Every Naked Gun Movie (And Police Squad!) Ranked

This article contains spoilers for every "Naked Gun" movie (ESPECIALLY "Naked Gun 3" through "Naked Gun 32")

Prior to 1980, Leslie Nielsen would often be associated with more dramatic roles in movies such as "Forbidden Planet" and "The Poseidon Adventure," in addition to a slew of guest spots across every manner of television show. But that all changed when Wisconsin comedy trio David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (otherwise known as ZAZ) cast him as Dr. Rumack in "Airplane" — otherwise celebrated as one of the greatest comedies of all time. Nielsen possessed a sneaky advantage over more traditional comic actors due to his stature as a serious performer who said his lines as if he wasn't trying to get a laugh. The deadpan delivery of, "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley," single-handedly altered the trajectory of Nielsen's career, thrusting him into almost exclusively comic roles across slapstick heavy spoof movies like "Wrongfully Accused," "Spy Hard," and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."

Nielsen could be an unstoppable comic force with the right creative team guiding him, but in most cases, few could recapture the magic of his work with ZAZ. While "Airplane" may be the more widely celebrated film, it's the "Naked Gun" series that gifted Nielsen with his most memorable character in Frank Drebin. The bumbling detective was a hilarious parody of the straight-laced cop characters, yet Nielsen's spirited performance made Drebin more than an easy caricature. Not even the unfortunate cancellation of "Police Squad!" could end this character's viability, as Drebin's brand of chaos would end up on the big screen with three theatrical-released "Naked Gun" movies. Even after Nielsen's death, the goofy tenor of "The Naked Gun" lives to see another day with the critically acclaimed legacy sequel reboot starring Liam Neeson as Drebin's equally destructive offspring. /Film's Ethan Anderton calls it "one of the funniest movies of the year" in his review.

The issue with most comedy franchises is that they often get it right the first time, with most of their follow-ups showing diminishing returns. With that said, however, it's pretty incredible that the "Naked Gun" series doesn't feature a single bad entry. Every "Naked Gun" is loaded with a tremendous helping of laugh out loud gags that cements it as one of the most consistently funny comedy franchises.

Let's take a closer look by having every "Naked Gun" movie (and "Police Squad!") ranked.

The hilariously titled "Naked Gun 33 ⅓: The Final Insult" is often regarded as the series' worst film for valid reasons (of which I'll get into), but there's actually a lot to like here. It features the most propulsive story, as a retired Drebin is brought back into the fray to investigate an incarcerated bomber named Rocco Dillon (a genuinely fun villain performance from Fred Ward). On top of continuing to explore the relationship dynamic between a now-married Drebin and Jane (Priscilla Presley), the couple get roped into Dillon's nefarious plot to blow up the Academy Awards. 

The threequel plays like an extended parody of Raoul Walsh's seminal gangster classic "White Heat," with Kathleen Freeman as Dillon's overprotective mother. It's difficult to completely lambast any movie that opens with a hilarious dual parody of both Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables" and "Battleship Potemkin." But for as much as this threequel has going for it, it's got some rough patches.

"The Final Insult" is the first film in the series to not be directed by David Zucker. Peter Segal isn't entirely to blame, as he does his best to recapture the magic of the previous films, even though there's a noticeable shift in the hit/miss ratio of the gags. The most glaring strike against "The Final Insult" is rooted in the all too casual transphobia of the '90s with Anna Nicole Smith's Tanya Peters. A particularly distasteful parody of Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game" sees Drebin vomiting profusely at the thought of having kissed a trans woman (of which he should be so lucky). I do think "The Final Insult" mostly works, but it sure puts a damper on things.

At first glance, "The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear" doesn't sound nearly as exciting as the movies it's sandwiched between. Nothing says 'laugh riot' more than a plot about coal, oil and nuclear companies being threatened by the arrival of renewable energy. But even with its story being a noticeable downgrade from the first film, Nielsen is so effortlessly hilarious and the jokes are so consistently funny that it almost doesn't matter. It features more politically centered jokes, one of which gets a diegetic rimshot. "You want me to be in your cabinet," Drebin asks President George Bush Sr. after being offered a job in the company of scumbags. Robert Goulet keeps with the "Naked Gun" track record of getting great actors to play villains with great names as the nefarious, yet suave oil tycoon Quentin Hapsburg.

"The Smell of Fear" is the first "Naked Gun" to not be written by Jim Abrahams or Jerry Zucker, but David Zucker mines some pretty great jokes out of Drebin wreaking havoc in Washington D.C. It's impossible to not ugly laugh at the sight of George Kennedy's Ed Hocken (an underrated performance throughout the series) revving a sex toy that's essentially a chainsaw but with a massive flopping dildo as the blade portion. Another highlight is an extended riff of "Ghost" that sees David parodying the famous pottery sequence of his own brother's Academy Award-nominated supernatural romance thriller. 

