Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

Naked Gun ​33 1⁄3: The Final Insult is a 1994 American comedy film, and the third and final installment in The Naked Gun film series, which was based on the television series Police Squad!.

Naked Gun ​33 1⁄3:
The Final Insult
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Segal
Produced by
Written by
Based onPolice Squad!
by Jim Abrahams
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker
Starring
Music byIra Newborn
CinematographyRobert M. Stevens
Edited byJames R. Symons
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • March 18, 1994 (1994-03-18)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$122.4 million[1]

The "​33 1⁄3" in the title is a reference to the number of revolutions per minute at which long playing (LP) phonograph records play. The film was originally going to be titled The Naked Gun ​33 1⁄3: Just for the Record, but was changed after the studio felt that audiences would not get the joke.[2] It was also going to simply be titled The Naked Gun 3: The Final Insult, according to some Christmas 1993 video previews.

Leslie Nielsen returns as Lieutenant Frank Drebin (his original character from Police Squad!), along with Priscilla Presley as Jane Spencer Drebin, O. J. Simpson as Officer Nordberg and George Kennedy as Captain Ed Hocken. Newcomers to the series Fred Ward, Anna Nicole Smith, and Kathleen Freeman co-star as a gang of bombers set to blow up the Academy Awards ceremony. Raye Birk reprises his role as the villainous "Pahpshmir" from The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!.

This film was O. J. Simpson's final role before the notorious murders of his ex-wife and her companion Ronald Goldman, and his subsequent arrest for them three months later and the following year's trial.

Plot

Frank Drebin has retired from Police Squad and lives a seemingly happy life with his wife, Jane Spencer Drebin. Under the surface, however, Frank is unfulfilled acting as a househusband, and he and Jane attend marriage counseling. Six months after Frank's retirement, he is visited by Ed Hocken and Nordberg, who ask for Frank's help with an investigation. Police Squad has caught wind that infamous bomber Rocco Dillon, who is currently incarcerated, has been hired by terrorists to conduct a major bombing against the United States. Frank remembers Rocco's girlfriend Tanya Peters from an investigation years ago and agrees to help Ed and Nordberg by visiting the clinic where Peters works.

Frank, in disguise, visits the clinic and writes Peters' address on a handkerchief, but loses it before he can give it to Ed and accidentally ends up a repeating sperm donor. Jane comes home to an exhausted Frank and accuses him of doing police work again. Frank lies and swears he is having an affair, but Jane does not believe him and moves out of their house. With nothing else to lose, Frank volunteers to go undercover in prison to befriend Dillon and learn the details of the bombing. Frank is put in Rocco's cell in prison and adopts the name Nick "The Slasher" McGuirk. He wins Rocco's trust after protecting their escape plan from a guard and causing a riot. Rocco and Frank escape through a tunnel out of their cell and are picked up on the outside by Rocco's mother Muriel. At Rocco's hideout, Frank attempts to get information on the bombing out of Rocco and his mother, but they are distrustful of him and refuse to tell him the details.

In the meantime, Jane and her friend Louise are on a road trip together when Jane discovers the handkerchief with Tanya Peters' address on it. Believing Frank was being truthful about the affair, Jane decides to drive cross-country to the address to find Frank. When she arrives, Frank answers the door and must quickly cover for her; he convinces the Dillons that Jane is a random stranger but that they should keep her alive as a hostage. Then Rocco finally reveals his plan to Frank: the bomb is to be set off at the Academy Award ceremony, with the bomb hidden in the envelope with the winner of the Best Picture category and triggered when the card is pulled out.

At the awards ceremony, Frank traps Muriel in the car and sneaks into the show with Jane to search for the bomb. Frank and Jane separate and frantically begin searching for the bomb, with Frank inflicting his usual chaos on stage during the show. While searching for the bomb backstage, Frank encounters Rocco's busty girlfriend Tanya Peters. She attempts to seduce Frank to distract him from searching for the bomb. As she undresses, her shadow on the wall reveals she has a large penis, causing Frank to become sick to his stomach, ultimately vomiting in the tuba of the orchestra. They are unable to find the bomb before the Best Picture winner is to be announced. Frank bursts onto the stage and awkwardly tries to prevent the detonation of the bomb, but ends up in a stalemate with Rocco. Frank manages to drop an electronic sign which takes out Muriel. A desperate Rocco decides to detonate the bomb to follow his mother, but Frank manages to catapult Rocco and the bomb offstage into the catwalks above. Frank snares Rocco with a rubber cable and slings him through the roof of the arena with the bomb pulled out. Rocco crashes into Pahpshmir's private helicopter hovering overhead, and the bomb explodes, killing them both. Frank and Jane reaffirm their love under the applause of the awarding audience and viewers worldwide.

