Top 5 Funny Travel Movies
Taking our cue from Chris, who’s just posted a list of the Top 5 Travel Movies to Give you Goose Bumps over at Nomad4ever, HostelBloggers have been banging our heads together over a similar subject - the 5 funniest travel movies ever made.
We’ve made a start below but it’s a work in progress - all suggestions are welcome!
1) Airplane! - This wild parody of an everything-that-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong blockbuster was probably the first of its kind. With every second of every shot packed with gags, Airplane! paved the way for such comedy greats as Naked Gun, Police Squad and Hot Shots.
What’s the plot? Well, it’s got something to do with a bunch of crazed and (at times) depraved passengers who become stricken by a mystery illness while in the air. But it’s not really the plot that matters; it’s more the visual puns, the quick-fire wordplay, and the lead character’s drinking problem that ensure the movie’s place in our top 5.
Standout Quote: (Air Stewardess, over the loudspeaker): There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
2) Eurotrip - Eurotrip has got itself a bit of a cult following, bless its sweaty preppy socks. Ok, so it didn’t get a great reception on release, but (just between us) there’s actually quite a few people out there who think it’s rather good.
The laughs come from watching four all-American high-school friends bluff and blag their way round mainland Europe. With sexual encounters in Amsterdam, British football hooligans in Paris, and a meeting with the Pope in the Vatican, what’s not to like?
Standout Moment: The entire Amsterdam segment. Perfectly predictable!
3) Sullivan’s Travels - Mixing slapstick humor with quick-witted banter, Sullivan’s Travels has its protagonist cartwheel through America on the back of a railroad car, searching for the meaning of life and finding the importance of humor.
Of course, there’s a great tradition of American road movies (from Thelma and Louise to Badlands), and some of them have also been amusing (Roadtrip springs to mind) but Sullivan’s Travels was one of the originals, and they just don’t make ‘em like this any more.
Standout Tagline: Veronica Lake’s on the Take!
4) Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Like Sullivan’s Travels, this 80’s comedy is basically an American road movie - but with all the fun and disaster of Steve Martin at his best thrown into the mix.
Neal Page (Martin) is trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving but when bad weather grounds his flight the adventure begins… What follows is a good old family movie with more travel related catastrophes than you can dream of, with even more added comedy by John Candy’s irritating ‘Curtain Ring Salesman’.
Standout Moment: Getting charged for speeding after the speedometer is melted in a ‘minor’ car fire…
5) Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure - Well, it’s travel of sorts! We just couldn’t ignore the film that made every adolescent, young adult, and (lets be honest) aging statesman cry with laughter.
Bill S. Preston (Esq.) and Ted Theodore Logan run riot through the annals of history, traveling (we emphasize the word to persuade ourselves as much as anything else) from one famous historical moment to the next in order to complete a school project. The result: Carnage, hilarity, and a lot of dodgy guitar playing.
Standout Catchphrase: Excellent!
