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The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Metascore
76 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    90
    Crass, broad, irreverent, wacky fun - and absolutely hilarious from beginning to end.
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    90
    More juvenile than a Mel Brooks movie, wittier than "Get Smart," almost as low as "Animal House" and close to the laugh count of "Airplane!", "Gun" is a loving parody of every cop show that ever syndicated its way to your living room. [2 Dec 1988]
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  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    Reviewing The Naked Gun... is like reporting on a monologue by Rodney Dangerfield - you can get the words but not the music.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    88
    Hugely funny, but it's also liberating-precisely because it centers its aim on that cold, closed system and blows it apart. The straight lines are shattered; the empty spaces in the images are packed full until they burst. [2 Dec 1988]
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  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    80
    In the years since he first played Drebin, Nielsen has deepened the role, made it more subtle, more universal, more paramount. He's brought out an almost preternatural mellowness in a character who began as a relatively uncomplicated dimwit. [2 Dec 1988]
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  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    80
    You have the right to remain silent. But if you do, call 911 -- your funny bone is busted. [2 Dec 1988]
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  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    You don't walk out thinking or feeling anything in particular, except satisfied that you got your money's worth and maybe even got a little tired from laughing so hard. [2 Dec 1988]
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  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    75
    Bottom-line funny, often convulsively so. [2 Dec 1988]
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  9. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Non Credited)
    70
    A continuous stream of verbal and visual gags that come so fast, you don't have time to realize how bad/old/corny they are.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Elvis Mitchell
    70
    It will help if, while watching The Naked Gun, viewers can assume a mental age of about 14. The jokes will seem fresher that way, and they will also, much to the writers' credit, seem screamingly funny at times. [2 Dec 1988, p.C16]
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  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    Not quite up to "Airplane!" or "Top Secret!," but there are still laughs aplenty.
  12. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    63
    The action isn't as consistently funny or surprising this time, but there's a lot of laughter to be found between the merely crude moments. [2 Dec 1988]
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  13. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    50
    Like the ZAZ lads' other films, this is a movie made for a VCR Saturday night. They supply the jokes; you bring the microwave popcorn and modest expectations. [12 Dec 1988]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.8 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. eTurkey
    9
    With quite the lengthy title It's satifsying that the movie itself is exactly the opposite, in no way being tiresome or tedious. 'The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!' in the first film in It's respective trilogy and proves that movie adaptations based on television programs can indeed work if excelled at. If you're a fan of laugh-a-minute, side-splitting comedies then this flick WILL bring about the funnies in more ways than one. Simply put, It's slapstick comedy at Its near-finest and is one of the best flicks I have over my entire life.… Full Review »
  2. Halfwelshman
    8
    The first film in the Naked Gun series, which spawned from prematurely axed TV series Police Squad! is a rapid-fire comedy festooned with slapstick, puns and surreal humour. It's one of the best products of the Zuker, Abrahams and Zucker partnership (falling only slightly short of the brilliant Airplane!) and certainly the best film David Zucker has directed solo. Leslie Nielsen gives the performance of his career as Lt. Frank Drebin - his deadpan delivery and mastery of slapstick making him the perfect comedy anchor that holds the film together. Priscilla Presley and George Kennedy also impress as Frank's muse, Jane Spencer and exasperated police chief Capt. Ed Hocken. The film has a huge variety of gags - whether you love slapstick, wordplay, visual jokes or parody you'll find plenty to make you chuckle. There are a couple of jokes that don't quite hit the mark, but they hardly matter as there's always something else to laugh at before you've even had time to stop smiling. The film owes a lot to The Pink Panther in terms of comic style, and Frank Drebin is basically an updated Inspector Clouseau, but Leslie Nielsen is a fine comedian, just as Peter Sellers was, and he, along with Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker manage to make the Naked Gun films rival (if not exceed) those 60s and 70s comedy classics. It's quite simply hilarious, extremely enjoyable, and just as silly (in a good way) as it ever was.… Full Review »
  3. spadenx
    6
    I liked the series but this film sucked imo. Recycled a bit from the series and it really was just so stale and so stupid that I couldnt even come close to putting it in the same catagory as I did the series. Really disapointed with this.… Full Review »
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