65 Best Comedy Movies of All Time, Ranked

Comedy is harder to rank than most genres. A great thriller can be judged by suspense, and a great action film by its set pieces; comedy depends on timing, performance, dialogue, tone and whether the joke still works after repeated viewings. This list treats comedy broadly, including silent film, satire, romantic comedy, black comedy, animation, mockumentary and genre spoofs.

The ranking favors films that are consistently funny, formally inventive, culturally influential and emotionally satisfying. It is not a box-office chart or a critics’ poll. Some entries are nearly perfect joke machines; others earn their place because they changed what screen comedy could do.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Some Like It Hot (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]	$32.28	Buy on Amazon
2		Some Like it Hot (WS/BD) [Blu-ray]	$12.99	Buy on Amazon
3		Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray]	$27.99	Buy on Amazon
4		Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] by 20th Century Fox	$18.98	Buy on Amazon
5		Some Like It Hot		Buy on Amazon

65 best comedy movies of all time, ranked

1. Some Like It Hot (1959) — Billy Wilder’s perfect farce combines disguises, romance, gangsters and a final line that remains one of cinema’s great comic exits. Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe are all operating at full strength.
2. Dr. Strangelove (1964) — Stanley Kubrick turns nuclear annihilation into a vicious political farce. Peter Sellers’ multiple performances and the film’s deadpan absurdity make its horror even sharper.
3. Airplane! (1980) — The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker spoof fires off visual gags, verbal puns and background jokes at an almost impossible rate. Its influence on parody comedy is enormous.
4. Groundhog Day (1993) — The time-loop premise is funny immediately, but the film lasts because Bill Murray’s selfish weatherman gradually becomes a better person. It is a philosophical comedy disguised as a high-concept studio movie.
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) — Low-budget limitations become part of the joke in this anarchic Arthurian adventure. It is quotable, strange and packed with comic ideas that still feel joyfully stupid.
6. Bringing Up Baby (1938) — Howard Hawks’ screwball classic turns a paleontologist’s carefully ordered life into a hurricane of mistaken identities, leopards and romantic panic.
7. Duck Soup (1933) — The Marx Brothers’ attack on nationalism and political authority is as fast and disrespectful as any comedy ever made. Groucho’s insults and the mirror sequence are immortal.
8. The Apartment (1960) — Wilder balances workplace cynicism, loneliness and romance without sanding away the darker edges. Its comedy is character-driven, melancholy and exceptionally humane.
9. Modern Times (1936) — Charlie Chaplin’s factory worker battles machines, bureaucracy and economic hardship in a film whose physical comedy carries a serious social argument.
10. City Lights (1931) — Chaplin’s Little Tramp stumbles through comic misadventures while trying to help a blind flower seller. The final exchange is one of silent cinema’s most moving endings.
11. Tootsie (1982) — Dustin Hoffman’s struggling actor creates a female alter ego to get work, then discovers that his new success exposes his own assumptions about women and power.
12. The General (1926) — Buster Keaton builds a sustained chase around a locomotive and performs astonishingly precise physical comedy. The action staging is as impressive as the jokes.
13. The Producers (1967) — Mel Brooks’ first feature is a beautifully cynical farce about two producers who expect a Broadway disaster to make them rich. “Springtime for Hitler” is both outrageous and perfectly engineered.
14. His Girl Friday (1940) — Rapid-fire dialogue, professional rivalry and romantic tension collide in Howard Hawks’ newspaper comedy. Rosalind Russell gives the film its propulsive center.
15. When Harry Met Sally… (1989) — Nora Ephron’s screenplay understands both the pleasure and inconvenience of intimacy. Its jokes about friendship, sex and emotional honesty have become part of the romantic-comedy vocabulary.
16. Young Frankenstein (1974) — Brooks lovingly recreates the look and rhythm of classic Universal horror while sending up every grand gesture. Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman make the silliness precise rather than random.
17. Shaun of the Dead (2004) — Edgar Wright’s zombie comedy is full of visual foreshadowing, musical timing and genre affection. Beneath the jokes is a surprisingly sincere story about growing up.
18. Fargo (1996) — The Coen brothers mix murder, incompetence and the flat landscapes of Minnesota into a black comedy with a remarkably warm moral center. Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson is unforgettable.
19. The Big Lebowski (1998) — A kidnapping plot becomes an excuse for bowling, mistaken identity and philosophical arguments about rugs. Its laid-back rhythm and eccentric characters reward repeat viewing.
20. Network (1976) — Paddy Chayefsky’s satire of television is angry, theatrical and frighteningly funny. Its speeches about ratings and public outrage still land because the characters are more than mouthpieces.
21. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) — A buried fortune sends a large cast of increasingly desperate people into an escalating chase. The scale is excessive by design, and the ensemble keeps the chaos alive.
22. Office Space (1999) — Mike Judge captures the small humiliations of corporate work with deadpan accuracy. Its printer, management jargon and cubicle rebellion have become modern workplace shorthand.
23. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) — Rob Reiner’s mockumentary is so carefully observed that its fictional heavy-metal band feels plausible. The comedy comes from watching performers mistake self-importance for talent.
24. Life of Brian (1979) — Monty Python’s satire targets religious authority, political factions and the human tendency to follow the wrong person. It is irreverent without depending on a single kind of joke.
25. Bridesmaids (2011) — Kristen Wiig’s performance anchors a comedy about friendship, envy, money and personal collapse. Its broad set pieces work because the emotional consequences matter.
26. The Princess Bride (1987) — Adventure, romance, fantasy and parody fit together effortlessly. Its comic dialogue is endlessly repeatable, but the film never mocks the sincerity of its fairy-tale story.
27. Best in Show (2000) — Christopher Guest’s improvised mockumentary finds comedy in competitive people revealing far too much about themselves. The cast turns dog-show obsession into a study of insecurity.
