Starring Leslie Nielsen, the acclaimed comedy Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad was a huge hit when it premiered on December 2, 1988.
But before there was the Naked Gun, fans enjoyed the TV series Police Squad in 1982. Although the series only produced 6 episodes, the audience was hooked on the hilarity and slapstick comedy of the show.
And luckily for everyone, even though the show never aired again, they took the premise and the characters to the big screen with Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad!
In both the show and the film (and the coming sequels), Leslie Nielsen plays police squad lieutenant Frank Drebin. While he has vital missions to attend to, such as shutting down a terrorist plot, protecting Queen Elizabeth I, and a giant drug bust, Drebin is really a big joke.
As he is trying to solve crimes and keep the world at large safe, he makes quite a mess of it, keeping the audience laughing for the entire film. The comedy is ridiculous, and watching Drebin hilariously try to “seriously” do his job is immensely fun to watch.
When it premiered, Naked Gun was an immediate success with both the critics and the audience. Everyone loved to laugh at Drebin’s slapstick comedy and then, as one review said, laugh at themselves for laughing.
Even today, the film holds an excellent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and other sites as one of the funniest movies of all time.
In fact, during the opening weekend, the film took the number one spot grossing $9.3 million throughout the USA and Canada and went on to take a worldwide total of $152.4 million.
In addition to making people laugh out loud and making the producers millions of dollars, the movie is also respected as one of the greatest comedies of all time, making it onto The New York Times’s list of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made.
Naked Gun experienced such immense success that director David Zucker, along with Paramount Pictures, produced two sequels, including The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994).
While both sequels did reasonably well, neither was quite as popular or well-received as the first movie in 1988.
However, over the past 30 years, the Naked Gun series has remained a classic comedy enjoyed by several generations.
Whether you loved the Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad when it premiered in 1988, or you have never seen the film, you should go watch it right now! You’re going to laugh out loud watching this old-school but classic comedy.
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