Just finished watching all three of these films. All very funny comedies which I hadn't seen in a while. I had liked the second one the best the first go round, but upon further review, I think I prefer the original.

The first Naked Gun has the element of freshness to it that the others predictably lack. Leslie Nielsen is still deadpan and not as much of a buffoon he would become in the other two films. The opening teaser, featuring Drebin taking on the evil dictators of the world, is very amusing. Most of the cast (wisely) act as mere straight men for the other gags, including Ricardo Montalban's bad guy.

There are a lot of great scenes, including the car chase with the driving school instructor (John Houseman, who I think may have been dead already by the time this film came out) with the great payoff involving numerous explosions, the inane Herman's Hermits music video sequence, and a lot of great laughs at the baseball game, which feature the real players Reggie Jackson and...Jay Johnstone. Some of the gags are a little less funny now that they have been endlessly imitated (such as the scene where Drebin goes to the urinal while still miked up), but this still features a great deal of subtle visual jokes. I also enjoy the inversions of cliches--the doctor throwing the pillow at Drebin and it suffocating him and Drebin taking a hostage at the end because "TWO can play it that way!"

Other great set pieces include the infamous "statue climbing" scene with Drebin holding onto various parts of statue anatomy, the rescuing of Queen Elizabeth, and that hilarious beginning with O.J. getting the snot beaten out of him. Those understandly leery of O.J. will be somewhat contented to know he has a pretty small role in this one.
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The second one is still very funny (and arguably hits higher highs than the first), hampered really only by a few factors. The "reactions" went up in this film--to cement nearly every joke, it seems like we have to have a reaction shot, making it less subtle. The preachy environmental message is a little sledgehammer satire (oil companies make pretty easy targets). The Bush humor dates the film (but it is a funny teaser).

For a villain, Robert Goulet is okay in a very undemanding role. I thought Montalban was a little more subtle, but Goulet gets the job done. The guy playing his assassin is also hilarious, specifically in that great bathroom sequence where he can't resist singing along to "The Way We Were" and then fights Drebin with bathroom supplies. Richard Griffiths as the crippled energy genius provides a lot of jokes; you can't go wrong with harming the disabled or buttocks jokes, for that matter. He also has one of the funniest lines in the movie, when he sneers "Drebin!" at the end in a high-pitched voice.

I love the opening credit sequence to this--there are a lot of great gags (car in the bullring, car being born, a very dated Zsa Zsa Gabor joke). The film kind of meanders though: the scene at the docks really doesn't go anywhere (a great piece of physical comedy though when Drebin "breaks free"). The climax is also the weakest of the trilogy, although it does have several terrific jokes.

Highlights include the "Ghost" parody (including every metaphor for intercourse possible on film) which led the famous trailer ("from the brother of the director of Ghost), Drebin interrogating the (two) dying guards, the Blue Note bar (watch the pictures) including the priceless scene where the waiter shakes his head at the Black Russian request, Goulet's demise (a masterful and logical joke), and of course, Lloyd Bochner's reprisal of his "To Serve Man" role.
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The third one is obviously the weakest, mainly because it's just so obvious and rather surprisingly for being the most recent, arguably the most dated. Jokes about Thelma and Louise and The Crying Game aren't that funny anymore. The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Fred Ward has fun as Rocco, but the fun present when charmmeisters Montalban and Goulet were villains isn't present. Kathleen Freeman brings the funny as Ward's vulgar mom (basically doing the same thing she did in many films of this period). Anna Nicole Smith, who was not quite as loony as she would become (faint praise), has the problem of not being able to act, but does okay.

There is an almost continuous stream of familiar faces/cameo appearances. The prison scene alone has Rosey Grier, Randall "Tex" Cobb, and R. Lee Ermey. At the Oscars, plenty of stars, mostly B-list, pop up in fun, self-deprecating cameoes. This does add an element of tackiness to the movie, but it is somewhat forgiveable.

The movie is best at the beginning and the end. A marvelous parody of The Untouchables kicks off the movie and the credits contain some fine moments (especially the Star Wars bit--the scene where the car is a plane about to crash into a building is a bit more disquieting). Things drag after that--the sperm bank sequence thinks it's a lot funnier than it really is and an already-dated-by-the-time-it-came-out Thelma and Louise parody if merely a halfhearted diversion. The prison sequence offers some funny moments, but it soon peters out.

The Oscars ceremony, on the other hand, offers plenty of fine moments. The guy playing the director (who was a dock worker in number one) is terrific. Drebin's posing as Phil Donahue is inspired and that leads to a funny bit with Raquel Welch and an even better musical number parody with Pia Zadora. While some gags are kind of lame ("Geriatric Park"), there is the marvelous musical biopic of Mother Theresa that put me on the floor for a good five minutes. Drebin and Rocco engaging in a battle of wits is also good for some amusement.

While the third film is the weakest, it offers a satisfying valedictory feel to the material. The Arab bad guy from number one returns as Fred Ward's superior. A lot of old jokes are reprised or reworked.

The film commentaries on the DVDs are all great; the first two are the best, with the third being a little more cluttered with people (and the director of the third talks a lot more and isn't as funny). There are some great black humor OJ jokes on the first commentary (my favorite--seeing Nordberg sneaking around, "Is that footage from the movie or OJ's personal life?").

