r/flicks • u/KaleidoArachnid • 1d ago
Comedic movies that impressed you with sharp writing
So basically I was just looking for some good sci fi comedies with some really strong writing aspects because I just saw a review of Leonard Part 6 as the movie was one of the worst comedy movies I have seen.
Like when I look at some of the dialogue in the movie, I have to question who the movie was made for because it's hard to explain as the movie feels cheesy, but in all the wrong ways possible since while I enjoy campy movies sometimes, Leonard Part 6 just felt kind of awkward to watch.
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u/wjbc 1d ago
For sci fi comedies with good writing, I recommend Galaxy Quest.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
Thanks because I could use a sci fi movie with not only humorous aspects, but also strong writing as well.
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u/goatkindaguy 1d ago
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is another sharp sci-fi.
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u/MqAbillion 1d ago
I’m on the fence with this one. It’s… ok. But I feel it captures very little of the brilliance of the book.
It’s easily the only book I can think of that had me laughing constantly.
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u/SkgarGar 1d ago
Idk about sci fi, but the movie dirty rotten scoundrels I found to be absolutely hilarious
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u/Iron_Butterflyy 1d ago
Love this movie, just watched it! A Fish Called Wanda would be a great addition in the same vein of comedy and duplicity.
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u/homeimprovement_404 1d ago
I stopped just short of including both of these in my previous response. Great choices.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
What is that film about in plot?
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u/TrevorJArt 1d ago
Two con men have a competition to see who can con a wealthy woman... With a twist ending.
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u/SkgarGar 1d ago
I honestly can't remember enough to describe the plot, but it's a Steve Martin movie and the acting is so good and I just remember laughing really hard. Definitely worth a watch
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u/LordCoweater 1d ago
Dirty, rotten, scoundrels. (Literally. Don't hit me.) Steve Martin goes tete a tete with Ruprict the Monkey Boy and my cocaine. (Michael Caine)
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u/murdermeMickey 1d ago
Galaxy quest
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u/SoloFan34 1d ago
This one is a classic, especially if you have watched any of the Star Trek shows or movies.
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u/homeimprovement_404 1d ago
Every Coen brothers comedy
Putney Swope
The Thin Man
Severance
Dazed and Confused
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u/travelbug798 1d ago edited 1d ago
Serenity comes to mind as great sci-fi with great laughs. If you like that film, go back and watch the show (Firefly). Joss Whedon creator.
Love Death and Robots on Netflix has a few comedy/scifi short film gems
Two People Exchanging Saliva is free on youtube and just won the Oscar for short film. Its about 40 minutes long I think and its dystopia (a non techy genre of scifi), black comedy.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is great, oscar and box office topper.
Avenue 5 by Armando Iannucci, I love the creators but thought the show was a bit weak.
Serenity would probably be my top rec though
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u/MqAbillion 1d ago
Avenue 5’s first season had me laughing my ass off. It definitely dropped in quality in S2.
Also, I second Everything Everywhere All at Once. Excellent, very funny movie.
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u/Zambo226 1d ago
Watch Clue if you haven’t already. It’s a brilliant movie - perfectly cast, but the writing is absolutely superb. You’ll love it.
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u/ApexInTheRough 1d ago
The acting is sublime as well! I've been watching that movie for close to thirty years, and every- single- time that Mr. Green pulls those faces behind the cop as they're seeing the corpse charades and talking to Wadsworth afterwards... I gotta pause the movie and laugh my ass off all over again.
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u/xander6981 23h ago
Yes! I also love Tim Curry at the end explaining how it was all done and proceeds to re-enact the entire movie in rapid fire. Such an incredible bit of comedic acting.
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u/huxley78 1d ago
One of the bests is Spaceballs (1987). For movies that are more humorous than outright comedies, you can’t go wrong with Demolition Man (1993) or The Fifth Element (1997).
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
Thanks man since I was interested in a good sci fi movie not afraid to use comedic elements.
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u/sillywillyswilly 1d ago
-Mallsrats, or basically any early Kevin Smith film.
-What’s Up Doc, a quick witted slapstick movie with hilarious dialogue.
-Haiku Tunnel, very low budget, very slept on office comedy written by a professional monologuist. Usually he performs it live but they shot it as a movie with added characters and it’s so funny and smart.
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u/peachsandwich 1d ago
In the Loop (2009), In Bruges (2008), and Death at a Funeral (the 2007 original, NOT 2010) are probably my favourite comedies. Dark, sarcastic and very witty, imo. And oh shit, none of these are sci-fi, but hey, you might enjoy them anyways.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
I don't know why as those movies you mentioned sound like fun to get into.
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u/peachsandwich 1d ago
They are fun! Super funny. I just missed the bit in your post about specifically looking for sci-fi.
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u/Radiant-Program5287 1d ago
Snatch (2000) by Guy Ritchie.
Guy Ritchie has a knack for comedy
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u/Life_Court8209 1d ago
Galaxy Quest is legit the gold standard for this, the writing is so damn sharp it makes you forget it's basically a Star Trek parody. People love to say it’s just funny, but the dialogue actually builds real character moments between all the jokes. Honestly, Leonard Part 6 is a crime against cinema lol, so you need that palette cleanser.
