The 10 Funniest Movies in Film History

Image via 20th Century Studios Published Aug 29, 2026, 6:05 PM EDT Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel. A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated. Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point. Sign in to your Collider account The wonderful thing about humor is that it's almost entirely subjective, but even still, history has seen plenty of films that are almost universally considered absolutely hilarious. These are movies which prove that even though the entire comedy genre is perhaps the most subjective at filmmakers' disposal, it's perfectly possibly to make a comedy movie so incredible that it's humanly impossible to not laugh out loud at its shenanigans. From foundational classics like Blazing Saddles to modern staples of Hollywood comedy like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the funniest movies in film history are as hysterical as they are for a wide variety of reasons. Whether their sense of humor is absurdist, silly, surreal, incredibly elaborate, or of any other sort, they're all essential viewing for all those who love films that make them laugh. 10 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie' (2025) Image via NEON Recency bias be damned: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie may be a very recent film, but it's already among the highest-rated comedies of all time on Letterboxd, and for good reason. Based on the web series Nirvana the Band the Show and its mockumentary sitcom adaptation Nirvanna the Band the Show, this is far and away one of the best Canadian movies of modern times. Directed by Matt Johnson and co-written by him and co-star Jay McCarrol, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie sees its creators armed with nothing but Torontonian wit, a time-traveling RV, and a faultless understanding of fair use practices and copyright laws to deliver a parody of Back to the Future that will likely only get better with age. Balancing jaw-dropping intelligence with a delightfully charming level of silliness, it really is the peak of what Canadian comedy cinema has to offer. 9 'The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!' (1988) Image via Paramount Pictures The comedy-writing trio ZAZ, composed of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker, originated on television with an episode of Big John, Little John, making their jump to the big screen a year later with 1977's The Kentucky Fried Movie. Five years after that came the TV series Police Squad!, and six years after that came The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, one of the best TV-to-film adaptations of all time. Perhaps the best and most surreal movie in the Naked Gun series, the original film is a parade of laugh-per-minute gags delivered with the same kind of deadpan humor that Leslie Nielsen was such an undisputed master of. The surprisingly rapid pace of these jokes ensures that even if one doesn't land, another one surely will just a few seconds later, ensuring that even those with a heart of stone will likely have more than a few chuckles. 8 'Airplane!' (1980) Image via Paramount Pictures ZAZ's second-ever film, and the first one where they were also directors and executive producers on top of writing the script, was Airplane!, which has kept aging as one of the funniest movies of the past 50 years. Yet another perfect example of the multiple-jokes-per-scene style that makes ZAZ's films so timeless, this one is arguably their funniest and most iconic film. Airplane! may seem completely and stupidly absurd on the surface, but re-watches (which are inevitably tempting) reveal that it actually takes a level of comedic genius not often seen nowadays to write something as surreal in its sense of humor as this. Complete with some of the most quotable lines and most memorable running gags in the history of comedy cinema, Airplane! is a must-see through and through. 7 'Blazing Saddles' (1974) Image via Warner Bros. People love to say that Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, what with its incredibly crude sense of humor, is the sort of comedy that Hollywood would never make today. Whether that's true is irrelevant, because one thing is certain, and that's that Blazing Saddles is one of the best R-rated comedy movie masterpieces in the history of the Seventh Art. Anchored by Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder's brilliantly funny performances, this is probably the single most legendary comedic Western in film history. It uses completely fearless, boundary-pushing satire to expose the absurdity of racism and even cleverly deconstruct the problematic clichés of Hollywood Westerns, all with a sort of anarchic filmmaking spirit that you do, indeed, rarely see in Hollywood nowadays. 6 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975) Image via EMI Films Throughout history, many comedy movies have been made on low budgets, but the gold standard of shoestring-budget comedy and fantasy filmmaking still remains Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The British comedic troupe Monty Python were, quite frankly, comedy geniuses, and nowhere is that clearer than in this absolutely unforgettable classic. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of those fantasy movie masterpieces that are perfect from start to finish, taking full advantage of its low budget to deliver some of the most effective and quintessentially British absurdist humor the big screen has ever seen. The cast is incredible, the production values are incredibly charming precisely because of how their cheapness is played for laughs, and the film's many comedic twists still work equally well over half a century later. Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best PictureIs Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one. 🪜Parasite 🌀Everything Everywhere ☢️Oppenheimer 🐦Birdman 🪙No Country for Old Men FIND YOUR FILM → 01 What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind. ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours? AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does. NEXT QUESTION → 03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means. AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you? AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical. NEXT QUESTION → 05 What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like? AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it. BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible. AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable. AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you. ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense. NEXT QUESTION → 09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately. AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action. NEXT QUESTION → 10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want? AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about. BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days. REVEAL MY FILM → The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works. ParasiteYou are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image. Everything Everywhere All at OnceYou want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about. OppenheimerYou are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort. BirdmanYou are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all. No Country for Old MenYou are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 5 'The Big Lebowski' (1998) The Coen brothers rapidly established themselves as two of the most exciting fresh voices in Hollywood in the '80s and '90s, with a unique, dark sense of humor that still works incredibly well decades later. But even though The Big Lebowski is nowadays remembered as one of the biggest cult classics in the modern history of cinema, it was a tremendous flop back when it originally released. Oh, how wrong audiences and critics were back then. That's because Big Lebowski is one of the best crime comedy movies ever made, a Sisyphean masterpiece whose absurdist sense of humor is as philosophically sharp and thematically profound as it is irresistibly hilarious. With its star-studded cast and the Coens at their absolute funniest (both in their writing and their laid-back directing), it's no wonder why Big Lebowski has aged as well as it has. 4 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' (2004) Image via DreamWorks Pictures Will Ferrell has starred in several of the funniest movies of the 21st century so far, but there's really no question as to which one is the funniest and most iconic: It has to be Anchorman, a modern cult classic that's generally considered one of the most fun comedy movies of all time, at least as far as Hollywood goes. Rarely has a cast of actors playing such silly material with such serious confidence worked this well. Aside from its incredible cast, however, Anchorman also benefits from having some incredibly quotable dialogue and several unforgettable set pieces that make it hard to stop laughing even after they're over. While cleverly satirizing 1970s culture, Anchorman also offers a wild range of random situations and ad-libbed lines which makes its hilarity completely timeless. 3 'Borat' (2006) Image via 20th Century Studios Sacha Baron Cohen established himself as an absolute master of the satire and mockumentary genres between the late '90s and early 2000s. So, by the time he co-wrote and starred in Larry Charles' Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (commonly known just as Borat), he was already a big star of the comedic space, but this was the character that really launched him into mainstream international prominence. Borat is one of the best satire movies in film history, far and away one of the most unabashedly subversive and provocative comedy films the world has ever seen. It's precisely that subversive satire and the seamless way in which it's blended with (often hysterical) unscripted real-world interactions that make this such a powerfully funny mirror of modern-day American society. 2 'Tropic Thunder' (2008) Image via DreamWorks Pictures There are many great comedy movies that can be called perfect, but few are attributed that title nearly as often as Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder. This is another hugely subversive film that people online often say couldn't possibly be made today, but regardless of whether that's actually accurate, there's no denying that Tropic Thunder may very well be the funniest movie of the entire 21st century so far. Thanks to its incredibly stacked cast, which features many actors delivering the funniest performances of their careers; its biting satire poking fun at big Hollywood male egos and method acting; and its many instances of downright-genius meta humor, Tropic Thunder has kept aging like fine wine as the years have passed. Could it be made today? It doesn't really matter, because it was already made in 2008, and it's one of the funniest movies in film history. 1 'This Is Spinal Tap' (1984) Image via Embassy Pictures It's almost jaw-dropping that This Is Spinal Tap was Rob Reiner's feature directorial debut, because far from just being one of the best classic rock movies of all time, it genuinely is one of the greatest comedy movies the big screen has ever seen. The film didn't invent the mockumentary genre, but it did launch its popularity to the stratosphere, generating a level of influence that can still be felt across both cinema and television to this day. For one, the cast is one of the funniest ever assembled for a motion picture, and they make sure that the already-funny material becomes even more irresistibly hilarious every single time. Full of brilliantly funny running gags, quotable lines, hysterical line deliveries, and a level of deadpan satire that makes Reiner's satirization of the entire rock industry all the more effective, it really may be the funniest movie in film history. This is Spinal Tap Release Date March 2, 1984 Runtime 82 minutes Cast Christopher Guest Nigel Tufnel