I dare someone to find a better opening sequence then the Naked gun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6nW7XvTYn0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6nW7XvTYn0
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The Naked Gun appreciation thread
- Thread starter Dalek
- Start date
"I'm Lieutenant Frank Drebin, POLICE SQUAD!"
I remember when I was in High School, in my English class we had to do a project about an author of our choice. My team chose John Steinbeck and we did a skit where John Steinbeck was being interviewed-and discussed his harassment from the government and IRS. At the end of the interview, there was a knock at the door and I entered wearing a full suit and tie with sunglasses. I said "I'm Lieutenant Frank Drebin, POLICE SQUAD!" and arrested John Steinbeck
Adam_Vania
Banned
as a children of the 80s imo all the Naked Gun movies are beyond classic and belong in the same satirical canon as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Weird Al (who coincidentally has a great cameo in the third film). Police Squad is great if you crave more.
best gag ever is when following the final battle bad guy Robert Goulet survives the fall from a building and gets up and adjusts his tie and then a tiger leaps out of nowhere and devours him.
best gag ever is when following the final battle bad guy Robert Goulet survives the fall from a building and gets up and adjusts his tie and then a tiger leaps out of nowhere and devours him.
Agreed. It's not as good as the first two, but it's still filled with funny stuff and should not be avoided.
Weird Al was there in the first and second film too...
"And you. You came down here for the hot story, didn't ya? Lousy pictures of me to send to your newspapers. Sure you think I'm a big hero, the man of the hour... Well, do you understand how a man can hurt inside...?"
"Frank, they're not here for you. "Weird Al" Yankovic is on the plane."
And as a crook Drebin accidentally knocks out in the second film.
uncredited male
Member
lt's hard to believe, but apparently the umpires have got Criscione in a run-down.
SeaOfMadness
Member
Herr Starr
Member
Well this thread got me to watch the first movie again today, and it's still as good as ever. It has a major flaw though: the baseball game has always been impenetrable to me as a Norwegian, and I still don't get nearly half the jokes in that sequence. The movie is clearly made for Americans and assumes that the viewer is familiar with baseball. It kind of reduces the impact of what should be the comedic climax of the film.
Just curious about what parts you don't get.
Herr Starr
Member
Anything that has to do with the rules of the game. I don't even recognize the joke spots in some cases. Most of the jokes while Drebin is an umpire (I wouldn't even remember that word if I hadn't just seen the movie) miss completely.
cj_iwakura
Member
Watched the first two episodes of Angie Tribeca because of this thread. Definitely a modern Police Squad. Not as clever, but a for effort. The dog is amazing.
You only really need to know three strikes and out, the ball has to go over the white plate at the batters feet between a certain height, 3 fails and you get to walk to first base, and the 3 bases the players run to, the player must touch the white base before a catch or pass puts them out and players edge out to get to the next base quicker which is a risk. Frank saying strike before the ball even passes the player makes it funny too because the player is unfairly distracted.
Shit, that is more complicated but I think the jokes still work easily enough.
il Diavolo
Banned
Somebody like Dan Akroyd or Bill Murray....hell, I'm drawing a blank.
Herr Starr
Member
A lot of actors can do it as long as they don't try to be Leslie Nielsen. Back in the days, Charlie Sheen did an excellent job with the Hot Shots movies, and Val Kilmer did pretty well in Top Secret!. Both did the deadpan style, and it worked. Had they tried to be the lead in a Naked Gun movie without Leslie Nielsen though, I don't think it would have worked out quite as well. The more serious the actor is considered in his regular movies, the better it would work, I think.
The crazy thing is that up until Airplane, Leslie was a straight up dramatic actor. It was his deadpan delivery in Airplane that made everyone see how well he could perform in a comedy where he was dead serious.
The Shadow
Member
Oh man. This thread makes me want to marathon the Naked Gun series.
NealMcCauley
Member
He guest starred in an early episode of MASH where you could see the potential.
IrishNinja
Member
aw, Frank...my father went out the same way
TheRedSnifit
Member
I remember his appearance on SNL where he joked about how he says "Unfunny things in an unfunny way, but somehow people still find it funny."
Nocturnowl
Member
While the third film isn't as strong as the first two it has moments that get regularly quoted among my friends
"like a blind man at an orgy, I was going to have to feel things out"
"Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes"
"Cheer up, Ed. This is not goodbye. It's just I won't ever see you again."
"like a blind man at an orgy, I was going to have to feel things out"
"Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes"
"Cheer up, Ed. This is not goodbye. It's just I won't ever see you again."
