The mighty comedy is one of the most difficult movie genres to get right, but a rare handful of elite films have a great argument for being genuine 10/10 comedies. Comedy is inherently subjective, a fact that makes it difficult to classify comedic movies on flat numerical rating scales. But the best comedies of all time can each make a case for being objectively hilarious masterpieces that can appeal to most viewers in some capacity.

Timing is everything in comedy, and the best films in the genre all undoubtedly demonstrate a true mastery over this facet of joke-telling, regardless of how the jokes might land with individual viewers. It also helps that the best comedies tend to be some of the most quotable movies ever made, their punchlines lingering in memory long after credits have rolled. It’s easily measurable elements such as these that define a near-perfect comedy in a way that isn’t reliant on the particular sense of humor of those watching.

8

Blazing Saddles

A Rip-Roaring Social Satire And Western Spoof

The great Mel Brooks made many amazing comedies, but Blazing Saddles is still arguably his pièce de résistance. The story revolves around a corrupt politician who attempts to destroy the town he’s in charge of by hiring a Black sheriff. When that doesn’t work, he sends a wave of thugs to clear the town’s population in order to make way for a new railroad, leaving the new lawman and his drunkard gunfighter pal (played by the great Gene Wilder) to defend the frontier community.

Blazing Saddles functions first and foremost as a hilarious spoof of the average Western, just as Brooks had done with many other movies. Beyond that, it’s able to balance relatively heavy social commentary with utterly nonsensical jokes that culminate in a hilarious destruction of the fourth wall in the unconventional finale. Perhaps a movie that couldn’t be made today, Blazing Saddles is a daring satire of multiple targets that never looses its footing once.

7

Monty Python And The Holy Grail

Still The Gold Standard For British Humor

The British comedy troupe Monty Python oversaw many side-splittingly funny projects over their prestigious career, from the sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus to controversial movies like Monty Python’s Life of Brian. However, the group’s most famous work of art is still easily Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Though how the film stacks up against the rest of the Pythons’ legacy can still be debated, there’s no denying that it’s so popular for a good reason.

Monty Python’s and the Holy Grail tells a more-or-less coherent story about King Arthur and his knights of the round table on an arbitrary quest to find the legendary Holy Grail of biblical myth. There are too many iconic scenes and punchlines from this film to recount, from the amazing Camelot song and dance number to the iconic opening argument about swallows. The delivery of each Python is simply impeccable in this film, and while over-quotation may have worn out the laughs over the years, it still deserves to be considered a near-perfect comedy.

6

H๏τ Fuzz

The Perfect Parody Of The Police Action Movie

Like many great comedies, H๏τ Fuzz is yet another parody of another popular movie genre that pokes fun at the conventions of crime films. The second and arguably best film of Edgar Wright’s Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy, H๏τ Fuzz once again pairs Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as cops working the same beat, the former being a Type-A London police officer who joins the latter in patrolling a boring, idyllic village after a reᴀssignment. But before long, the two uncover a ghastly conspiracy threatening the town from the shadows.

H๏τ Fuzz has an astoundingly high ratio of laughs-per-minute, with not a single moment being wasted without having some sort of joke crammed in. This dense overload of humor makes the film endlessly re-watchable as one notices more and more tiny micro-jokes with each viewing, making it hold up ridiculously well for a comedy. On top of all that, it actually manages to be quite the unironically exciting action thriller, a fact that’s almost a joke in and of itself.

5

Some Like It H๏τ

Ages Like A Fine Wine

For the most part, comedy isn’t a genre with a particularly long shelf-life, with shifting societal expectations and differing humor across generations making it difficult for a film in the genre to stay relevant for an extended period of time. Considering it’s a black-and-white picture filmed all the way back in 1959, it’s astounding that Some Like It H๏τ has managed to hold up so well decades later. Taking place during the prohibition era, the film follows two jazz musicians who witness the St. Valentine’s Day Mᴀssacre and go into hiding from the mob dressed as women.

