Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, The

Washington Post Desson Thomson

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]

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

Crass, broad, irreverent, wacky fun - and absolutely hilarious from beginning to end.

Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr

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]

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Reviewing The Naked Gun... is like reporting on a monologue by Rodney Dangerfield - you can get the words but not the music.

Los Angeles Times Michael Wilmington

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]

Washington Post Rita Kempley

You have the right to remain silent. But if you do, call 911 -- your funny bone is busted. [2 Dec 1988]

USA Today Mike Clark

Bottom-line funny, often convulsively so. [2 Dec 1988]

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

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]

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

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]

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Not quite up to "Airplane!" or "Top Secret!," but there are still laughs aplenty.

TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)

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.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

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]

Time Richard Corliss

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]