# Airplane! vs Zero Hour! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024 "2014-07-25T14:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/1 "2014-07-25T14:11:18Z")
I always thought that _Airplane!_ was a brilliant parody of a specific sub-genre of disaster films. Namely movies like _Airport_, a 1970 film that gets 4 stars on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s not the whole story, though. Shoot, it’s not really even the story at all. The Zucker brothers saw a movie called _Zero Hour!_ and thought it was so unintentionally hilarious that they just had to remake it. And they did. They acquired the rights to the film and sat down to produce a faithful adaptation of _Zero Hour!_, just with jokes. It’s faithful almost shot by shot and line by line, which can be seen [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BjU-e01zQ4). (Do yourself a favor and click on that youtube link - it’s hilarious) There’s another thing they did, too. _Zero Hour!_ had a bit of stunt casting in that they hired Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch to play a crew member in the cockpit. Crazylegs was a hall of fame football player, and when audiences first saw _Zero Hour_, it was tough for them not to be taken out of the moment and think "Hey! That’s future hall of famer “Crazylegs” Hirsch. I will give you one guess who the Zucker brothers got to play that role. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/2 "2014-07-25T14:22:27Z")
So who did they cast for _Zero Hour!_ to translate jive to english? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/3 "2014-07-25T14:33:39Z")
Zero Hour! was based on the Canadian made-for-TV movie [Flight into Danger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_into_Danger). It was based on a play by John Castle and Arthur Hailey. Hailey also wrote the novel Airport which, when made into a movie, really started off the disaster movie craze of the '70s. Fitting subject matter for what Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker wanted to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/4 "2014-07-25T14:33:49Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > So who did they cast for _Zero Hour!_ to translate jive to english? Nah, Mrs. Cleaver wasn’t available ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/5 "2014-07-25T14:38:15Z")
The singing, guitar playing nun/sick little girl on the way to hospital was from “Airport '75.” “Zero Hour” was remade as “Terror in the Sky” (1971) (TV Movie). Trivia good! I was in an airport twice in the last two weeks (going and returning from vacation) and every time the No Parking announcements came over the PA, I kept hearing the “argument” sequence where the one announcer tells the other to have an abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/6 "2014-07-25T14:54:30Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > _Zero Hour!_ had a bit of stunt casting in that they hired Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch to play a crew member in the cockpit. Crazylegs was a hall of fame football player, and when audiences first saw _Zero Hour_, it was tough for them not to be taken out of the moment and think "Hey! That’s future hall of famer “Crazylegs” Hirsch. I will give you one guess who the Zucker brothers got to play that role. 😃 Supposedly, Pete Rose was their first choice. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/7 "2014-07-25T15:02:44Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Supposedly, Pete Rose was their first choice. I wouldn’t have bet on that. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/8 "2014-07-25T15:08:49Z")
I always thought it was odd in Airplane! when Gunderson is checking the Radarange - he’s wearing a leather jacket. It doesn’t fit the movie, like they let the actor just wear what he wore coming in. But when I saw Zero Hour!, the same character is also wearing a leather jacket. (probably what he wore coming to work…). So it seems ZZA were doing that deliberately. * * * [QUOTE=Dr. Baird] Our survival hinges on one thing - finding someone who not only can fly this plane, but didn’t have fish for dinner. [/quote] [QUOTE=Dr. Rumak] The life of everyone on board depends upon just one thing: finding someone back there who can not only fly this plane, but who didn’t have fish for dinner. [/quote] Me, I had lasagna, but I can’t fly a plane (with ANY number of engines). ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/9 "2014-07-25T15:48:05Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > It’s faithful almost shot by shot and line by line, which can be seen [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BjU-e01zQ4). Watching _Zero Hour!_ is a hilarious experience. At the end of the “It takes many things to make love last” scene, you can practically hear Dana Andrews think, “What a pisser!” Hey, isn’t that Gen. Jack Ripper in the role of Rex Kramer?? In retrospect, it all makes sense now… ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/10 "2014-07-25T15:57:44Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Hey, isn’t that Gen. Jack Ripper in the role of Rex Kramer?? In retrospect, it all makes sense now… “Rex Kramer” was, like “Samuel L. Bronkowitz,” a joke name that the Zucker brothers had been using for years before they made _ **Airplane!** _ In \*\*\*The Kentucky Fried Movie, \*\*\* there’s a segment featuring a nerdy air traffic controller named Rex Kramer who tests his manhood and shows his cojones by approaching a bunch of ghetto thugs, screaming the N-word, and then running away at breakneck speed. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/11 "2014-07-25T16:32:32Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Zero Hour! was based on the Canadian made-for-TV movie [Flight into Danger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_into_Danger). With the traumatized former fighter pilot played by James Doohan. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/12 "2014-07-25T17:05:48Z")
Right, I had the lasagna. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/13 "2014-07-25T17:07:42Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Hey, isn’t that Gen. Jack Ripper in the role of Rex Kramer?? In retrospect, it all makes sense now… Jack D. Ripper was Sterling Hayden. Rex Kramer was Robert Stack. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/14 "2014-07-25T17:13:10Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Hey, isn’t that Gen. Jack Ripper in the role of Rex Kramer?? In retrospect, it all makes sense now… Never mind, watching the video, I see what you mean (though in **ZH** his character is Capt. Martin Treleaven) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/15 "2014-07-25T17:22:42Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Jack D. Ripper was Sterling Hayden. Rex Kramer was Robert Stack. Hayden and Stack were completely interchangeable. Easy mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/16 "2014-07-25T17:33:35Z")
I’m just now making the connection between Unsolved Mysteries and Airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/17 "2014-07-25T18:44:10Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In \*\*\*The Kentucky Fried Movie, \*\*\* there’s a segment featuring a nerdy air traffic controller named Rex Kramer who tests his manhood and shows his cojones by approaching a bunch of ghetto thugs, screaming the N-word, and then running away at breakneck speed. Extreme sport athlete Rex Kramer! That was the single funniest thing in KFM by far. It caught me completely off guard and I laughed so hard ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/18 "2014-07-25T19:32:00Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Jack D. Ripper was Sterling Hayden. Rex Kramer was Robert Stack. They’re entirely different actors altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/19 "2014-07-25T19:34:14Z")
They’re entirely different actors. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024/20 "2014-07-25T19:37:04Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Extreme sport athlete Rex Kramer! > > That was the single funniest thing in KFM by far. It caught me completely off guard and I laughed so hard It was a spoof of _ **Thrill Seekers** _, an old 1970s TV show hosted by Chuck Connors- the kind that normally showed daredevils doing risky stunts on motorcycles or hang gliders or whatever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-zero-hour/694024.md?page=2)