BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Those screw-loose Flying High! creators have done it again! Leslie Nielsen stars as Police Squad's own granite-jawed, rock-brained cop Frank Drebin, who bumbles across a mind control scheme to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Priscilla Presley, OJ Simpson, a stuffed beaver, two baseball teams and an odd assortment of others join the wacko goings-on and blow the laugh-o-meter to smitherens.

FILM REVIEW: Based on a failed TV series, The Files of Police Squad, "The Naked Gun" makes an impressive jump to the big screen to become one of the funniest comedies you're likely to see. The same word-play, gags and slapstick that worked so well in movies like "Flying High" are back in abundance, and in some cases, surpass them. Leslie Nielsen couldn't be better as the nutty policeman Frank Drebin who despite constantly screwing things up somehow manages to save the day in the end.

What makes this film work so well is that everyone is playing it straight, and the gags are so well timed and implemented. There isn't one scene in the film where the filmmakers haven't exploited the opportunity for a gag. For example, when Frank is driving away from the airport, he backs his car in to something. Later on, we discover that he's had actually backed in to a trolley full of luggage and had dragged that with him in to the city. Or when they arrive at the crime scene at the waterfront and the white body marking you usually see at a murder scene is floating on the water where the victim fell in. Or when Frank accidentally leaves his microphone on after doing a press conference and going to the toilet where everyone can 'hear' him relieving himself. Possibly one of the best moments is when Frank goes to park his car at police HQ and accidentally sets off the air bag. The air bag then hits the gear stick in to neutral which starts the car rolling toward Frank. Someone yells "look out!" Frank dives out of the way, he yells, "Freeze! Police!" and then shoots up his own car. "Did anyone get a look at the driver?" he asks. Very funny. Of course it's gets off to an hilarious start with a POV shot on the main credits behind the siren on a police car and watching this car drive on the road, then the footpath, then inside people's houses, then a rollar-coaster... and so on.

Leslie Nielsen is perfect in the lead role. He plays everything straight and with the material, makes for some hilarious one-liners. Some throw-away lines include when he's offerred a Cuban cigar: "Cuban?". Frank replies, "No, Dutch-Irish, my father was from Wales". Or when he tells Priscilla, "I think I'll slip in to something more comfortable..." and then comes out in the next scene wearing another suit. Or when Frank sings the national anthem at a baseball game because he's mistaken for opera singer Enrico Palazzo. Great lines also come from the supporting players. When Frank asks his boss how his partner is doing in the hospital, his boss replies, "the doctors say he has a 50-50 chance of surviving... although there's only a ten percent chance of that."

The addition of Ricardo Montalban is a plus. He's quite menacing as the bad guy. He also looks a little bemused by everything that's going on, something that's borne out in the filmmaker's commentary when they discuss that Montalban wasn't entirely sure if everyone's head was on properly when making this film. But being a good sport, he went along with it.

It's quite odd seeing OJ Simpson in a film; granted this was made well before even his later exploits. Nevertheless, his performance is quite good and serves as the straight man to Nielsen's odd ball behaviour.

Overall, this a very funny film that you'll find hard not to like.

EXTRAS REVIEW: This DVD has a strong audio commentary from the director and producer which provides some valuable insight in to the film, for example Leslie Nielsen's willingness to be "up for anything" and an interesting retrospective about OJ Simpson, particularly when they start saying, "it's a bit strange seeing OJ up there in your film...". Aside from that there's only a theatrical trailer, a French, Italian and Spanish audio soundtrack and an array of subtitles. It's okay, but the absence of a documentary brings the stock down a number of points.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.