The 10 Funniest Movies of All Time
<– Click here to see #50 – 11
(or to meet the panel who ranked them, and get background on the criteria for the rankings)
If you want an explanation of why these are the 10 funniest movies, click here for Podcast Episode #44 – where we analyze the Top 10 and give insight as to how we ranked them!
10. Animal House
Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the varsity swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode. You know it’s the Delta Tau Chis. Animal House is the ultimate party movie and John Belushi’s finest hour.
9. Monty Python & The Holy Grail
The Monty Python troupe turn their brand of nonsensical genius to the Arthurian legends, and create an unforgettable comedy that easily ranks amongst the most quotable movies of all time! A silly farce, and I mean that in the best way possible.
8. Blazing Saddles
Along with Caddyshack, Blazing Saddles is one of the earliest R rated films I saw. For a movie almost 40 years old it just amazes me that even though I know all the jokes and can quote all the jokes that I can still find this to be one of the funniest movies of all time. We even changed this lists parameters just so we could fit it in. If that’s not reason to hold it in high regard I don’t know what is. Best fart joke ever?
7. Office Space
The movie that vocalizes the unspoken resentment of cubical dwellers everywhere. Office Space exposes the ineptitude, inefficiencies, frustrations, and general soul sucking environment of today’s corporate environment. They took ALL our staplers.
6. There’s Something About Mary
The Farrelly Brothers had hit pay dirt years earlier with Dumb and Dumber. Who knew many years later they would make their comedic masterpiece? Ben Stiller pines for the girl of his dreams. And when that girl is Cameron Diaz I can see why he goes to great lengths to obtain her. This hold the honor of being the one movie where I literally fell out of my seat from laughter.
5. Airplane!
A satirical comedy that was written as a parody of the many disaster films of its time, Airplane! starred Robert Hayes and Julie Hagerty and featured scene stealing roles from Leslie Nielson, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I believe that it gave birth to a new generation of satirical films that continues (not nearly as successfully) today. I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.
4. National Lampoon’s Vacation
This movie kicked off the Griswold vacation franchise that spawned a mildly entertaining European trip, a Christmas spectacular (see #14) and a forgettable fiesta in Las Vegas. Chevy Chase stars as Clark W. Griswold whose goal is to take his family to Wally World, a Disneyland-like theme park. He loads up the family truckster, and their cross country trip from Chicago to California begins. Of course, the trip itself proves to be the true adventure! Whether it’s getting lost in the ghetto, getting shot at by an offended bartender, visiting Cousin Eddie, or having to dispose of old Aunt Edna’s corpse, Vacation is the original family road trip movie.
3. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Since Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell has been on everyone’s radar. I enjoyed his earlier efforts- but then came Anchorman. By far my favorite comedy of all time, I measure my comedies by how often I quote them. This the one comedy I quote everyday. From the cast to the cameos, the story of a pompous newsman and his cronies makes them super duper in my eyes.
2. Caddyshack
Perhaps the greatest sports comedy of all time, Caddyshack featured a veritable who’s who of comedians, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, and Ted Knight. Directed by Harold Ramis, the film that we all watched turned out very different than the original script that was written by Bryan Doyle-Murray. It was supposed to focus on the caddies, but do to the improvisational atmosphere during filming the cameo roles of Chase, Dangerfield, and Murray expanded so much that it focused mostly on them. I’d be interested to see the film if it were made as it had been written, but am glad that it turned out to be the absolute classic that it is.
1. Ghostbusters
Nearly 30 years after its release, the story of the rise (and fall) of New York City’s first paranormal exterminators still has us quoting lines from Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Ray Stanz, Dr. Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore (“Tell him about the twinkie!”). This Ivan Reitman directed laugh fest is the story of three sketchy university professors that decide to hunt ghosts after they lose their positions at a NYC college. With a supporting cast of Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts, this movie is a great combination of humor and sci fi. It’s a testament to the film’s longevity and place in pop culture history that people across the board recognize Slimer and The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to this day.
How did we do? Don’t hesitate to let us have it in the comments – that’s what these lists are for, to generate discussion!
