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Airplane!
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1997 Bootleg
2005 Bootleg
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Labels and Dates:
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Bootleg
(2005)
Bootleg
(1997)
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Availability:
There has never been a commercial CD release of Airplane!. The 1997
bootleg was released under the 'Jaws 80.78.97' label and sold from soundtrack specialty
outlets for upwards of $40. The 2005 bootleg is a rip from the isolated DVD score.
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Sorry, there are no commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can
search for this title at the soundtrack specialty outlets listed on the Filmtracks Links Page. |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... on the post-2000 bootleg if you enjoy Elmer Bernstein's
humorous parody scores of the early 1980's and/or seek a souvenir from
the cult-classic film.
Avoid it... on the original 1997 bootleg at all costs (due to
atrocious sound quality).
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Airplane!: (Elmer Bernstein) The ultimate anthology
of cliches from classic comedy films, Airplane! is a film that
defied the direction of modern comedies in an era when the genre was
dominated by the kind of satirical and cynical ideas of Woody Allen. The
object of this parody was the rash of airplane horror films that arose
with Airport and lasted through all the variants of its sequels,
as well as Paramount's own Zero Hour from 1957. The trick to
Airplane! that made it such a fantastic parody was its purely
unashamed used of sophomoric humor, with jokes so dumb and tasteless
that they actually became funny in unison. So predictable was the 1980
film that it led to its own sequel, though the original Airplane!
will be long remembered for, among other things, changing how people
react to the word "surely." Composer Elmer Bernstein was at a point in
his career when his comedy-writing skills were in high demand. The early
1980's will be remembered by Bernstein collectors as the era of
Airplane!, Trading Places, and Ghostbusters, a
trend that somewhat baffled those collectors and even occasionally the
composer himself. His vast experience in action and Western scores from
the 1960's, however, would prove to serve him well when writing the more
ridiculous parody scores, of which Airplane! is likely the
crowning achievement. Underneath the comedy is an airborne horror plot
that Bernstein uses to insert a plethora of militaristic action motifs,
and the love story between the lead stewardess and a former pilot who
has lost his wits allows the composer to expand on some of his sappy
romance writing. Interspersed throughout the score are references, oddly
enough, to John Williams' theme for Jaws, which was a highly
popular thing for films to do in the late 1970's. Like many parody
scores, however, the quality of the score in film is vastly different
from that on album, and Airplane! is one of those highly
effective scores in the film that loses some of its punch without the
punch lines that go with it. On album, an endless series of short cues
cause the score to jump almost incoherently between genres and
conflicting motifs. It makes sense on the whole, but is a frenetic
listening experience.
The sappy love theme for Elaine and Ted is almost an
annoyance in the film, with its rising strings at the outset setting the
stage for yet another intentionally awkward flashback. The orchestra
hits that represent the "tension theme" are mixed almost
indiscriminately into the film, and don't do the album much justice.
There are few lengthier cues, though the ones led by snare drums and
brass rips represent the militaristic element well and offer some of the
more listenable cues on album. A classical waltz-like rhythm announces
the "Success" cue with much of the same deliberation as cues in
Trading Places. Ironically, the best performances of the film's
heroic title theme come early, with the "LAX" cues offering bold brass
rhythms mocking John Williams' disaster scores with good humor.
Interestingly, though, Bernstein plays much of the score without the
twist of jazz or other pizzazz that often influences his comedy works,
and Airplane! thus becomes as score that seems slightly more
functional than purely funny. The film also makes use of source lounge
music and a 'native' cue ("The Molombo Tribe"... a nice deviation) by
Bernstein, as well as several song staples of the era. Sadly,
Bernstein's score has never been released commercially. Even the LP
release at the time of the film's debut was an early song-riddled
product with limited Bernstein material included. The score was first
released on CD in 1997, when a bootleg combined 40 minutes of
Airplane! music with Bernstein's score for the 1978 television
adaptation of Little Women that aired on NBC. As expected,
Bernstein's music for this Alcott story is quietly restrained, often
limited to solo woodwinds and whimsical string themes, with occasional
honky tonk Western rhythms breaking the monotony. Unfortunately, this
bootleg suffered from terrible sound quality, ruining Airplane!
