How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Airplane!.
Quote #1
OPENING TITLES
From the ostentatious opening titles coupled with Elmer Bernstein's dramatic score, the beginning of Airplane! screams hyper-dramatic disaster movie.
Quote #2
TED STRIKER: I came home early and found your note. I guess you meant for me to read it later. Elaine, I've got to talk to you.
ELAINE: I just don't want to go over it anymore.
These lines, like many others through the film (as you'll soon see), are lifted word for word from Zero Hour!. Without the ZAZ punch lines added on, however, it's just bad dialogue.
Quote #3
TED: My orders came through. My squadron ships out tomorrow. We're bombing the storage depots at Daiquiri at 1800 hours. We're coming in from the north, below their radar.
ELAINE: When will you be back?
TED: I can't tell you that. It's classified.
This scene, a parody of From Here to Eternity, complete with soaring strings and crashing waves, references the classic war movie cliché of the soldier leaving his lover to depart on a secret mission. Of course with Ted's last line, ZAZ throw in a bit of their own absurdist flavor.