Adam_Vania
Banned
otm the seriousness is half the joke. he really seems like a no-nonsense cop trapped in an insane comedy universe.
he is amazing in Forbidden Planet (1956), which is a great film and had a Robbie-style robot ten years before Lost in Space:
i recently watched the first Hot Shots and actually found it light on gags. in Naked Gun the gags are wall-to-wall and nonstop. Nielsen is way funnier and also a better ladies man than Charlie Sheen, he made out with both Elvis's wife Priscilla Presley and Anna Nicole Smith at their sexy early 90s peaks.
WordAssassin
Member
Here's the key:
Which makes me fucking FURIOUS that the reboot/sequel (seaboot?) cast fucking Ed Helms in the main role. The Naked Gun reboot should never happen because simply by casting a comedic actor in the lead they've shown they absolutely do not get it. They need someone like Liam Neeson in the role, not some fucking shmuck who's going to ham up every scene and gag. I mean I like Ed Helms but he is just the wrong guy for this.
Puck Beaverton
Banned
Top Secret! is brilliant.
Always-honest
Banned
Well, Police Squad is the real deal imo.
Don't get me wrong, the movies are great too.
Don't get me wrong, the movies are great too.
TheGreatDirector
Banned
Remember when Liam wanted to be a comedian? I thought he had potential.
https://youtu.be/huJ81Mq2y34
There doing a Naken Gun sequel/reboot?? Ugh......Doesnt need one, will never need one.
KernelPanic
Member
I keep forgetting how funny that movie was.
Me and my wife still laugh about the East German Women's Olympic Team.
Sad Affleck
Member
I always thought (a younger) Ed O'Neill would be a great lead for a Naked Gun-like movie.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
What made Nielsen work is that he was a classic drama actor that retooled his career in comedy. A comedian would try to be funny and ruin the jokes.
Patrick Bateman
Member
Bloodporne
Member
One of the best moments.
Where do we fall on Dracula: Dead and Loving It?
Inversely, he was game for his nude scene in Scary Movie 4 (it was 4, right?)...
Dracula: Dead and Loving It is sorely underrated and cracks me up every time.
HyperZone<3
Member
Re-Possessed (an Exorcist spoof with Nielsen and Linda Blair) is deservedly forgotten. Worst spoof of his career.
But for a reboot, who the hell could carry that kind of torch though? I do like the idea of a straight up dramatic actor playing it straight. A lot of Gary Oldman's paycheck roles veer towards parody already. Human meme Nicolas Cage is a versatile comic and dramatic actor, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is actually a full-on dark cop comedy and its great. And James Brolin has already excelled at serious/funny as seen in Hail, Ceasar and Inherent Vice.
But for a reboot, who the hell could carry that kind of torch though? I do like the idea of a straight up dramatic actor playing it straight. A lot of Gary Oldman's paycheck roles veer towards parody already. Human meme Nicolas Cage is a versatile comic and dramatic actor, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is actually a full-on dark cop comedy and its great. And James Brolin has already excelled at serious/funny as seen in Hail, Ceasar and Inherent Vice.
WordAssassin
Member
That's literally what made me want Liam to be in the reboot/sequel. He's similar to Leslie in that he's very well known for his serious/dramatic roles but he clearly has a good sense of humor and comedic delivery and timing. I think he'd be perfect for it.
Do you mean Josh Brolin? He could totally do it. His version of Tommy Lee Jones' Kay in MiB 3 was really incredible. I bet he'd actually be really really good at doing deadpan humor like Naked Gun and Airplane.
Nick Cage could be good. I don't know if I've seen him in anything that wasn't tongue in cheek? As in he's been in stuff that's got humor but he always seems in on the joke, whereas with Naked Gun, Leslie was completely oblivious and serious at all times to the insanity around him or that he was causing. He'd say ridiculous things but it was never with a smirk like he knew it was ridiculous, but maybe I just haven't seen anything where Cage is doing deadpan humor? I mean I know his deal is he's deadpan but he always seems to have like a little smirk or something when he delivers a joke.
How about that?!?!
Puck Beaverton
Banned
Josh Brolin could just be Bigfoot in Naked Gun and it would work.
HappyPuppy
Member
Watched Naked Gun 2 1/2 yesterday when my internet went out (RIP) and man it had a lot of funny moments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My520HDyHMU
The electric toothbrush, the hair drier and the towel ...i lost it, so stupid but it made me laugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My520HDyHMU
The electric toothbrush, the hair drier and the towel ...i lost it, so stupid but it made me laugh.
Vincent Alexander
Member
I second Liam Neeson. He is so damn good at playing goofy comedy straight.
I went to rewatch Naked Gun, but Netflix doesn't have it on stream anymore. What the hell?! Guess I gotta go to parent's house and dig up my DVDs.
I went to rewatch Naked Gun, but Netflix doesn't have it on stream anymore. What the hell?! Guess I gotta go to parent's house and dig up my DVDs.