28. The Naked Gun (1988) — Leslie Nielsen’s expressionless performance gives every impossible sight gag a straight-faced foundation. The film is a model of how to sustain a parody beyond its premise.
29. Hot Fuzz (2007) — Wright’s police-action spoof is also a genuinely satisfying buddy-cop movie. Its early details, editing tricks and absurd escalation pay off with exceptional discipline.
30. The Jerk (1979) — Steve Martin plays an innocent whose rise and fall through American consumer culture becomes a wonderfully strange comic autobiography.
31. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) — The film combines a robbery plot with romantic deception, linguistic confusion and one of cinema’s funniest performances of wounded pride from Kevin Kline.
32. Trading Places (1983) — Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd switch social positions in a sharp comedy about class, privilege and financial manipulation. The laughs arrive alongside a clear argument about power.
33. Coming to America (1988) — Murphy’s regal fish-out-of-water performance is supported by a rich ensemble and some of the decade’s most memorable fictional businesses and characters.
34. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) — A teenager’s day of truancy becomes a bright, self-aware celebration of performance and freedom, with Jeffrey Jones’ increasingly frantic dean providing the counterpoint.
35. Mean Girls (2004) — Tina Fey’s screenplay turns high-school hierarchy into a precise social comedy. Its dialogue is sharp, but its observations about imitation and belonging give it staying power.
36. Clueless (1995) — Amy Heckerling transforms Jane Austen’s Emma into a polished Beverly Hills comedy. Cher’s apparent shallowness gradually gives way to genuine intelligence and generosity.
37. Rushmore (1998) — Wes Anderson’s deadpan style is already distinctive here, but the film’s real strength is its portrait of an ambitious, lonely teenager learning that other people have inner lives.
38. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) — A dysfunctional family comedy with a storybook surface, it uses eccentric design and dry dialogue to explore regret, failure and the possibility of repair.
39. Election (1999) — Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick lead a brilliantly sour satire of ambition. School politics become a miniature version of adult power games.
40. Napoleon Dynamite (2004) — Its awkward pauses, strange dance moves and deliberately limited emotional register create a unique comic world. The film’s outsiders are never treated as disposable punchlines.
41. Galaxy Quest (1999) — A loving Star Trek-style parody that also understands why fans care about fictional worlds. The cast plays both the joke and the adventure completely straight when it counts.
42. What We Do in the Shadows (2014) — The mockumentary format gives four vampires an everyday domestic routine full of petty arguments, chores and supernatural inconvenience.
43. Best in Show (2000) — Its improvised interviews and carefully built characters make competitive dog ownership feel like an epic struggle for identity and validation.
44. Waiting for Guffman (1996) — A small-town theater troupe prepares for a potentially important visitor in a comedy about ambition, delusion and the need to be noticed.
45. Four Lions (2010) — Chris Morris uses extreme subject matter to expose incompetence, peer pressure and ideological absurdity. It is deliberately uncomfortable, but its targets are clear.
46. In Bruges (2008) — Two hitmen hide in a beautiful Belgian city while arguing about morality, art and guilt. The comedy is dark, profane and grounded by real emotional pain.
47. Withnail & I (1987) — Two unemployed actors spend a disastrous holiday in the country in this melancholy British comedy of failed plans, grandiose complaints and memorable dialogue.
48. The Death of Stalin (2017) — Armando Iannucci turns a succession crisis into a vicious ensemble farce. The characters’ terror makes their jockeying for power both absurd and horrifying.
49. The Great Dictator (1940) — Chaplin’s bold satire of fascism culminates in a serious speech, but much of the film’s power comes from his physical mockery of authoritarian spectacle.
50. Bananas (1971) — Woody Allen’s early political farce treats revolution, dictatorship and media spectacle as material for rapid, surreal escalation.
51. Annie Hall (1977) — Its formal experiments, direct address and fragmented structure serve a sophisticated comedy about memory, romance and the stories people tell about failed relationships.
52. The Odd Couple (1968) — Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau turn incompatible habits into a durable comic engine. The film understands that domestic conflict can be both petty and affectionate.
53. The Birdcage (1996) — Robin Williams and Nathan Lane lead a farce about family performance and conservative respectability. Its broad humor is matched by genuine warmth.
54. A Hard Day’s Night (1964) — Richard Lester captures the Beatles as playful, restless personalities rather than polished pop products. Its loose energy helped define the modern rock comedy.
55. The Blues Brothers (1980) — Musical performances, car chases and deadpan criminality combine in a film that is structurally chaotic but powered by remarkable rhythm and commitment.
56. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) — Its satire of religious confusion and political splintering remains one of Python’s most focused feature films, with a surprisingly coherent plot beneath the absurdity.
57. Raising Arizona (1987) — The Coens turn a kidnapping plot into a cartoonish chase through the American Southwest, mixing wild physical comedy with a sincere portrait of an unlikely family.
58. Borat (2006) — Sacha Baron Cohen’s mockumentary uses confrontation and improvisation to reveal prejudice and social hypocrisy. It is intentionally abrasive and not suited to every viewer.
59. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) — The musical structure gives Trey Parker and Matt Stone room to satirize censorship, political panic and parental hypocrisy with unusually strong songs.
60. The Simpsons Movie (2007) — It expands the show’s family dynamics into a feature-length environmental and political farce without losing the character-based jokes that made the series endure.
61. Kung Fu Hustle (2004) — Stephen Chow combines martial-arts spectacle, slapstick and cartoon physics. Its action is beautifully staged, but the comic timing is what makes the fantasy world sing.
62. Paddington 2 (2017) — A visually inventive family comedy with impeccable kindness at its center. Its prison sequence, chase construction and supporting performances make it much funnier than its cuddly premise suggests.
63. The Lego Movie (2014) — Fast, colorful and unexpectedly thoughtful, it uses brand-based humor to tell a story about creativity, conformity and the fear of being ordinary.

