The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

Director:

David Zucker

Writers (WGA):

Jim Abrahams (television series Police Squad) &
David Zucker (television series "Police Squad") ...

Release Date:

28 June 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

If you see only one movie this year...you ought to get out more often.

Plot:

Lieutenant Drebin discovers that his ex-girlfriend's new beau is involved in a plot to kidnap a scientist who advocates solar energy.

Plot Keywords:

Kidnap | Ex Girlfriend | Business | Corporate America | Digit In Title

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Leslie Nielsen	...	Lt. Frank Drebin
Priscilla Presley	...	Jane Spencer
George Kennedy	...	Captain Ed Hocken
O.J. Simpson	...	Nordberg
Robert Goulet	...	Quentin Hapsburg
Richard Griffiths	...	Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer / Earl Hacker
Jacqueline Brookes	...	Commissioner Anabell Brumford
Anthony James	...	Hector Savage
Lloyd Bochner	...	Terence Baggett
Tim O'Connor	...	Donald Fenswick
Peter Mark Richman	...	Arthur Dunwell
Ed Williams	...	Ted Olsen
John Roarke	...	President George Bush
Margery Ross	...	First Lady Barbara Bush
Peter Van Norden	...	Chief of Staff John Sununu

Also Known As:

The Naked Gun 2 1/2 (Canada: English title)
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10/7 | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The pictures displayed in the Loser's Bar include: the Titanic, the Hindenburg, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Ford Edsel, the DeLorean DMC-12, the Hubble Space Telescope (considered a failure at the time), Neville Chamberlain and Michael Dukakis.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the opening scene, Captain Brumford mentions that Frank's rank is Lieutenant. When Frank begins his opening narration, he mentions his rank as Sergeant. This is not an error but a running joke in the series that comes from the original Police Squad! TV show, where Drebin would be referred to as several different ranks through an episode of even in the same sentence. Frank's full, official title is "Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant Police Squad", which is a fictional amalgamation of three different ranks of police officer.

Quotes:

Lt. Frank Drebin: Real nice party, Hapsburg... I see a lot of familiar face-lifts.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

Soundtrack:

LIFESPAN

The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear: 8/10

Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker learned something from 1982. Their sequel to Airplane!, their smash hit, was named Airplane 2: The Sequel, but to their sequel to The Naked Gun was something that would be copied forever: Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear. From now on, sequels never were just had `2' after it, it's always `2 ½' or `2.33'. And, thankfully, the title's shorter.

Leslie Nielsen's hilarious character of Frank Drebin is back for more adventures. He and his girlfriend Jane (Priscilla Presley) have broken up; he hasn't gotten over it, while she's going out with Quentin Hapsburg (Robert Goulet). What she doesn't know is that Hapsburg is in a conspiracy to avoid solar energy by doing a whole kidnapping scheme. It's up to Drebin, Nordberg (O.J. Simpson), and Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) to save the day!

Amazingly enough, many of the jokes from the first one (which I admit I don't remember much about) weren't repeated in this sequel. It would be hard to repeat much of those jokes, which would be impossible to change in any ways. Therefore, most of the jokes were fresh and hilarious. It did take a little while to get started, though, for there was about a fifteen minute stretch where there were no laughs, it was just for exposition, which I guess was OK, but I wanted more humor to start off with.

Nielsen was perfect for the part. I'm glad that he hasn't `sold out' like other comedians and gone on to dramatic roles. He delivers his lines almost like he didn't know he was in a comedy, which is always funnier than any other types. Many times, he misunderstands what is said, and other times he says something that you wouldn't expect him to say in 100 years. One of the funniest sequences in the film is a parody of Bond-ish films, when Drebin and someone else are fighting in a bathroom, and seem to be having trouble fighting when a towel is thrown on their heads, etc.

For once, a film has a formidable sequel. Amazingly enough, it's a film that's just as funny as the first.

My rating: 8/10

Rated PG-13 for sexual humor.