MovieChat Forums > The Big Bus (1976) Discussion > The disaster film parody trilogy!

The disaster film parody trilogy!

posted 17 years ago by Peter-Cushing
6 replies | jump to latest

I would say that "The Big Bus" is the first film of a trilogy that ends with "Airplane!" and "Airplane 2"! Even if this one wasn't directed by the Zucker-brothers, it's very similar in the style and I wouldn't depart it from the Airplanes. If you watch these 3 movies in a row, you will see what I mean!

It's a pity, that Scary Movie didn't stay a trilogy! But "The Naked Gun" trilogy is the best example of how far a parody franchise is possible to go - they stopped at the right time! The creators of "Date Movie" and "Epic Movie" shouldn't have even started!

[–] rudeboy8080 16 years ago

The Big Bus is a g@#$%^mned miracle!

[–] Anastascia-Beaver-hausen 16 years ago

i bloody agree!

I am McLovin!!!

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

Agreed on all counts. You have to know when to start, when to stop, and when to just dump a bad idea. Certainly this was an inspiration for "Airplane!," but the Zuckers were making films like "Kentucky Fried Movie" in the '70s also.

[–] clacton0 11 years ago

Just seen TBB for the first time and can see where Airplane got many scenes from.
Though Airplane is far better I gave that an 8 out of 10 and this just gets a 4.

www.youtube.com/eastangliauk

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

I wouldn't think Airplane! "got its scenes from" this - they just parodied some of the same things (the Airport movies, above all).

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] Druff (1447) 4 years ago

The Zuckers have a great story/explanation behind how they came to make Airplane. Initially, they were going to make Kentucky Fried Movie 2. They needed new ideas for more TV commercial parodies and spoofs, so they set up a video recorder to tape a few hours of late night TV, when the weirdest and most absurd commercials were shown, because that broadcasting time was so cheap. When they watched the tape, they intended to skip past whatever the show was and only watch the commercials... but they ended up watching the show too. The show in question was an old black and white movie called "Zero Hour!" and they thought it was unintentionally hilarious, it was so lame. So they basically just re-made Zero Hour and added sight gags.

Anyway, I still agree with the original post. I got The Big Bus on DVD the other day and am re-watching it for the first time since I was a little kid, probably before Airplane existed... and it TOTALLY reminds me of Airplane.