One of the toughest questions you can ask in movie circles is: "What's the funniest film EVER?" I certainly don't think I could answer it; movies are subjective enough to begin with before adding your own sense of humour to the mix. What you can do however, is carry out a study on the greatest comedy blockbusters of all time and measure their success in terms of how many laughs they receive per minute. Scientific? Yes, but a method few could dispute. The folk at I Love Film have now revealed what they've discovered deserves this coveted title.
Reported this morning by The Mirror, Leslie Nielson's belly-aching spoof disaster movie Airplane! has been labelled the funniest film of all time for providing audiences with three laughs per minute. The study showed that Airplane! is far funnier than its closest rival The Hangover, which managed a meagre 2.4 laughs per minute. They just don't make 'em like they used to, eh? On the back of this, Nielson's reputation as one of the funniest film actors to ever have graced our screens will be further cemented with his The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! earning itself 2.3 laughs per minute.
So how did they carry out such a study? Well as per this report, experts set up a laugh-o-meter and monitored carefully the number of times an audience chuckled during a viewing of ten top funny films to give them a fair rating. Clearly, with its barrage of memorable one-liners - "There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?" - there was no competition for Airplane! made in 1980.
Here's the full list of films that registered on the giggle gauge:
1. Airplane! - 3
2. The Hangover - 2.4
3. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad ! - 2.3
4. Superbad - 1.9
5. Borat - 1.7
6. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - 1.6
7. American Pie - 1.5
8. Bridesmaids - 1.4
9. Shaun of the Dead - 1.3
10. Life of Brian - 1.2
Agree? Disagree? Tell us!
