We round up the best comedy films currently available on Netflix here in the UK, including the best classic comedies and best modern movies.
Airplane!
You’ve obviously seen Airplane! before (surely you have?) because anyone with even a vague interest in laughing has probably watched this movie enough to quote it from beginning to end. This spoof on terrible ‘plane in trouble’ movies, which perhaps regrettably didn’t end after this was released in 1980, stars Robert Hays as Ted Striker, an ex-pilot forced into action thanks to a dodgy bit of fish and the dear, departed Leslie Nielsen on always-excellent form.
Bad Grandpa
Bad Grandpa’s surprisingly sweet (if paper-thin) story sees Johnny Knoxville don a hell of a lot of latex to play his best character to date, the slightly immature senior Irving Zisman, as he escorts his grandson cross-country to his dead beat father. It’s essentially just a series of skits in the grand tradition of Jackass, but little Billy (Jackson Nicoll) gets some killer lines and there are plenty of hilarious stunts scattered throughout its 90-odd minutes.
Bananas/Mighty Aphrodite/Play it Again Sam
Relaed: Best movies to watch on Netflix, Best movies to watch on Now TV, Best movies to watch on Amazon Prime VideoYou can pretty much not bother with any of Woody Allen’s movies from the past twenty years (which probably doesn’t bode well for his upcoming Amazon series) but a few of his classics are still available to watch on Netflix UK including his original classic Bananas, which sees him accidentally becoming a Cuban freedom fighter.
Big Trouble in Little China
One of John Carpenter’s (and Kurt Russell’s) best films, this hilarious tongue-in-cheek fantasy comedy sees tough-talking but ultimately hopeless truck driver Jack Burton (played perfectly by Russell) stumble his way into a supernatural plot in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Cheesy effects, brilliant one-liners and lots of use of the word ‘wang’ make this a movie worth enjoying over and over. It also stars a pre-Sex in the City Kim Cattrall as Russell’s love interest/green-eyed plot device.
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
A third movie is apparently just around the corner, but it’s going to have to be something special to beat Bogus Journey. How many other movies feature a maniacal Easter Bunny or games of Twister with the Grim Reaper himself? None, that’s how many.
Clerks/Chasing Amy
Kevin Smith’s first and third movies are just as sharp-witted today, packed to the gills with geeky movie references and an obscene number of penis-related jokes. It’s just a shame there’s no Mallrats to round things out. Chocolate covered pretzel anyone?
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Sure, Cloudy is technically a kids film, but then again so is Star Wars. It’s also absolutely mental and completely hilarious. Just don’t watch it if you’re hungry.
Clue
Featuring one of the best comedy ensembles of any movie, Clue remains one of our favourite funny movies from the ’80s. There’s no way that a movie based on a popular board game should have been any good at all, but Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd and Lesley Ann Warren – among others – deliver perfect performances to complement a razor-sharp script.
Clueless
Like Airplane!, Clueless should need no introduction. Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd are perfect sparring partners, and twenty years on it’s still pant-soilingly hilarious.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
A classic John Hughes comedy starring Matthew Broderick as the most popular kid in school, in one glorious skive day where he tears about town with Mia Sara and Alan Ruck. Jeffrey Jones is on top form as Bueller’s arch nemesis, headmaster Ed Rooney, while Charlie Sheen pops up for a brief but hilarious cameo.
Happy Gilmore
Adam Sandler used to be funny. Honestly, he really did. Happy Gilmore is still his best film (possibly alongside Punch Drunk Love), which sees him do what he used to do best – get very angry and swear and hit things, including Bob Barker.
Kung Fury
We mentioned this in an earlier Netflix round up. Kung Fury is a 30-minute crowdfunded flick that’s a loving mickey-take of old fashioned martial arts and schlocky sci-fi movies that also happens to be better than most of the so-called full length ‘action’ movies of today. Highlights include a machine that can hack time which inevitably leads to ridiculous fights involving a dinosaur and hundreds of Nazi soldiers. Kung Fury makes Dead Snow look like a product of the Dogme 95 manifesto.
Howard Stern’s Private Parts
Howard Stern starred in this biopic charting his rise to fame as a shock-jock, which surprisingly shows the more human side of the foul-mouthed, big-haired Sybian-toting legend. His clashes with Pig Vomit (Paul Giamatti in his first starring role) are truly wonderful.
Spaceballs
While many people cite Blazing Saddles as their favourite Mel Brooks movie, we personally prefer Star Wars spoof Spaceballs thanks to the endlessly quotable script and sly digs at everyone’s favourite sci-fi flicks. Sure, it’s dumb comedy at its dumbest, but we can’t help but crack up at Dark Helmet and Pizza the Hutt, every bloody time.
Super
This surprisingly dark superhero movie spoof features ‘average guy’ Rainn Wilson as a man who dons a costume and hits bad people in the head with a hammer. Kevin Bacon makes for a brilliant baddie, while Ellen Page is excellent as the Crimson Bolt’s awkward and ultra-violent sidekick.
Team America: World Police
For reasons that should be immediately obvious, this probably won’t be shown on TV in an uncut form anytime soon. Luckily, it’s on Netflix, so stick that up your watershed. Featuring puppets vomiting up litres of bodily fluid, puppets having sex, puppets fighting real-life kittens and puppets taking on the North Korean dictatorship, not to mention some unforgettably catchy but incredibly un-PC catchy numbers. You’ll never be able to look at Matt Damon the same way again.
Uncle Buck
John Hughes’ only other Netflix UK movie, Uncle Buck sees John Candy on top form as the well-meaning titular bumbler who agrees to look after his brother’s kids during a family crisis. As you might imagine, crazy shenanigans occur.
Wayne’s World
You can argue for a long time about which is the better film, Wayne’s World or Austin Powers, but why bother? They’re both great and Wayne’s World is still some of Mike Myers’ funniest work to date, along with its hilarious (if a tad repetitious) sequel.
Zoolander
Back when Ben Stiller seemed to be making a dozen movies every month, Zoolander was a clear stand-out. This hilarious send-up of the fashion industry boasts loads of great cameos too, including David Duchovny well cast as a conspiracy theorist and the legendary David Bowie (RIP) popping up to judge a ‘talent’ show.
22 Jump Street
More dumb comedy but 22 Jump Street manages to be just as funny as the first film, with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum back undercover, this time to bust a college drugs ring.
Did we miss your favourite Netflix comedy movie, available now in the UK? Let us know in the comments below.
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