I gotta agree the third one is about the lamest and dated of them all while the first one is still the freshest and least dated. maybe because they tried to stay away from topical/datable humor.

Watch the TV series (Police Squad) that this movie series was based on. Those six episodes were frequently funnier than any of the flicks. I don't know if that series was meant to last more than those six episodes. ABC ran four shows in the spring of 1982; the ratings were awful that it was pulled after only four ran, and the two remaining shows were burned off that summer.
Is it true that Paramount would rather dump a successful film series than employ O.J. Simpson? Was there ever even any talk of a Naked Gun 4?
John Houseman died on October 31, 1988, about six weeks before the first Naked Gun movie opened.
Lloyd Bochner appears in Naked Gun 2 1/2. During a particularly frantic secne, he carries around a book with "To Serve Man" on its cover.

Adam Bomb: Is it true that Paramount would rather dump a successful film series than employ O.J. Simpson?
I don't see why they'd have to do either. They can drop the character, or recast it. Is Simpson that indispensable an actor that this cannot be done?

Yes.

Peter Lupus played Norberg in the TV series. Simpson has not worked as an actor since Naked Gun 33 1/3 and is doubtless unemployable as one.

There was a great scene in Naked Gun 2 1/2. A very voluptuous young woman who works in a sex shop says to Drebin "Is this a bust?" Drebin, staring at her chest, counters with "Yes, it's very nice." By the way, that young woman was Gina Mastrogiacomo. She most notably played Henry Hill's girlfriend Janice Rossi in GoodFellas. Her acting career was fairly brief, as she unfortunately passed away in 2001.

IIRC, the line is "Is this some kind of bust?", to which Drebin replies, "Yes, it's very impressive."

pick... pick... pick...

Gawd. You're talking about a dead woman's rack. Ewwww...............

But the character lives forever in the digital realms. So it aint that gross.

One minor gripe is that the films do not use the classic Police Squad gag of everyone freezing for the credits, but things still moving around in the fore/background. This gag is thankfully used in the trailer for the original film where Drebin stands goofily as the trailer credits roll while a dog sniffs his crotch.

I had a thought about this series. Does anyone else think "The Naked Gun" may have had its name inspired by "The "Nude Bomb"?

The Wikipedia article on the first film indicates that it was, but the assertion is not supported by a cited source that explicitly establishes that this parallel was intentional.

I thought it was supposed to be evocative of "The Naked City", a show in which Leslie Nielsen appeared.

All three Naked Gun films are now available in a Triple Feature Pack. Three films on three DVDs in a case the size of a single DVD case. Good price too.

I just read a news report that a reboot is in the planning stages with Liam Neeson in the starring role. I wonder if they chose him because his name is similar to Leslie Neilson.

The reboot is set to be directed by Akiva Schaffer of The Lonely Island. My first thought when I saw that was "Thank God! It's not Seltzer and Friedberg."

Here's more on the reboot. Seth McFarlane is also involved. (Maybe the reboot can be called The Naked Orville?...Nah.)

Given that a lot of the humor in ZAZ productions (Airplane, Police Squad, Naked Gun, etc.) was a deadpan delivery of funny lines, Liam Neeson is actually a good choice.

Although one wonders if he might not be too serious.

I mean if he did a line like "I am serious and stop calling me Shirley!" would you laugh at the silliness or think, "Yes, sir!" ;-)

Click to see how good he is with deadpan comedy.

"Not available in your country"

Hi-laaaaaar-ious.

Well THERE’S a first! Available in Australia but not in Canada/US?

Yet, when Russia or China censors a video, the same countries that allow this condemn them.

Careful Tim, you're doing it again....

Eh??

Spouting anti-Russia stuff in something non political. You were warned about it earlier this year.

My point stands.

Geo-blocking is censorship.

I may agree with you, Tim, but this is not the forum for it. Take it to PM instead please.

Geo-blocking is a funny sounding word. "That mountain is censoring what's on the other side! Geo-blocking!!!" ;-)

Sometimes geo-blocking is so the creators can sell broadcast rights. I can't blame someone from wanting to make money from something they created/own, but then I'm a capitalist.

Was the clip of Liam Neeson from a Ricky Gervais(?) project? Where Liam tries to show he can do comedy. I've seen that one.

Yes it was- and it wasn’t even an official account- just a fan vid.

And Tim, nobody said your point wasn’t valid just that it didn’t need to be made here.

Leslie Neilson was The Naked Gun, IMO.

It will probably go as well as the reboot of Quantum Leap. There's practically nobody left who was in the series or movies, and with so many people's sensitivity levels being higher than even what is considered PC, the comedy will likely suffer.

No Leslie Neilson, no Naked Gun.

There's practically nobody left who was in the series or movies

Except for O.J. Simpson.

Yeah...

The Naked Gun Reboot is due to be released July 18, 2025

And now Simpson is gone.

Another reboot that no one wanted or asked for.

*Copy paste my reply from the Miami Vice board.*

They need to pass a law: No reboots allowed for at least fifty years after the original.