Nine months later, Frank and Nordberg rush into the obstetric ward to witness the birth of Frank's child, but run into the wrong delivery room. Seeing that the baby is black, Frank assumes Nordberg is responsible and angrily chases him. Just after they leave, Ed comes out of another hospital room with Jane, who is holding their real baby.

Cast

Production

This is the only film in the series to be directed by Peter Segal, rather than David Zucker, who instead received credit for writing the screenplay. Similar to the previous entry in the series, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker did not write the film's script, but both returned as executive producers and received writing credits due to their contributions to Police Squad! and the first film.

Several scenes had been planned for the earlier films but cut out. The opening sequence had been planned for the first film. The scene where Frank and Jane get married, then drive off with Nordberg on the back of the car, was shot for the second film. In the latter, the car being driven is the electric car featured in the second film.

In the opening scene at the train station, the woman with the baby carriage who is assisted by Frank Drebin is played by Susan Breslau, the sister of Jerry and David Zucker.

The dream sequence parodies the train-station shoot-out from the 1987 film The Untouchables, which is itself a homage to the "Odessa Steps" montage in Sergei Eisenstein's famous 1925 silent movie Battleship Potemkin.[3][4]

Director Peter Segal, in addition to playing the producer of Sawdust and Mildew, also has several minor roles in the film (mostly in voiceover):

  • The voice of the suicide bomber in The Untouchables (1987) parody at the start of the film.
  • The voice of the K.S.A.D. DJ.
  • The ADR'ed scream of the inmate escaping prison by pole-vaulting.
  • The real Phil Donahue, before Frank knocks him out and takes his place.
  • The voice of the man shouting "Stop the stairs, Joey!" at the Academy Awards.

Reception

Box office

The film made over $51 million in the United States and Canada[5] and $122 million worldwide.[1] However, this would be the lowest-grossing film of the Naked Gun series. Still, ​33 1⁄3 managed to grab the No. 1 weekend box office title in the U.S. during its opening weekend (the other Naked Guns did as well).[6]

Critical response

Naked Gun ​33 1⁄3: The Final Insult received mixed reviews from critics.[7] The film holds a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Naked Gun ​33 1⁄3: The Final Insult can't help but be sporadically funny thanks to Leslie Nielsen's dependably solid work, but it's still a steep comedown from the original."[8]

Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times praised the opening sequence, which parodied The Untouchables, and the climax at the Academy Awards, but felt the middle was uninspired, and that the film overall had too little plotting and relied too much on comedy without the romantic or action elements of the previous films.[9] Others felt that the humor was weak and too similar to that of the previous films. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, the same rating he gave to The Naked Gun ​2 1⁄2.[10]

The movie won two Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Supporting Actor for O.J. Simpson and Worst New Star for Anna Nicole Smith.

Year-end lists

Cameo appearances

Numerous celebrities have cameo appearances in the film, both in credited and uncredited roles.

As themselves:

As minor characters:

Main article: Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp.

An image used on the promotional poster for the film parodies a famous portrait photograph by Annie Leibovitz which was featured on the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair magazine. The original photograph showed a pregnant, nude Demi Moore, and the parody photograph showed Leslie Nielsen in a similar pose. Leibovitz sued Paramount for copyright infringement; the Second Circuit deemed the use to be protected under fair use because of its transformative parodic purpose.

References
  1. "Worldwide Rentals Beat Domestic Take". Variety. February 13, 1995. p. 28.
  2. "Trivia for Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult". IMDb. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
  3. "Iconic movie scene: The Untouchables' Union Station shoot-out". Den of Geek. November 16, 2011. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  4. Xan Brooks (February 1, 2008). "Films influenced by Battleship Potemkin". The Guardian. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  5. Box Office Information for Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Box Office Mojo Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  6. Cerone, Daniel (March 22, 1994). "And the Winner Is . . . 'Naked Gun 33⅓'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  7. Fox, David J. (March 28, 1994). "Oscar Winners Pick Up at the Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
  8. "The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  9. Rainer, Peter (March 18, 1994). "MOVIE REVIEW : The Gags That Hit Mark Are Reason Enough to Get 'Naked'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  10. "Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult". RogerEbert.com. March 18, 1994. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  11. Stupich, David (January 19, 1995). "Even with gore, 'Pulp Fiction' was film experience of the year". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 3.
  12. Simon, Jeff (January 1, 1995). "Movies: Once More, with Feeling". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  13. Hurley, John (December 30, 1994). "Movie Industry Hit Highs and Lows in '94". Staten Island Advance. p. D11.
  14. Willistein, Paul (March 18, 1994). "'Naked Gun 33-1/3' So Funny It Shoots Holes in Winter's Depression". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  15. Gleiberman, Owen (April 1, 1994). "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult". Entertainment Weekly. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
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