Post by StevePulaski on Dec 4, 2010 10:46:03 GMT -5
Leslie Nielsen was a true comedic and parody iconic in the eighties, nineties, and final years of his life. He is most famous for his role in Airplane, but his trilogy of The Naked Gun movies are some of the most recognizable comedy films. Nielsen had wanted to focus on being a serious actor, but he was sucked into many comical roles in the eighties and nineties. Of course I'm only talking about the last few decades, he did a plethora of movies with his serious tone, but none remembered as well as his comedy films.
When I learned about the death of Nielsen I was saddened and mainly upset I didn't see the films that he was famous for. So this thread is dedicated to both him and all three Naked Gun movie reviews.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988).
Rating: ★★★½
Due to Leslie Nielson's tragic and untimely death, I decided to visit one of his many films I haven't had the pleasure of seeing. I saw Airplane many years ago, I saw Scary Movie 3 and 4 in the theaters, and saw Creepshow last fall. I didn't however see Nielsen's parody films which made him famous like The Naked Gun trilogy and Spy Hard. So I finally put one on to watch what I had missed...22 years later.
It's true you don't know what you have until it's gone, and you appreciate it/them more when they're gone. I knew who Corey Haim was before he died and saw License to Drive a couple months before his death, but became somewhat obsessed with him when he died. Same thing applies with Michael Jackson, Greg Giraldo, and a number of others. Leslie Nielsen may be a victim to my awkward obsession. After watching this gem, he very well could be. If that's a good thing.
Leslie plays Frank Drebbin a policy officer who likes to think he is doing a good job, when really, he doesn't know what he is doing, and when he tries to do something good, he gets himself and others hurt. Drebbin now has to protect Queen Elizabeth II from being assassinated at a California Angels baseball game during the seventh inning stretch. Although the plot sounds very serious, it delivers an uncountable number of laughs in the process.
Going into this, aware of it being a parody/spoof film, I was nothing but skeptical. A parody film? Hasn't that genre been beaten, trashed, abused, and spat on by the duo of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer? But in the eighties and nineties, David Zucker knew how to be funny and original simultaneously. Rather than cramming over thirty pop culture characters/references that, most of the time, lack a purpose or dimension, Zucker took in a cop that wanted to do the right thing but unknowingly made matters either unclear or even worse than they already were.
The goal for a parody film is to make it play like a regular film. It's supposed to feel like an actual film, but it should poke fun at all of the movie cliches (i.e. comforting wife when husband was in ER). One cop would never bring up the worst possible outcomes that could happen to the wife when her husband is in the hospital bed near death. So in a nutshell, when constructing a parody film, don't focus on setting a record for the most pop culture characters utilized in an eighty minute film. Make it like a real film and just poke fun at common cliches.
The Naked Gun is definitely a winner, and probably takes the cake for my favorite parody film. Leslie Nielsen's acting was memorable as well my first time seeing O.J. Simpson acting in anything. I never thought I'd say or type this but, we have a great parody film on our hands.
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, O. J. Simpson, and Nancy Marchand. Directed by: David Zucker.
When I learned about the death of Nielsen I was saddened and mainly upset I didn't see the films that he was famous for. So this thread is dedicated to both him and all three Naked Gun movie reviews.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988).
Rating: ★★★½
Due to Leslie Nielson's tragic and untimely death, I decided to visit one of his many films I haven't had the pleasure of seeing. I saw Airplane many years ago, I saw Scary Movie 3 and 4 in the theaters, and saw Creepshow last fall. I didn't however see Nielsen's parody films which made him famous like The Naked Gun trilogy and Spy Hard. So I finally put one on to watch what I had missed...22 years later.
It's true you don't know what you have until it's gone, and you appreciate it/them more when they're gone. I knew who Corey Haim was before he died and saw License to Drive a couple months before his death, but became somewhat obsessed with him when he died. Same thing applies with Michael Jackson, Greg Giraldo, and a number of others. Leslie Nielsen may be a victim to my awkward obsession. After watching this gem, he very well could be. If that's a good thing.
Leslie plays Frank Drebbin a policy officer who likes to think he is doing a good job, when really, he doesn't know what he is doing, and when he tries to do something good, he gets himself and others hurt. Drebbin now has to protect Queen Elizabeth II from being assassinated at a California Angels baseball game during the seventh inning stretch. Although the plot sounds very serious, it delivers an uncountable number of laughs in the process.
Going into this, aware of it being a parody/spoof film, I was nothing but skeptical. A parody film? Hasn't that genre been beaten, trashed, abused, and spat on by the duo of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer? But in the eighties and nineties, David Zucker knew how to be funny and original simultaneously. Rather than cramming over thirty pop culture characters/references that, most of the time, lack a purpose or dimension, Zucker took in a cop that wanted to do the right thing but unknowingly made matters either unclear or even worse than they already were.
The goal for a parody film is to make it play like a regular film. It's supposed to feel like an actual film, but it should poke fun at all of the movie cliches (i.e. comforting wife when husband was in ER). One cop would never bring up the worst possible outcomes that could happen to the wife when her husband is in the hospital bed near death. So in a nutshell, when constructing a parody film, don't focus on setting a record for the most pop culture characters utilized in an eighty minute film. Make it like a real film and just poke fun at common cliches.
The Naked Gun is definitely a winner, and probably takes the cake for my favorite parody film. Leslie Nielsen's acting was memorable as well my first time seeing O.J. Simpson acting in anything. I never thought I'd say or type this but, we have a great parody film on our hands.
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, O. J. Simpson, and Nancy Marchand. Directed by: David Zucker.