The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
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| Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Segal |
| Produced by | Robert K. Weiss David Zucker |
| Written by | Jim Abrahams (television series Police Squad) David Zucker Pat Proft Robert LoCash |
| Starring | Leslie Nielsen Priscilla Presley Fred Ward George Kennedy O.J. Simpson Anna Nicole Smith |
| Music by | Ira Newborn |
| Cinematography | Robert M. Stevens |
| Editing by | James R. Symons |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 18, 1994 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 83 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30,000,000 (estimated) |
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult is a 1994 comedy film, the third and final film of the Naked Gun series.
Leslie Nielsen as the comically bumbling Police Lieutenant Frank Drebin (his original character from Police Squad!), Priscilla Presley as Jane Drebin, O.J. Simpson as Nordberg, and George Kennedy as Captain Ed Hocken all reprise their roles.
Fred Ward, Anna Nicole Smith, and Kathleen Freeman co-star as a gang of bombers set to blow up the Academy Awards ceremony. Raye Birk reprises his role as the villainous "Papshmir" from the first film.
- Tagline: Mostly All New Jokes.
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[edit] Plot
The film has a much less sophisticated plot than Naked Gun 2½. The plot contains many similarities to White Heat, and there are a large number of spoofs on other films throughout. Unlike the previous films, there is only a very small romantic content, and Jane has a very small role.
Frank and Jane, who were dating on and off in the two previous films, are now married, and appear as a mostly happily married couple at the start of the film. Though they argue later on and Jane leaves him, in a parody of Thelma and Louise.
The film introduces the criminal Rocco Dillon (Fred Ward) in jail, who is approached by the terrorist Papshmir (seen in the first Naked Gun film - name a pun on pap smear) to be given a target for a bombing.
Frank is pulled out of retirement, and goes undercover pretending to be a prisoner named "Nick 'The Slasher' McGuirk" at the jail where Rocco Dillon is being held, and they break out of jail in a parody of Escape from Alcatraz. One of the actors, Fred Ward portraying Dillon actually starred in that original film as one of the escapees.
They escape through a tunnel arriving outside in a L.A. high school playground, and are escorted by Dillon's gangster mother to his country retreat. At his hideout Frank is told of the plot to blow up the Academy Awards, while Jane arrives looking for him, she is taken hostage. Frank, pretending to be Phil Donahue, is able to get into the awards, where many antics are caused on stage while he and the police are looking for the bomb hidden in one of the envelopes. Rocco Dillon arrives and points his gun at Frank, who is holding the bomb in the best picture envelope. In a subsequent fight, Dillon ends up with his feet tied up in a rope, which sends him high in the air, he comes back down again, grabs the bomb and is sent hurtling through the ceiling and into the sky above, where he goes into a plane, head first into a toilet, where it turns out Papshmir was sitting, and the bomb explodes killing both of them.
[edit] Critical reaction
The directors' commentary to the DVD frequently references the critics' reviews on the film. The film did fairly well at the box office, yet it received several very negative reviews. Many felt that there was little plot in the film; it relied on comedy throughout, and had little of the romantic or action elements that were common in the previous two films. In addition, many felt that the humour was weak and too similar to that in the previous films. The opening sequence of the film, which parodied the Untouchables, was popular, however, and the climax at the Academy Awards was also fairly popular, but the middle part of the film was criticised as uninspiring. The directors claim on the DVD that it would have pleased some critics to have stopped the film after the opening credits. Chris Hicks is an example of a unsympathetic critic of the film[1].
[edit] Cast
Numerous celebrities have cameo roles, playing either minor characters or themselves. These include:
- Julie Strain
- James Earl Jones
- Olympia Dukakis
- Raquel Welch
- Elliott Gould
- Mariel Hemingway
- Morgan Fairchild
- Florence Henderson
- Shannen Doherty
- Vanna White
- "Weird Al" Yankovic (in his third Naked Gun appearance)
- Joe Grifasi
- Pia Zadora
- Mary Lou Retton
- Ann B. Davis
- Scott Herriott
- Phil Donahue
- R. Lee Ermey
[edit] Trivia
- The image used on the promotional poster for the film is a parody of the well known August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair magazine magazine which showed actress Demi Moore in a similar state of undress and pregnancy.
- Several scenes in the film had been planned for the earlier films but had been cut out. The opening sequence was filmed for the first film. The scene where Frank and Jane get married, and drive off with Norberg on the back of the car, was filmed for the second film. In the latter, the car being driven is the electric car that featured in the second film.
- The 33⅓ of the title is a reference to the speed at which most LP records play. The film was originally going to be titled Naked Gun 33⅓: For the Record.
- In the opening scene at the train station, the baby carriage yielding woman Leslie Nielsen assists is Susan Breslau, Jerry and David Zucker's sister.
- This was O.J. Simpson's last movie before the murder of his wife. Despite being acquitted, the controversy surrounding these events led him not to return to acting. For his performance, Simpson won the 1994 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor.
- Director David Zucker said he plans on making a Naked Gun 4 in the near future, if the studio gives him the OK.[citation needed]
[edit] Translations
- French : Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver Hollywood ?
[edit] References
- The opening scene in the train station was inspired by The Untouchables
[edit] External links
| The Naked Gun Series |
|---|
| Leslie Nielsen |
| Alan North | Peter Lupus | Priscilla Presley | George Kennedy | O.J. Simpson |
| Jerry Zucker | Jim Abrahams | David Zucker | Robert K. Weiss |
| Police Squad! |
| The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear | The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult |
