Sunday, November 2, 2008

Three Scenes I Love: The Naked Gun Series

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!


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


The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

The first two scenes were pretty self-explanatory but the third deserves a little history lesson. While the 33 1/3 scene is parodying Brian De Palma's The Untouchables, some of you might know that De Palma's scene was an homage to an older film. Every film student (except for my friend Laura) has seen Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkim (1925).

When a sailor is killed by his superiors, the citizens of Odessa revolt. A mob starts running around doin' mob stuff which includes shooting people in the eye and knocking a baby down a staircase. The scene has been referenced in The Untouchables, Batman Returns, and The Hidden Fortress. Here's a link to the original scene, watch it so that you can know what to look for. Battleship Potemkin - Odessa Steps Sequence

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also like the reference / homage in Brazil too.

elgringo said...

I'm going to have to watch Brazil again to see that reference.

IMDB said: During Sam's escape from the torture chamber police advance down a set of stairs preceded by a cleaning cart as a reference to the famous scene on the Odessa steps.

I can't remember that scene but I'll watch it again soon. Thanks for the comment.

Adam Ross said...

There are so many great scenes in this trilogy, it's hard to choose one, but my favorite line from those has always been in the "The Naked Gun" when the chief is reading the list of charges against Frank: "...Sexual Assault with a concrete dildo? What the hell's got into you Frank?"

Ric Burke said...

Oh yes, a guilty pleasure if ever there was one.

It really doesn't matter how old, mature and sophisticated one believes himself to be, one can't help but laugh at the line...

hmmm, nice beaver.

I know, I should be ashamed but it kills me every time.

Great post.

elgringo said...

Adam, just reading that line out of context is hilarious. Excellent choice.

Ibetolis, you don't know how close I came to choosing that part. Alllllmost.