Highest-Rated Movies about 'Absurd Comedy'

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Duck Soup (1933), The Hangover (2009), Airplane! (1980), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), Delicatessen (1991), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Absurd Comedy movies.

#1. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Storyline: Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper's executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, are discussing measures to stop the attack or mitigate its blow-up into an all ...

Plot Keywords: mushroom cloud, nuclear weapons, nuclear holocaust, u.s. president, psychopath, flight, american soldier ...

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#2. Duck Soup (1933)

Storyline: The country of Freedonia is in the middle of a financial crisis and on the brink of revolution. In order to gain a bail-out from the wealthy Mrs Teasdale, the government appoints Rufus T Firefly as its president. However, Mr Firefly shuns the pomp and pretentiousness of government; along with the prudence and rationality of it too. Meanwhile, the neighbouring country of Sylvania is plotting to overthrow Freedonia and sends Pinky and Chicolini to spy on Firefly. War seems inevitable.

Plot Keywords: absurd comedy, absurd humor, political satire, slapstick comedy, farce, reference to napoleon, delinquent ...

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#3. The Hangover (2009)

Storyline: Angelenos Doug Billings and Tracy Garner are about to get married. Two days before the wedding, the four men in the wedding party - Doug, Doug's two best buddies Phil Wenneck and Stu Price, and Tracy's brother Alan Garner - hop into Tracy's father's beloved Mercedes convertible for a 24-hour stag party to Las Vegas. Phil, a married high school teacher, has the same maturity level as his students when he's with his pals. Stu, a dentist, is worried about everything, especially what his controlling girlfriend Melissa thinks. Because she disapproves of traditional male bonding rituals, Stu has to lie to her about the stag, he telling her that they are going on a wine tasting tour in the Napa Valley. Regardless, he intends on eventually marrying her, against the advice and wishes of his friends. And Alan seems to be unaware of what are considered the social graces of the western world. The morning after their arrival in Las Vegas, they awaken in their hotel suite each with the worst ...

Plot Keywords: female nudity, female frontal nudity, hangover, scantily clad female, mini dress, leg spreading, bachelor party ...

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#4. Airplane! (1980)

Storyline: Still craving for the love of his life, Ted Striker follows Elaine onto the flight that she is working on as a member of the cabin crew. Elaine doesn't want to be with Ted anymore, but when the crew and passengers fall ill from food poisoning, all eyes are on Ted.

Plot Keywords: spoof, airplane, absurd humor, satire, parody, female nudity, pedophilia ...

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#5. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Storyline: The big-screen version of Hunter S. Thompson's seminal psychedelic classic about his road trip across Western America as he and his large Samoan lawyer searched desperately for the "American dream"... they were helped in large part by the huge amount of drugs and alcohol kept in their convertible, The Red Shark.

Plot Keywords: drugs, hallucination, 1970s, based on novel, based on true story, psychedelia, casino ...

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#6. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Storyline: A rerun of many of the gags from the television series Police Squad! (1982). An Airplane! (1980)-type spoof, this time with the an incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin, who always "gets his man". Visual gags come thick and fast, and it's impossible to catch them all with one viewing. The plot: Queen Elizabeth II of England is coming to town, and Vincent Ludwig has plans to assassinate her using a brainwashed baseball player.

Plot Keywords: spoof, slapstick comedy, parody, assassin, terrorist, fish, pen ...

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#7. Delicatessen (1991)

Storyline: Centered on a post-apocalyptic society where food is scrarce and used as currency. In an apartment building with a delicatessen on the ground floor. The owner of the eatery also owns the apartment building and is in need of a new maintenance man since the prior one "mysteriously" disappeared. A former clown applies for the job and the butcher's intent is to have him work for as little as possible, and then serve him to odd tenants who pay the butcher in grain. The clown and butcher's daughter fall in love and she tries to foil her father's plans by contacting the "troglodytes", a grain eating sub-group of society who live entirely underground.

Plot Keywords: black comedy, absurd comedy, surrealism, landlord, tenant, painting, dark comedy ...