How to use this ranking

The top ten favors films that combine comic precision with lasting influence. The middle section is deliberately varied: mockumentaries, teen comedies, political satire, British absurdism and romantic comedy all solve different problems. Lower placement does not mean a film is disposable; it usually means its appeal is narrower, more era-specific or less complete than the films above it.

For a first viewing, a useful route is to sample one film from each tradition: Modern Times for silent physical comedy, Some Like It Hot for classic farce, Dr. Strangelove for satire, This Is Spinal Tap for mockumentary, Groundhog Day for high-concept comedy and Kung Fu Hustle for action-comedy.

#1 Best Overall

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Some Like It Hot (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

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FAQ

What is the funniest comedy movie of all time?

There is no objective answer, but Some Like It Hot, Airplane!, Groundhog Day and Monty Python and the Holy Grail are among the safest starting points because they combine strong premises with exceptional repeat value.

Why are some dark or dramatic films included on a comedy list?

Comedy often overlaps with satire, crime, tragedy and horror. Films such as Fargo, In Bruges and The Death of Stalin use laughter to expose fear, cruelty or absurdity rather than offering purely light entertainment.

Rank #2

Some Like it Hot (WS/BD) [Blu-ray]

• Blu-ray
• Multiple Formats, AC-3, Blu-ray
• Spanish (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
• 1
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Which comedy movies are best for beginners?

Start with Groundhog Day, The Princess Bride, Paddington 2, Some Like It Hot and Shaun of the Dead. They are accessible while representing very different kinds of comedy.

Are mockumentaries real documentaries?

No. Mockumentaries imitate documentary conventions, including interviews, handheld camerawork and observational editing, but their subjects and events are fictional. This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and What We Do in the Shadows are notable examples.

Rank #3

Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray]

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The Bottom Line

Some Like It Hot takes the top spot because it is almost impossibly efficient: every disguise, misunderstanding and performance choice feeds the comedy, while the emotional story remains intact. But the best entry point depends on your taste. Choose Dr. Strangelove for satire, Modern Times for physical comedy, Groundhog Day for heart, This Is Spinal Tap for mockumentary or Kung Fu Hustle for explosive visual invention.

Quick Recap

SaleBestseller No. 1

Some Like It Hot (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Movie dvd

$32.28

Bestseller No. 2

Some Like it Hot (WS/BD) [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray; Multiple Formats, AC-3, Blu-ray; Spanish (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), English (Original Language)

$12.99

Bestseller No. 3

Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray]

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Bestseller No. 4

Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] by 20th Century Fox

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Bestseller No. 5

Some Like It Hot

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Some Like It Hot [Blu-ray] by 20th Century Fox

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