Some Like It H๏τ could have easily aged terribly for its gender-based humor, but the film is shockingly progressive, finding all manner of hilarious moments of dramatic irony worth guffawing over. The lively performances, including one Marylin Monroe, have more than withstood the test of time, putting many modern comedic actors to shame with their animated delivery. With one of the most iconic final punchlines just before credits roll in movie history, Some Like It H๏τ is a cinematic masterpiece, let alone a 10/10 comedy.

4

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

One Of The Most Effective And Terrifying Comedies Ever Conceived

For the most part, Stanley Kubrick isn’t a name that people ᴀssociate with good comedy. Though the legendary director is considered to be one of the best to ever do it by many, most of Kubrick’s filmography is admittedly more concerned with horror, war, and high-concept sci-fi. Yet almost just to prove he was an unparalelled cinematic master, Kubrick also casually produced one of the best comedies ever made with Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

The story is a whirlwind that examines the aftermath of a United States military general going rogue and ordering the dropping of a nuclear bomb against the wishes of high command, prompting a race to stop the plane before the payload can be dropped and trigger nuclear annihilation across the entire world. The dark humor was poignant enough at the time the film was released, but seems to have somehow gained more cultural staying power as time goes on. With Peter Sellers demolishing three separate roles and chewing up the impressive scenery, Dr. Strangelove is one to remember.

3

Best In Show

A Quietly Hilarious Jab At A Very Specific Community

Not everyone appreciates loud, fast-paced, over-the-top comedies, and for those with a drier sense of humor, there’s nothing better than Best In Show. One of the best mockumentaries ever made, the film presents itself as a case study on professional dog show compeтιтors who gather from all walks of life to try to take home the coveted тιтular trophy. Cameras follow a group of eclectic compeтιтors whose personalities are just as accentuated and memorable as distinct dog breeds.

Best In Show might not fire off a million jokes a minute, but its slow pace allows for some hilariously awkward scenes to unfold. Carried by a talented cast boasting phenomenal character actors like Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, and Michael McKean, the film is inundated with hilarious bits, from the alarming loss of a stuffed animal to the slow development of a forbidden sapphic romance. Best In Show lives up to its тιтle among the greater catalog of Christopher Guest movies.

2

Super Troopers

The Pinnacle Of Low-Brow Humor

On the polar opposite end of the comedic spectrum from Best In Show sits Super Troopers, by far the apex predator of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe’s filmography. Another cop movie spoof, the plot revolves around a gaggle of state troopers whose rivalry with a local police force becomes a full-on war when they’re discovered to have a hand in a drug-smuggling ring. But the story takes a far backseat to the character-focused humor that gets the most out of the Broken Lizards’ camaraderie.

Super Troopers views like one long, incredible improv sketch, with each character rolling with the punches and piling on the humor into unstoppable tidal waves of uproariously funny lines and physical gags. Bits like the “shenanigans” conversation and the speeding German swinger couple are simply top notch. Super Troopers can be easily dismissed as a low-brow, “dumb” comedy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t objectively hilarious.

1

Mean Girls

The Ultimate Teen Comedy

Growing up is tough, and fitting in in high school while being an outsider is even tougher, but Mean Girls manages to mine some succulent laughs out of both ideas. From the creative mind of Saturday Night Live veteran Tina Fey came Mean Girls, which centers on Lindsay Lohan’s Cady, a 16-year-old who spent her whole life being homeschooled in Africa before suddenly being plopped into an American high school. Cady is commissioned by her new outcast friends to infiltrate and embarrᴀss a popular trio of cliquey girls known as the Plastics.

Mean Girls is rife with iconic quotes that betray its comedic genius, from “You can’t just ask people why they’re white.” to “Get in, loser, we’re going shopping!“. Beyond its pop-culture impact, the movie is a brilliantly-written coming-of-age story that masters an ability to wring humor out of the often petty and chaotic inner lives of teenage girls. Smart, lean, and undeniably funny, it’s hard to argue against Mean Girls‘ status as a nigh-perfect comedy.