The 20 Comedy Movies of the Last 100 Years That Made You Laugh the Most
What better way to get a laugh, a natural stress reliever, than a movie? A comedy classic is the best medicine for difficult times.
Laughter is one of the basic human needs and one of the most important stimuli for this is movies. What better way to get a laugh, a natural stress reliever, than a movie? A comedy classic is the best medicine for difficult times. Black comedies, sex comedies, slapstick, romantic comedies… Sci-fi or anime genres…
The best comedy films of all time range from silent character studies to blockbusters, from genre parodies to political satire. The most important elements that bring these films together are creativity and the great unbridled joy of a good laugh. Audiences can watch movies that combine these two elements over and over again and laugh again and again.
Comedy has been around since the dawn of the moving image, and compiling a list of comedies that have stood the test of time and always made you laugh is not without its challenges. This list, compiled by Episode magazine, includes all types of comedy films. From the 20th and 21st centuries, we tried to select the timeless pieces from each decade of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Enjoy your watch…
Buster Keaton portrays a train conductor who tries to enlist for the Civil War but is rejected because his job is too important and labeled a coward. But when the woman he loves is kidnapped, he hops in his engine, “The General,” and an unforgettable chase ensues. Famous for his incredible pranks, Keaton literally defies death multiple times throughout this fast-paced and hilarious motion picture.
Eccentric man-child Stan Laurel and the giddy Oliver Hardy make up the screen’s most venerable comedy duo, and this is considered their best 68 minutes. The boys plan to escape their bossy wives and go to a fraternity lodge meeting. Of course, everything goes horribly wrong and a series of inventive, perfectly timed camera gags ensue as the hapless duo find themselves hiding on the rooftop.
Charlie Chaplin’s bold 1940 satire portrays Adolf Hitler as the fictional despot Adenoid Hynckel. The famous scene in which he dances with a giant globe comically mocks megalomania, but there is a murderous realism to Hynkel’s behavior and a forward-thinking speech about ‘concentration camps’. The subplot, in which Chaplin also plays a brave barber, fails to elicit smiles, but the film continues to make a claim about the power of comedy.
After witnessing a mob murder, two male musicians disguise themselves as women and join an all-female band to escape the state.
Known for its witty dialogue and fast-paced action, Some Like It Hot has frequently appeared on lists of the best comedies of the 1950s.
Summer, a Soviet pioneer camp. The harsh director Dynin strictly enforces all the rules (even the absurd ones) and expels the pioneer Kostya from the camp for misbehaving. The boy does not leave the camp, but lives secretly under the bleachers where his friends visit him. Meanwhile, the whole camp is preparing for a concert on the occasion of Parents’ Day… Elem Klimov’s comedy faced serious censorship for excessive satire. However, Khrushchev liked it very much and personally authorized its distribution.
The first in a series of five films about the clumsiness of Peter Sellers’ bumbling pseudo-French detective Chief Inspector Clouseau, The Pink Panther is also the most measured, dignified and subtle. Though often very funny, Sellers’ bumbling character only came to the fore in the second film, A Shot in the Dark.
Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein is a parody of the classic horror film genre, in particular the various film adaptations of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus produced by Universal Pictures in the 1930s. The American grandson of the infamous scientist, trying to prove that his grandfather was not as crazy as people thought, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a corpse
It revolves around Brian Cohen of Nazareth (Graham Chapman), a man born on the same day as Jesus in the apartment next door. Mistaken for the Messiah on several occasions, Brian reluctantly gets caught up in a series of absurd events. It’s a fantastic satire of religious dogmatism, packed with big-brain references to religion, politics, and literature.
After his release from prison, Jake is reunited with his brother Elwood and together they are known as the “Blues Brothers”. Jake’s first job is to collect $5,000 to save the orphanage where the brothers grew up from closing and to pay off his tax debt. The duo believes they can earn this money by reuniting their old band. However, after playing a few gigs and making a few enemies, including the police, the brothers will face serious challenges to deliver the money on time.
A classic parody of the disaster movie genre, Airplane is about a traumatized former fighter pilot who teams up with his flight attendant ex-girlfriend to land the plane safely after the crew is poisoned. Airplane introduced moviegoers to the Zucker brothers’ unique brand of absurdist humor. The movie is full of camera gags and one-liners.
The history of mankind is traced through a series of vignettes, beginning with the cavemen, astonished by their own magnificence. Then Moses receives the tablets containing the “15” commandments and Emperor Nero presides over a mad Rome with his wife Nympho. Later, the Spanish Inquisition softens repression with song and dance, and a few centuries later Madame Defarge incites revolution in France.
One of the best parodies of all time, Spaceballs is Mel Brooks’ spoof of most of the blockbuster sci-fi movies of the 70s and 80s. Primarily poking fun at Star Wars, the movie follows a mercenary who sets out to rescue Princess Vespa from an intergalactic warlord and his chief enforcer, the Dark Helmet.
After saving New York City from a ghost attack, the Ghostbusters — a team of spirit exterminators — is disbanded for demolishing parts of the city during the battle. But when Ghostbuster Peter Venkman learns that spirits have taken an interest in his son, the men launch a rogue ghost-chasing mission. The quest quickly goes awry, landing them in court. But when the ghosts turn on the judge, he issues an order allowing the Ghostbusters to get back to work.
Imbecile best friends Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne stumble upon a suitcase full of money left in Harry’s car by Mary Swanson on her way to the airport. The two decide to travel to Aspen, Colo. to return the money, unaware that it is linked to a kidnapping. Falling in love with Mary, Harry and Lloyd find their friendship and their brains tested as they are chased across the country by hired killers and police.
Since South Park first aired on television in 1997, it has been consistently polarizing, laced with shockingly crude humor. 1999’s South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is also seen as a provocative, taboo-busting hit. The third graders of South Park sneak into an R-rated film by ultra-vulgar Canadian television personalities Terrance and Phillip, and emerge with expanded vocabularies that leave their parents and teachers scandalized. When outraged Americans try to censor the film, the controversy becomes a call to war with Canada.
Ruby has only one thing on her mind: to avenge the murder of the woman she loved by a criminal. Quentin, on the other hand, has very little on his mind. He is extremely friendly, kind and stupid enough to be in the record books. The fates of two men will intersect: the tough man who is driven by murder and the weak man who talks to angels.
Shaun is a 30-something loser with a boring and easy life. When he’s not working in an electronics store, he lives in a small flat on the outskirts of London with his dirty best friend Ed. The only unpredictable element in his life is his girlfriend Liz, who desperately wants him to grow up to be a man. The town begins to be overrun by zombies for unknown reasons.
In a world where lying doesn’t exist, failed script editor Mark Bellison suddenly discovers a talent for twisting the truth. Starting to make up fairy tales to get out of trouble and pick up girls, Bellison’s talent takes on serious value as the painfully realistic townspeople believe every lie he tells.
When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with the Farmer, a caravan and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home.
Produced by Illumination, it serves as a sequel to the Minions movie, while acting as the fifth addition to the Despicable Me franchise. This time, we focus on 11-year-old Gru as he decides to become a supervillain, with the help of his minions. Minions: The Rise of Gru is a movie set in the Despicable Me universe.
