The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

In this film, Leslie Nielsen gives full expression to the comic genius which he began to reveal in AIRPLANE! Frank Drebin is one of the great comic characters in film.

Just as in AIRPLANE! we get a grand spoof -- this time detective/police movie/TV cliches get roasted. The sight gags, Nielsen's dead-pan, and the wonderfully silly dialogue add up to a great comedy.

Fmovies: Really good film, I liked this one!

I recently bought the boxed set, (all 3 films) and really enjoyed watching them again. I have to admit though, I did not quite laugh as much as I did when I first watched them.

I remembering watching them the first time and thinking "What the hell am I watching? This is MAD! hahaha lol. All the bits like Frank hitting stuff with his car every time he parks and the bit with Nordberg at the start - classic!

Really good light-hearted fun...

7 out of 10

I am rather stingy with my "perfect 10" ratings on IMDb; of the nearly 600 films I've rated, I've given only nineteen "perfect 10s", or about 3% of all movies. So how did "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad" get the ultimate movie rating from me? By being so ridiculously over-the-top hilarious that it moved me to tears from laughing so hard and literally knocked me off of the couch when I saw it the first time. I remember the first time that I watched "The Naked Gun." I was home alone, it was on HBO, and I figured that it might be a funny movie to kill a night with. I was chuckling during the opening scene but what really got me going was the scene in which O.J. Simpson attempts a drug bust on a ship. I laughed uncontrollably from that point forward, at one point falling off my couch from laughter. The jokes are non-stop; there is not a single serious moment in this movie, and the gags are so rapid-fire that you don't notice the unfunny ones because you are too busy laughing at the next one. The whole movie is hilarious, but two scenes stand out as absolute classics to me: the ship scene with O.J. Simpson and the climactic baseball scene. I have seen the movie a dozen times and those two scenes still have me hysterical every time. A must-see film for anyone who likes slapstick humor or just has a sense of humor in general. Leslie Nielsen is superb. 10/10!

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! fmovies. "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" is the first movie based on the 1982 cult classic TV sitcom "Police Squad!" And this movie stands up next to "Airplane!" as one of the funniest movies ever made. That's no surprise, since the same team (Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker) that made "Airplane!" made "The Naked Gun". This movie is quite similar to "Airplane!" in the way it presents its jokes. Rapid fire, and you can't stop laughing. My kind of comedy. "The Naked Gun" has some of the biggest laughs in a movie that I've ever seen. Leslie Nielsen is perfect in his return to the role of inept cop Lt. Frank Drebin. Priscilla Presley is very funny in her film debut. George Kennedy, Ricardo Montalban, and even Nancy Marchand (a decade before "The Sopranos") get big laughs amongst the craziness. And love that opening title sequence. Very original. And unlike the "Police Academy" series, "The Naked Gun" sequels lived up to the original 1988 film. The first one is still the best, but "Naked Gun 2 1/2" and "Naked Gun 33 1/3" were very funny too. That's why "The Naked Gun" series is the funniest movie series ever made. I wish Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker would dream up an idea for a fourth "Naked Gun" picture. If they do, I'll see it in a flash.

**** (out of four)

Fresh from tackling terrorism in Beruit, with his own unique hands on style, Lt Frank Drebin is immediately called onto the job to investigate the near fatal shooting of a fellow officer. Det Nordberg was gunned down investigating a case in the docks and Drebin's investigation begins with the company that Nordberg was undercover with – that of pillar of the community Vincent Ludwig. As Frank falls for Ludwig's PA, the beautiful Jane Spencer, he uncovers proof of a dastardly plot by Ludwig – but who will believe him?

If there is a man, woman or child on this earth who can say, hand on heart, that they just don't find Airplane, Naked Gun, Police Squad and the like funny then I would very much like to meet the sad sack just to discover what it takes to elicit a smile from them. Needless to say, this sort of film is very much my type of thing but not to the point where I cannot spot a good one from a bad one. In fact one of the big downsides of this film is that it did create many copies that just couldn't do it as well – so we have had spoofs of all sorts of genres recently, but too many have more hits than misses.

It is to this films credit that it has a very high hit/miss ratio and I enjoy it so much because the laughs keep coming. The material is very silly but it is the constant straight face that it delivers it with that is perfect and makes it work. Other films of the ilk have been overly silly without keeping this straight face. However, our characters here seem oblivious – apart from the odd one who gives the other a funny look etc, and this makes the goings on even funnier. The plot is silly but that doesn't matter as you will be laughing too much to really care. Having seen it so often I have stopped roaring the way I did the first time but I still chuckled all the way.

The writing and direction is spot on – delivering sharp lines that make me laugh due to their sheer unexpectedness or the way they are so very out of place as well as sight gags that are imaginative and clever. However lets not forget a delivery by a very talented cast who make the material work. Praise goes to Nielsen in the lead; he may have worn his role thin over the years with typecasting and, shall we say 'less than perfect' material but give him the tools and he'll do you a job. He can be straight, he can dither or he can just be a clown and he does them all here – his delivery is great whether it's action or reaction shots. Likewise I felt the rest of the cast did well even if most of them are given reaction shots to Drebin. Presley is straight and funny for it while Kennedy seems to fit into the material with ease. OJ doesn't have as much chance to be funny and seems a little stiff in the scenes he is in, but he is still good – just pales a little when next to the others. I love Montalban and he uses his ooze really well in this film – and his reaction shots are very good. The support is all good but it is Nielsen doing his (now) time-honoured turn as spoof-master than steals the show.

Overall I love this genre and consider this film (indeed the series) to be up there with Police Squad and Airplane. It is not as hilarious as Airplane but it has way more hits than misses and is relentlessly funny. As a film it isn't perfect but anyone watching this who complains about plot holes, lack of character development or lack of narrative really have missed the point.

ZAZ's(David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker) The Naked Gun is one of the funniest (if not funniest) film ever with more parodies and gags than one could ever imagine. And the writing is if not good, great that never lets up (even through the finale baseball game with Reggie Jackson).

But what really gets this film up there is it's main characters. Leslie Nielson has never been better and probably won;t ever be this good ever again. He brings an insane type of humor from a cop that hasn't been seen since Clouseau. The supporting characters are good also, including Priscilla Pressley, George Kennedy, Ricardo Montebaum, Nancy Marchand and (odd to see him in a movie today) OJ Simpson. There zany characters and added with a great script make this a treasure in cinema comedy. One of the best films of the 80's. A++