Relatively young viewers won't be in on the opening scene gag when a host of terrorist world leaders get spoofed - Idi Amin, Yasser Arafat, Muammar Khaddafi, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ayatollah Khameini. There's even a Vladimir Putin look alike who turns out to be a guy named Pahpshmir later on in the story; that was kind of prescient as Putin himself didn't come on the world scene until around 1999/2000. So was that a lucky prophetic guess or what? I just have to shake my head.
I like these kinds of films where the sight and sound gags come a mile a minute, they have a way of keeping the viewer on his toes. It's all nonsense of course, like the sign in a warehouse stating 'Attention - All employees must wash hands before using restroom'. You really have to seek that one out, aware that the film makers didn't always draw direct attention to them but did some of their work with a subtlety to be admired.
And then there are the gags that come at you like a hammer blow, like Lieutenant Drebin's (Leslie Neilsen) ill fated attempt to infiltrate Vincent Ludwig's (Ricardo Montalban) office, filled with fine art and exotic collections. Then at one point out of nowhere, we get treated to Herman Hermit's hit 'Somethin' Tells Me I'm Into Somethin' Good'. The kicker of course when it comes to hindsight, is the appearance of O.J. Simpson. You would think that with this exposure to police detective tactics, he might have put them to good use one day in seeking out the real killer.
I like these kinds of films where the sight and sound gags come a mile a minute, they have a way of keeping the viewer on his toes. It's all nonsense of course, like the sign in a warehouse stating 'Attention - All employees must wash hands before using restroom'. You really have to seek that one out, aware that the film makers didn't always draw direct attention to them but did some of their work with a subtlety to be admired.
And then there are the gags that come at you like a hammer blow, like Lieutenant Drebin's (Leslie Neilsen) ill fated attempt to infiltrate Vincent Ludwig's (Ricardo Montalban) office, filled with fine art and exotic collections. Then at one point out of nowhere, we get treated to Herman Hermit's hit 'Somethin' Tells Me I'm Into Somethin' Good'. The kicker of course when it comes to hindsight, is the appearance of O.J. Simpson. You would think that with this exposure to police detective tactics, he might have put them to good use one day in seeking out the real killer.