Zero Hour!

It is impossible to judge this movie as anything but the blueprint for AIRPLANE. In that capacity, it's absolutely hilarious. But I can try to comment on the film on its own terms. Noir fans might be thrilled with the casting, but only Hayden brings anything interesting to it. The plot is... gripping, I guess? It's hard to say when you're so familiar with it. Oh, I give up. If for some ungodly reason you've never seen AIRPLANE, watch this first. I imagine it can only make both films better.

Hard to take seriously once you've seen Airplane!

In and of itself is still a delight. Sterling Hayden's a man's man and keeps Dana Andrews in line in this tighter than tight 50's b-movie.

Airplane! obviously puts a spin on this it's impossible to ignore, but it holds its own as harmless, campy melodrama with some nice effects and a detail-oriented script by Arthur Hailey, author of "Hotel" and other well-researched potboilers.

A decent Dana Andrews venture, with some edge-of-the-seat moments and a good viewer education in flying and crash landing runaway planes, in the likely event that we need to do it.

A taut, melodramatic marvel.

Z-A-Z did not essentially remake and parody this film because it was bad, they simply made the least obvious move by returning to the source of inspiration for Airport and other famous po-faced airplane disaster films of the 70s. Zero Hour, however, works on its own terms as well as fostering greater appreciation for Z-A-Z's achievement. Bartlett's direction is taught, and it has been edited with economical efficiency, maximising tension and drawing viewers in despite themselves.

I'll get it out of the way, Zero Hour! is the template for the much better Airplane!, that can't be ignored. That said, it is a decently fun and campy b-movie with a premise so good that Airplane! couldn't help but use parts of it verbatim.