completely and doing slightly more justice to Little Women. Quite
frankly, the 1997 CD features completely unacceptable sound quality and
should be ignored. Several years later, a more loyal bootleg with
Bernstein's equally complete Airplane! score appeared (from the
isolated DVD score), breaking the cues into film order, supplying the
source songs, and, most importantly, presenting the score in glorious
sound quality. Until Airplane! receives a commercial release, the
post-2000 DVD-score bootleg (commonly with black cover) is your best
bet.
Airplane!: ****
Little Women (TV): ***
1997 Bootleg: *
2005 Bootleg: ****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Track Listings (1997 Bootleg):
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Total Time: 64:40
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Airplane!:
• 1. (2:26)
• 2. (2:42)
• 3. (2:56)
• 4. (2:58)
• 5. (2:51)
• 6. (2:30)
• 7. (2:10)
• 8. (1:37)
• 9. (1:26)
• 10. (3:15)
• 11. (2:49)
• 12. (2:22)
• 13. (2:10)
• 14. (1:52)
• 15. (1:06)
• 16. (3:47)
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Little Women:
• 17. Suite I (7:19)
• 18. Suite II (6:25)
• 19. Suite III (11:16)
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No track titles
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Track Listings (2005 Bootleg):
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Total Time: 45:06
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• 1. Opening Titles (1:44)
• 2. LAX (0:53)
• 3. Elaine and Ted (0:46)
• 4. LAX Continued (0:33)
• 5. Donation and the Plane (0:19)
• 6. Tickets (0:50)
• 7. Ted Finds Elaine (0:29)
• 8. Take Off (1:25)
• 9. Airborne (0:19)
• 10. Reminiscing (1:00)
• 11. Bar Fight (0:43)
• 12. Love Theme (Lounge) (0:23)
• 13. The Beach (2:02)
• 14. Elaine and Ted (1:10)
• 15. Flashback Dissolve (0:08)
• 16. The Molombo Tribe (0:44)
• 17. Remembering George Zip (0:28)
• 18. First Illness (0:34)
• 19. Clarence is Out (0:23)
• 20. Roger is Out (0:48)
• 21. Declaring an Emergency (0:19)
• 22. Oveur is Out (0:56)
• 23. Otto to the Rescue (0:40)
• 24. "Get Me Rex Kramer" (0:18)
• 25. Elaine Services Otto (1:14)
• 26. Elaine on the PA (0:16)
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• 27. Tension Theme (0:04)
• 28. Cockpit Controls (0:39)
• 29. Kramer on the Road (0:14)
• 30. Ted at the Controls (0:28)
• 31. Nose Dive (0:29)
• 32. Ted Recovers (0:14)
• 33. Attacking Solicitors (0:33)
• 34. Kramer Signs On (0:38)
• 35. Off the Autopilot (0:50)
• 36. Got to Concentrate (0:12)
• 37. Radar Range (0:21)
• 38. The News Spreads (0:50)
• 39. Ted Loses Confidence (0:30)
• 40. Win One for the Zipper (2:28)
• 41. The Decision to Land (0:22)
• 42. Elaine Confesses Love (0:28)
• 43. Preparing to Land (0:12)
• 44. The Landing (4:05)
• 45. Success (0:33)
• 46. Finale (1:15)
• 47. Airplane Suite (4:19)
• 48. Lounge Music - source music (0:28)
• 49. Stayin Alive - source music (3:42)
• 50. The River of Jordan - source music (1:24)
• 51. Respect - source music (0:15)
• 52. WZAZ - source music (0:09)
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Neither bootleg's insert includes extra information about the score or film.
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