4K Blu-Ray Review: The Naked Gun

The Film

The Naked Gun is the first spin-off from the classic Police Squad comedy series, and still the best of the very funny bunch. Alongside Airplane!, Top Secret, and Hot Shots, it's the quintessential screwball comedy that defined an entire era – and genre, to boot.

The magic here is that Leslie Nielsen, playing Frank Drebin, is effectively a dangerous lunatic played with utmost sincerity and good intentions. Everywhere Frank goes, trouble follows, even if he does it for the right reasons. The world adjusts to his reality, and it's joyous to watch how everyone just goes with it, almost like the universe itself is pulling improv to match Frank.

The plot itself is nearly pointless. Frank must foil a plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II, and in the process find love with Priscilla Presley, who lights up the screen in a hysterical straight woman performance.

Elsewhere, O.J. Simpson is notable for his pratfalls and how immaculately every glove he wears seems to fit.

George Kennedy and Ricardo Montalban are fantastic in supporting roles. They could easily walk into a "normal" production and not stand out, which makes them that much funnier in the grand scheme of things.

Over the years, The Naked Gun has itself been parodied, mimicked, and referenced so many times some of the jokes are bound to feel familiar. Yet these are the original gags, the ones that changed the way an entire generation saw comedy. Like Monty Python, the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker trio created a revolution that has stood the test of time.

The Naked Gun remains a perfect comedy.

Video

The Naked Gun was shot on 35mm film, which would indicate the 4K should look gorgeous, yet that's not really the case. Instead, compared to the Blu-Ray, there's very little improvement all around.

Colors remain muted, detail is soft, and it's all around just OK, barely above what you'd get from every other release. It's a disappointment, considering how this is one of those classics that deserves the royal treatment. Instead, it's just fine, and that's about it.

Audio

The audio, likewise, is a muted affair. The gags come through fine, and the dialog is clean, but it's a front speaker heavy affair with barely any reason for a 5.1 mix. Even Ira Newborn's great and bombastic score feels kind of lifeless during the iconic opening credits.

Extras

The Nordic release is completely empty of any extras. Not that the Blu-Ray's were any better. Another wasted opportunity considering how readily available the surviving filmmakers are to talk about their classic works.

Overall

The Naked Gun is a fantastic film and an all-time classic worthy of revisiting and studying. It remains one of the most inventive and joyous pieces of cinematic anarchy around, and it does so without punching down or being mean. That's a remarkable achievement.

Sadly, if you already own the Blu-Ray copies, or can easily get them, this 4K version is barely worth recommending. It's simply not enough to slap a minor bit of upscaling into the mix and call it a premium release. Especially when you've got something as special as this in your hands.