paramount's work on this one.

Airplane! 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This UHD release of Airplane! simply ports over the existing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack from the 2011 Blu-ray. Please click here for full coverage.

Airplane! 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Airplane!, as it currently ships in the ZAZ: The Collection! boxed set, includes only the extras from the 2020 Blu-ray on the bundled Blu-ray disc. See below for a list of what's included and please click here for full coverage. Do note that there are some additional physical extras in the ZAZ boxed set. More detail on those may be found here.

• Audio Commentary: Producer Jon Davison and Writers/Directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker.
• Isolated Score Track
• Filmmaker Focus: Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker on Airplane!
• Q&A With the Directors of Airplane!

Airplane! 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Airplane! seems to me to be a prime candidate for a UHD SteelBook release somewhere down the line, so fans might want to wait, because I also suspect any near- to moderate-term future release would just feature identical discs inside. But for fans who want the film on UHD now, this is a deserving upgrade, even if, one, the upgrade over the 2020 Blu-ray is a little more subtle and, two, it does not offer new extras or upgraded audio, which is by-and-large the standard Paramount practice. Recommended.