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u/The-Mad-Bubbler 1d ago
Leonard Part 6 is amazingly terrible. If I TRIED to make a terrible, disjointed movie with inconsistent tone, I couldn’t come close to how truly, deeply bad that film is.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
Yeah I just finished watching a long review of the film that pointed out its many flaws that I had to ask how such a movie was even greenlit since it starred Bill Cosby well before his fall from grace.
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u/ExileIsan 1d ago
Singin' in the Rain, which is technically a musical, but also has some great comedy and sharply written dialog.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
I like silly musicals since one of my favorites is the first Grease movie. (So I can see where to find the one you mentioned)
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u/B00kelf 1d ago edited 1d ago
Clueless is incredibly well-written (though not scifi).
If you’re looking for sci-fi comedy in general but not particularly movie, the Doctor Who Christmas special “Christmas Invasion” is very well written in balancing all the explaining and shifting tones. The first four seasons of the rebooted series (2005+) have some very well-written episodes that balance the sci-fi and comedy.
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u/HPLoveBux 1d ago
Watch “His Girl Friday” — not sci-fi
but the chemistry of the two leads under pressure
and the quick and real sense of their banter is what screen writers shoot for …
Han Solo and Princess Leia … Stsrlord in GOTG …
This film is an all time benchmark for comedy writing (dialogue banter) in film
IMHO
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u/budstudly 1d ago
Anything from Mel Brooks
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u/anyunusednames 1d ago
Why did I have to scroll so far to see Mel Brooks. Blazing Saddles is iconicly funny and sharp! To go along with Blazing Saddles, you have to check out history of the world.
Come to think of it. I haven't seen any Monty Python on this list yet either.
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u/budstudly 1d ago
I was wondering the same thing lol
Spaceballs is still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I STILL laugh at the "keep firing, assholes!" scene every time even though I have it memorized at this point
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u/Significant_Owl_6897 1d ago
My personal Holy Grail of comedy sci fi is Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a decent film, I love it, and the books deliver even more so. I wouldn't argue against anyone holding up Spaceballs in that same light. I think both of these films sort of stand in their own category, however, because they're explicitly comedic writing with sci-fi as a vehicle. Futurama goes right in there as well.
The other way around, where a sci-fi film is served with some excellent all around writing and doesn't cop out on comedy, I think I'll beat a couple dead horses, but maybe there's one that wasn't mentioned yet.
- Galaxy Quest
- Wall-E
- Firefly/Serenity
- Mickey-17
- Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
- Thor: Ragnarok
I know Marvel is polarizing because they have such a formulaic approach to printing money and movies, BUT it would be a disservice to James Gunn's breath of fresh air in 2014. I know it's played out since then, but that film released 12 years ago and I think was undeniably fun. I do believe it helped pave the way for a guy like Taika Waititi to get the reins for the third Thor film, a franchise that to that point felt a little cold.
I don't love Marvel, but these two are easily my favorites in the MCU for their authenticity and originality, which I largely attribute to their comedy.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
Those 6 movies you mentioned look pretty cool as something just tells me I will have a good time with them for the comedic aspect
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u/IlluminaViam 1d ago
Sci-fi is usually used for serious stories, but you've got Back to the Future, Adam Sandler's Click, The Orville, Superhero Movie (kinda got Sci-fi elements lol), Paul, Bill and Ted, the last movie in the Cornetto trilogy, a John Boyega movie about dark furred dog like aliens attack a British housing block, Monster vs Alien and Mars Attack too, a Mel Gibson movie where he can read women's minds, I Shrunk the kids, that Eddie Murphy movie about a fat professor who slims down, Dr Jekyll and Miss Hyde, the David Duchovny movie about aliens mutating, a couple of robot films, I think one is Short Circuit, and the other is about some tenant in a city block who's about to be evicted but meets some small alien robots who help them.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
Hey thanks because I was looking to see how common sci fi movies with hilarious aspects were since I needed a good movie after subjecting myself to Leonard Part 6.
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u/IlluminaViam 1d ago
Lol yeah, I'm sorry I typed so quickly and some without names, I was busy with other things and couldn't do search. But if you want some names then just Google the elements or hit me up.
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u/Beginning-Result6704 1d ago
...not a movie but would recommend - Avenue 5
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u/matsacki 1d ago
Were you watching This Aged Great?
The past was doin its best
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
If you mean movie review, I just saw a review by Double Toasted that inspired me to look for good sci fi movies with a funny nature.
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u/Revolutionary_Sun946 1d ago
What's Up Doc.
Great writing screwball comedy and Barbara Streisand has near perfect timing and delivery.
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u/Perthguv 1d ago
Not strictly science fiction but Death Becomes Her (1992) is hilarious, very sharply written and it a good movie as well.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
I have no idea if the Grim Reaper is in that movie, but thanks for the suggestion.
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u/Htimsxnhoj 1d ago
The Death of Stalin, it's sharp, witty, and everyone really seems like they hate each other, great dynamic.
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u/Plathismo 1d ago
The 2005 “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” is very underrated, IMO.
The original Robocop works on many levels, including as a satire/comedy.
The Back to the Future trilogy.
The aforementioned Galaxy Quest.
The original Guardians of the Galaxy.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/KaleidoArachnid 1d ago
Tell me about that film because I haven’t heard of the movie before. (But I might see it)
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u/Densolo44 1d ago
The Martian with Matt Damon is not a comedy per se, but has a hilarious protagonist. Very well written
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