Airplane! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Airplane! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 22, 2020

Paramount has re-released the popular 1980 Comedy 'Airplane!' to Blu-ray. This release notably includes a new 1080p transfer sourced from a remastered 4K source and several new extras, though several legacy supplements have been omitted. It is also part of the numbered 'Paramount Presents' lineup. See the review body below for full coverage of everything that's included.

Ted Striker (Robert Hays) is a troubled former combat pilot suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which has all but negated his ability and desire to fly a plane. To make matters worse, his relationship with his girlfriend Elaine (Julie Hagerty) is on the brink of collapse. She's a flight attendant and he's got to catch her before her plane departs and, just maybe, takes her away for good. Fighting his way through airport distractions, he buys a ticket and boards her plane in the nick of time. The flight is moving along smoothly enough -- Ted's and Elaine's personal problems not withstanding -- but bad weather ahead promises that this flight is about to get a little bumpy. Add in that half the passengers -- and, as it turns out, the entire cockpit crew -- are coming down with a bad bug courtesy of some spoiled airline fish, and this flight seems positively doomed. Unless, of course, there's someone on board who can fly the plane, never mind that emergency inflatable doll. Can Ted put his past behind him, work things out with Elaine, and get the travelers safely back on the ground? Surely, one of the plane's passengers, a doctor named Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) -- and all of the people on the flight, for that matter -- are counting on him.

For a full film review, please click here.

Airplane! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Airplane! takes flight onto Blu-ray for the second time with a new 1080p transfer sourced form a 4K remaster that was supervised by Directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker. The newly remastered picture looks fairly nice in total. However, it is not without some drawbacks. On the whole, it's sharp and retains a fairly pleasing layer of film grain, which is more natural and refined compared to the clumpier grain management on the original disc. However, this one does not always look fully natural, either, appearing to be manipulated a bit in the process of artificially sharpening the image. There are a couple of other hiccups, too, be they softer elements at the source (particularly shots where Ted and Elaine drift into flashback) or macroblocking in a few places, such as during Ted's flashback in chapter six. Still, the picture is more consistent and satisfying than not. Clarity and crispness are amongst the highlights. Details are quite nice, sharper on the whole following on the 2011 Blu-ray, including skin definition and elements around the plane, like seat cover fabric, bags above the seats, and instrument clusters in the cockpit, the latter of which are some of the most interesting and tack-sharp objects in the movie outside of faces. Colors appear deep and full, including, compared to the previously issued Blu-ray, superior blacks and crisper whites (look at the opening title card). Skin tones are healthy and black levels are fairly strong, with special attention to the black jackets the flight crew wears in the cockpit. This is not a perfect transfer. It does improve on the original Blu-ray even if it introduces its own issues within this new remaster spec.

Airplane! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Airplane!'s new Blu-ray carries over the previously issued disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. For a full audio review, please click here.

Airplane! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This "Paramount Presents" Blu-ray release of Airplane! includes some new supplements, marked as such below and reviewed, and omits a couple of others, including Long Haul Version, Trivia Track, and Theatrical Trailer. See below for a breakdown of what's included and please click here for coverage of the carryover content. Note that the audio commentary track and isolated score are found under the "Settings" rather than "Extras" tab. This release does not ship with DVD or digital copies (though the SteelBook does include a digital code). The slipcover is designed to follow in the "Paramount Presents" style. An overview is contained below.

• Audio Commentary: With Producer Jon Davison and Writers/Directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker.
• NEW! Isolated Score Track (1:27:42, Dolby Digital 2.0): Watch the film with score only; no dialogue or sound effects are present.
• NEW! Filmmaker Focus: Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker on Airplane! (1080P, 8:42): The piece begins with clips of some of the film's best quotable lines. The bulk features the filmmakers recalling the film's humor, the cast and characters, the filmmaking process, stories from the shoot, the jokes, the autopilot, the joy of making the movie, and the film's legacy.
• NEW! Q&A With the Directors of Airplane! (Egyptian Theater, Hollywood - January 10, 2020) (1080p, 34:49): Grant Monninger, Film Programmer at the American Cinematheque, hosts Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker in front of an audience to discuss the film four decades after its release.

The packaging is just unique enough to stand apart but not so unique as to draw attention towards it. It's basically a slipcover over a transparent, rather than blue, case, all the same essential dimensions as any other case plus slipcover presentation. The outer slipcover is unique in that the front half folds open to reveal an additional image, which is oriented 90 degrees from the front panel, making, essentially, a two-panel vertical that for Airplane! shows original artwork -- the jet liner twisted around itself -- in a larger format, essentially a reproduction of the ordinal poster artwork. The front features the same image, here worked to add the inflatable pilot and a red and white streak running through, larger at the bottom and growing smaller in appearance with distance towards the top. The film's title has been moved to the top as well. A "Paramount Presents" symbol top left and a small banner bottom right displaying the year the film was released are also featured. The front panel is identical to the Blu-ray case front artwork. There are some alterations between slip and case on the rear panels; the former includes a blurb about the Paramount Presents line while the latter features a billing block and additional still image thumbnails. The Blu-ray case is clear and there's an inner print inside that includes stills running along left and right hand sides, a larger photo of main characters peering out the airplane's windows, and a Jerry Zucker quote within. It's nothing fancy but it is at least a little meatier than the run-of-the-mill slipcover and blank interiors that add almost no additional value. Both the slipcover and the case artwork depict the number "7" at the bottom of the spine, denoting the seventh film in the line, clearly an effort to entice completists to gradually buy the entire series.

Airplane! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Airplane! remains one of the funnier films of any generation and its humor holds up even four decades removed from its original release. The film's new Blu-ray is, visually, an improvement over the original transfer but is still problematic in some areas. Audio is a wash and the supplements are a mixture of new and returning, though sadly not all of the legacy content has been ported over. The SteelBook includes a digital code, and is cheaper, so unless one is collecting the "Paramount Presents" line there's no reason to choose this one over the SteelBook.