Although there's no way to quantify or measure "the best" or "your favorite" movie, is it possible to apply science to measure comedy? Many people love to watch funny movies and laugh but which comedies are actually the funniest and how could you prove it? Comparing iconic comedy films like Animal House,Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Caddy Shack, how could you know definitively, which is funnier? Could a movie like Laurel and Hardy’s Blockheads or Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times hold up and have as many laughs as Dumb & Dumber? Is the South Park movie funnier than the Beavis and Butthead movie? Which Will Ferrell movie is actually the funniest? Which Shrek or Toy Story film has the most laughs? What is the funniest Super Hero movie or the funniest Holiday movie? My name is Dana Hansen and I'm on a quest to find out and share the results with you!
I can only think of one way to measure "funny" and that's the brain/body's reaction to comedy in the form of a laugh when we see or hear something funny. With that in mind, I have developed a scoring system based on laughter to determine what movies are actually the funniest.
If a movie makes me chuckle out loud, I give it half a point. If it makes me actually laugh out loud, I give it a full point. If a joke or scene makes me really laugh for more than a few seconds, I give it 3 points. To be clear on the ground rules, if I watch something that is funny but it doesn't cause a physical response, it doesn't count and there's no point scored.
As I began to watch the movies, I'll admit to being concerned that my favorites wouldn’t be in the top 25 but I was determined not to “cheat." As Uncle Rico always said, This has to be legit, man!
With a legal pad and pen, I began watching movies and keeping score. When my daughter saw the marks on the legal pad, she began laughing and called me The Zodiac Killer of Comedy. When I shared a photo of my legal pad with my friend, Mike; he was shocked to see that I could write in ancient Sumerian. Undaunted and slightly amused, onward I pushed.
I'll admit that when I began making a list of funniest movies of all time to watch and score, and the number was exceeding 300 films, I was... at least somewhat daunted and considered not undertaking this endeavor because of the time investment. Then I remembered, I'm going to watch funny movies and laugh. So what if it takes me a year or three to do it? I'm on a quest to satisfy my curiosity once and for all!
To be clear – these rankings have nothing to do with critic's opinions, other lists, how well a movie did in the box office or my personal bias.
I will watch all the top comedies from the past 100 years from all the lists/websites (again, over 300 movies) and score them to find out, which ones make me laugh the most/hardest and share the results with you.
There will be "good" movies with low scores. It doesn't mean they aren't fun/enjoyable to watch. I'm specifically trying to determine which movies are the funniest.
A few things to keep in mind:
This is my list based on how many times a movie makes me laugh and the degree to which it made me laugh. It's not likely that you're going to agree with me on every movie so I’d encourage you to watch these movies and score them yourself. You may wish to read the FULL REVIEW of a movie before you get your panties in a wad to see why I ranked a movie where I did. It's important to keep in mind that "funny" is subjective. Lastly, you may remember a movie being funnier than it actually is. This has happened to me quite often. Laughter is the best medicine, especially in the challenging and sometimes depressing times that we live in so treat yourself to a comedy and laugh a little!
This list is going to be ever-evolving as I continue to watch and score more and more comedies, so I’d encourage you to check back regularly. Maybe you'll find a movie you've never seen or heard of from my list that you'll really love! That's my hope and my goal.
I am going to score over 300 movies that "experts" consider to be the top comedies of all time and share my results based on actual data. If you don’t see a movie ranked, please check the “Coming Soon” section and you can see the movies that I’ll be watching and scoring. Also check the "Best of the Rest" section as it may not have scored enough points to make it into the top 100 list.
