The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

David Zucker

Writers (WGA):

Jim Abrahams (television series Police Squad) &
David Zucker (television series "Police Squad") ...

Release Date:

2 December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

The Villain. Even Mother Teresa wanted him dead.

Plot:

Incompetent cop Frank Drebbin has to foil an attempt to assasinate Queen Elizabeth II.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Queen | Baseball | Mind Control | Scheme

Cast

Leslie Nielsen	...	Lt. Frank Drebin
Priscilla Presley	...	Jane Spencer
Ricardo Montalban	...	Vincent Ludwig
George Kennedy	...	Capt. Ed Hocken
O.J. Simpson	...	Det. Nordberg
Susan Beaubian	...	Wilma Nordberg
Nancy Marchand	...	Mayor Barkley
Raye Birk	...	Papshmir
Jeannette Charles	...	Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II
Ed Williams	...	Ted Olsen
Tiny Ron	...	Al, Tall Lab Tech
'Weird Al' Yankovic	...	Weird Al Yankovic
Leslie Maier	...	Herself
Winifred Freedman	...	Stephanie
Joe Grifasi	...	Pier 32 Dockman

Also Known As:

The Naked Gun
¿Y dónde está el policía? (Chile) (Venezuela) [es]
Çiplak silah (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Agárralo como puedas (Spain) [es]
Aonde É Que Pára a Polícia (Portugal) [pt]
Beint á ská (Iceland) [is]
Bláznivá strela (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Corra Que a Polícia Vem Aí! (Brazil) [pt]
Csupasz pisztoly (Hungary) [hu]
Den nakna pistolen (Sweden) [sv]
Die nackte Kanone (West Germany) [de]
Høj pistolføring (Denmark) [da]
L'agent fait la farce (Canada: French title) [fr]
La pistola desnuda (Argentina) [es]
Mies ja alaston ase (Finland) [fi]
Naga bron (Poland) [pl]
Trelles sfaires (Greece) [el]
Una pallottola spuntata (Italy) [it]
Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver la reine? (France) [fr]

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-12/9 | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Spain:T | Canada:A (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

University of San Diego, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The baseball blooper reel shows a ballplayer's head coming off when he crashes into a fence. This scene is a tribute to a quote from San Diego Padres announcer Jerry Coleman: "Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall - and it rolls off! It's rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres."

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Frank hits the trash cans in front of the police station, the airbags deploy and the second "airbag" pushes the gear selector up, causing the car to roll down the hill. In a car with an automatic transmission, the selector must be moved down to take the car out of 'park'.

Quotes:

[while Jane is erotically sucking his finger]
Frank: I've got nine more.

Movie Connections:

References Platoon (1986)

Soundtrack:

Louie, Louie

Screamingly funny!

"The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" is the first movie based on the 1982 cult classic TV sitcom "Police Squad!" And this movie stands up next to "Airplane!" as one of the funniest movies ever made. That's no surprise, since the same team (Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker) that made "Airplane!" made "The Naked Gun". This movie is quite similar to "Airplane!" in the way it presents its jokes. Rapid fire, and you can't stop laughing. My kind of comedy. "The Naked Gun" has some of the biggest laughs in a movie that I've ever seen. Leslie Nielsen is perfect in his return to the role of inept cop Lt. Frank Drebin. Priscilla Presley is very funny in her film debut. George Kennedy, Ricardo Montalban, and even Nancy Marchand (a decade before "The Sopranos") get big laughs amongst the craziness. And love that opening title sequence. Very original. And unlike the "Police Academy" series, "The Naked Gun" sequels lived up to the original 1988 film. The first one is still the best, but "Naked Gun 2 1/2" and "Naked Gun 33 1/3" were very funny too. That's why "The Naked Gun" series is the funniest movie series ever made. I wish Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker would dream up an idea for a fourth "Naked Gun" picture. If they do, I'll see it in a flash.

**** (out of four)