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#8. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Storyline: Barry Egan hates himself and hates his life. The only male among eight siblings, Barry is treated poorly by his overbearing sisters. Despite owning his own business, he has gotten nowhere in life largely because of his insecurities. He leads a solitary life, which allows him to hide his violent outbursts that occur when he's frustrated. His solitude however allows him to think, he stumbling upon a scheme to travel the world on a pittance, travel which he has never done. Concurrently, he meets two people who pull him in two different directions. The first is Lena Leonard, a friend of his sister Elizabeth. Barry is slow to realize that Lena is attracted to him, he making her make all the first moves. Lena is eventually able to get Barry out of his shell, she who sticks around despite his obvious problems. His burgeoning relationship and thus new life with Lena is threatened by the second, "Georgia", who he contacted in an effort to alleviate his loneliness. Georgia and her "band of ...

Plot Keywords: absurd comedy, sister, happiness, brother sister relationship, absurdism, credit card, hospital ...

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#9. Top Secret! (1984)

Storyline: This time Zucker and Abrahams are spoofing, most notably, Elvis films and WWII spy movies. Val Kilmer stars as Nick Rivers, a handsome American 50s-style rock and roll singer. While performing in East Germany, he falls in love with a beautiful heroine and becomes involved with the French Resistance.

Plot Keywords: reverse footage, cow, spoof, rock star, plane, gunfight, firing squad ...

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#10. Wild at Heart (1990)

Storyline: Lula's psychopathic mother goes crazy at the thought of Lula being with Sailor, who just got free from jail. Ignoring Sailor's probation, they set out for California. However their mother hires a killer to hunt down Sailor. Unaware of this, the two enjoy their journey and themselves being together... until they witness a young woman dying after a car accident - a bad omen.—Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

Plot Keywords: domineering mother, avant garde, surrealism, violence, forbidden love, murder, black comedy ...

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#11. True Stories (1986)

Storyline: David Byrne of Talking Heads fame visits a typical (and fictional) Texas town, on the eve of the town's celebration of the state's sesquicentennial. He meets various colorful local characters, most notably Lewis Fyne, a big-hearted bachelor in search of matrimony.—Tim Horrigan <horrigan@aol.com>

Plot Keywords: cult favorite, highway travel, convertible, cheerleader, breaking the fourth wall, auctioneer, surrealism ...

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#12. Super Troopers (2001)

Storyline: Thorny, Mac, Rabbit, Foster and Farva are Vermont state troopers out to have a good time. Stationed in a remote area near the Canadian border, the troopers, avid pranksters with an affinity for syrup, have a knack for screwing up on the job. But when budget cuts in the town of Spurbury threaten their livelihood and pit them against arch-rival Spurbury P.D., the five friends try to straighten up and fly right. That is, until a dead body is discovered and a possible drug ring is unearthed. The super troopers spring into action attempting to solve the crime, save their jobs, and outdo the local police department.

Plot Keywords: jail, policewoman, female to male foot in crotch, tattoo, sex in a car, porsche, male frontal nudity ...

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#13. Bananas (1971)

Storyline: Fielding Mellish (a consumer products tester) becomes infatuated with Nancy (a political activist). He attends demonstrations and tries in other ways to convince her that he is worthy of her love, but Nancy wants someone with greater leadership potential. Fielding runs off to San Marcos where he joins the rebels and eventually becomes President of the country. While on a trip to the states, he meets Nancy again and she falls for him now that he is a political leader.

Plot Keywords: political satire, dictator, latin america, revolution, satire, reference to fidel castro, rebellion ...

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#14. Up in Smoke (1978)

Storyline: Cheech and Chong meet up by chance on the highway somewhere in California. They go in search of some dope and are accidentally deported to Mexico where in their desperation to get home they agree to drive a van back to the States so they can get back in time for a gig they are due to play. Unaware of the properties from which the van is constructed they make their way back having aquired a couple of female hitch-hikers whilst all the time avoiding the cops whom they are not even aware are following them.

Plot Keywords: mexican american, tijuana mexico, los angeles california, weed, grindhouse film, lowrider, on the road ...

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