But the biggest reason this sequel and a half largely succeeds is because Presley and Nielsen's dynamic once again provides a surprisingly sweet emotional center, as the pair attempt to reconcile whether they should even be together. It just happens to take place in a film with dopplegängers, escaped zoo animals, and a water-exploding assassin.

Trying to revive a series born of Nielsen's deadpan charm seemed like a fool's errand, but my concerns dissipated with the first five minutes of "The Naked Gun." In an era where theatrically released studio comedies are a rare commodity, it's heartening to know that Akiva Schaffer's exuberantly silly legacy sequel is retraining audiences to go see a smartly written dumb comedy in the company of a whole bunch of people laughing their butts off. It feels like such a breath of fresh air, as it combines the ZAZ brand of hilarious non-sequiters and sight gags with the kind of jokes you'd expect to see in a Lonely Island digital short. Neeson is quite possibly the best person they could have gotten to be Nielsen's successor.

Drebin Jr. possesses a similar lack of self-awareness, while never becoming an outright copy of his father. Neeson is able to build his comedic chops around off his late stage career shift as an older action star with violence on his mind. Hearing him say some of these jokes in that gruff tenor of his already makes it 10x funnier. "The Naked Gun" possesses the power to grant Neeson with yet another career renaissance in the world of comedy. The biggest surprise may be Pamela Anderson as femme fatale Beth Davenport, a hilarious twist on the Catherine Trammell character from "Basic Instinct" who shares an adorable chemistry with her co-star.

Danny Huston comfortably joins the ranks of fun "Naked Gun" villains, there's a hilarious extension of the hospital scene from "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" and the snowman sequence is one of the funniest things I've seen all year. "The Naked Gun" being so breathlessly funny that laughs often carry over into the next joke is a great problem to have and a promising sign for the series' future.

ABC's "Police Squad" proved to be something of an anomaly for the network, as the rapid-fire sight gags across each 25-minute episode proved to be too much for the average viewer. The absence of a laugh track actually required them to pay attention to the jokes, some of which were happening in the background of any given scene. It was for this reason, despite great reviews, that the short-lived series was cut down in its prime after just six episodes. You can feasibly watch the entire run in less time than it would take you to watch "Avatar" or "The Batman."

"Police Squad" ultimately became a cult hit sensation after it went off the air because no one was making television like this. ZAZ took a similar approach to "Airplane!," in which lines from stoic cop dramas like "Dragnet" and "Adam-12" were often played completely straight for laughs. Stories about a bank teller murder or a wealthy kidnapping plot would often go in such ludicrous directions that would make a casual television viewer think they're losing their mind. You'd be hit with an avalanche of jokes before the show would even begin, such as celebrity guests being killed off in the intro, episode titles that don't match what the narrator says, and Abraham Lincoln firing a gun in Ford's Theater. The title cards signaling the show's return after commercial break never fail to make me laugh, with my favorite being "Act II: Bruté."

The "Naked Gun" movies expanded their horizons of which pop culture touchstones to make fun of, but "Police Squad" sharply centers its skewering in the direction of police procedurals, and that's why the series still holds up incredibly well. Some of its jokes would even get ported over in the original trilogy. Getting an episode of police "Airplane!" every week sounds like a dream come true, but the world sadly wasn't ready for it.

If I were to compile a list of the movies I've seen more times than any person reasonably should, "The Naked Gun" would no doubt be one of them. The ZAZ crew all working in creative tandem gives way to one of the most breathlessly funny comedies of the '80s. It features the best string of jokes in the entire series, with my personal favorite being the back and forth bribe exchange on the dock between Drebin and his informant. The film offsets how uncomfortable it feels to laugh at an admittedly funny O.J. Simpson in a contemporary context by repeatedly finding ways to beat on Det. Nordberg.

Ricardo Montalban shines as Vincent Ludwig, the celebrated LA businessman who's secretly orchestrating a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II (Jeanette Charles) at a baseball game. The "Star Trek" actor could get a laugh in the same "don't let them know you're trying to be funny" approach that Nielsen was so good at, but at the same time, he lends an air of credibility to the whole thing. His evil plan is even funnier considering the hypnosis angle makes his unwitting sleeper agents say "I must kill ____" as they approach their mark.

Keeping with the rest of the original trilogy, "The Naked Gun" also happens to be a genuinely great romantic comedy between Nielsen and Presley. They're an adorable screen pairing who can sell the sweeter moments amid scenes of them about to have sex in a body-sized condom. It's a shame Presley didn't have a string of her own comedies, because her sultry, yet sweet performance as secretary Jane Spencer proves she has considerable comic chops.

Drebin saying "nice beaver" while looking up her skirt, only to be greeted with an actual stuffed beaver, is such a great gag that it even led to a hilarious popcorn bucket for the 2025 film. From the opening title sequence of a police cruiser barging through places it shouldn't be to the joke-laden end credits, there is never not something funny happening in "The Naked Gun," which is what still makes it the series benchmark.

"The Naked Gun" reboot is now playing in theaters nationwide.