Pitched as Airplane! with an urban twist, Jessy Terrero's Soul Plane turns out to be "a one-way ticket to comedy hell". Snoop Dogg and Tom Arnold are among those who star in this critically reviled movie set aboard the fictional NWA airlines (see what they did there?). It flew under the radar with modest ticket sales in the US, but bombed everywhere else. Whoops - never say bomb on a plane...
Low Flying
Cast and crew speculate on what NWA stands for in the foul-mouthed and frankly irritating Boarding Pass: The Making Of Soul Plane. 'No Whites Allowed', is one suggestion, but actress Sommore probably hits the nail on the head when she guesses, 'Not Without Ass', as in: you won't get on this movie, not without ass." Hence it should come as no surprise that Terrero began his career making hip-hop music videos. Still, the director is so beloved by his cast that they devote an entire featurette to kissing up. "It's his first movie, but you can't tell," reckons Snoop Dogg in The Upgrade, which plays like a gushy montage to someone whose about to receive a Lifetime Achievement award. Sorry, Jessy who?
Most of the deleted footage will have you hurling cookies like you're caught in turbulence. 11 scenes build to lame punchlines like, "Where's the sweets? My daddy says you pack fudge" and "Black cockpits are huge". If you were forced to watch this on a plane, you wouldn't think twice about bailing out. Even the outtakes reel is devoid of laughs - merely actors fluffing rubbish dialogue.
Hot Air
On the bright side, director Jessy Terrero and his leading players offer a brisk and boisterous commentary. Kevin Hart and Tom Arnold do most of the talking, but behind-the-scenes insights are restricted to nonsense titbits, eg Hart's toilet scene was done using a gimbal...
Click on Gary Anthony William's fan on the special features menu and hear the actors' outlandish ideas on how to make air travel more comfortable (not showing Soul Plane as the in-flight movie would be a start). Arguably the wittiest addition to this DVD is the Survivor Safety Video, which riffs on a certain Destiny's Child song. Other than that, Soul Plane is excess baggage on DVD.
EXTRA FEATURES
