Die nackte Kanone

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"!

I suppose when it comes down to it,I am very easily entertained when it comes to comedy.It just doesn't take much to make me laugh.The makers of The Naked Gun did their job well.The film is so overloaded with sight gags,that if you blink,you just might miss one,or maybe even two of them.The slightest distractions will make you miss something.Some of the humor is vulgar and downright tasteless,but nonetheless funny.The final sequences involving the baseball game were the best.With the possible exception of O.J.Simpson,who was never good when he tried to act,this was a grand all around comedic effort,and comedy,as many have said,is hard to produce.I actually can recall the short lived television series that this film is based on.Only six episodes were produced,and it was a shame more were not made.I was glad to see it come roaring back on the big screen.Perhaps it belonged there all along.

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

The movie itself is funny. "The Naked Gun" is without a doubt the best skewering of all cop movie cliches available in this day and age. It works on every conceivable level and a few that haven't been conceived yet.

But what puts it over the top is Leslie Nielsen.

It's amazing: he was great in "Airplane!", another classic from the ZAZ team (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker), and in the lamentably short TV series "Police Squad!". But here, he spreads his wings and flies to new heights of insanity and delerium. With jaw set square and tongue firmly in cheek, Neilsen makes the role of Lt. Frank Drebin all his own and the movie-going public's collective life is all the more enriched because of it.

He's aided and abetted by greats like Kennedy, Presley and Montalban (who knew?) and the movie even finds good moments for John Houseman and Reggie Jackson.

As I said, the movie takes off and finds great things to do with police cars with a mind all their own and goes on from there to take on such cliches as car chases, illegal searches, the cleaning out of the desk, the trip to the police lab, shoot-outs, the lax housework of a single police detective, etc., etc., etc.....

And what other cop movie in the history of the world has a music video in the middle, courtesy of Herman's Hermits?

Just one.

Ten stars and a Dugout Dog for "The Naked Gun", the film that answers once and for all - can Leslie Nielsen do comedy?

I think you know the answer.

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