The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

I just rewatched this movie 32 years later after it has been shoot, and I must say, it has aged well, meaning, it is still funny and hilarious to watch. Okay, some scenes need some explanation to younger generation (like the opening Beirut scene is not really comprehensible to someone who was born in the nineties). But overall the jokes are delivered with a good timing and a still good hit/miss ratio. So, given that age of that movie, and how comparable movies have not aged as well, I am now increasing my rating from 7/10 to 9/10.

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.

For sheer goof-ball exuberance, you needn't look any further than "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!". Leslie Nielsen remains forever associated with the role of inept Lt. Frank Drebin, who always tries to do the right thing but always makes a mess of everything. Here, he's trying to foil an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth. Since this is from the people behind "Airplane!", it means that much of the humor derives from twisted dialogue and things popping out of the background. To crown it all, there's even a guest appearance by "Weird Al" Yankovic as himself. Also starring are Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson, and Ricardo Montalban.

And to think that Leslie Nielsen started out in movies like "Forbidden Planet"!

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.

This is another movie from the creators of the ever hysterical Airplane. If you've seen Airplane, than you can expect the same kind of humor from this. This is one of those movies in which you can go crazy by trying to count the gags in the first ten minutes. Airplane did disaster films, this one does police dramas.

Frank Drebin (Leslie Neilsen) is a respected cop with gravel for a brain. He is part of a police force called Police Squad, who the security of Queen Elizabeth has just been handed to for her visit to Los Angeles. Frank bumbles through several hilarious scenarios in trying to foil an assassination attempt on her, and catch the attempted murderer of his best friend Nordberg (OJ Simpson). Meanwhile, he starts going out with the beautiful Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley).

This movie goes from one hilarious situation to another, from commandeering a car that's being used for a drivers test, to trying to save a valuable pen from a fish tank. Leslie Neilsen's comedic timing is brilliant. His facial expressions during the slapstick sequences are priceless, as are his dead-seriousness of delivering one liners. Some of his quotes are so hilarious, that I have trouble figuring out how he could have possibly kept a straight face during filming. This is another classic in the same style as Airplane, which means hilarity. This gets a 9/10.

It is rated PG-13 for Crude and Sexual Humor, and for Some Language. Sex: 7/10 Violence: 4/10 Swearing: 4/10 Drugs: 5/10