4 Epic Comedie Movies Of All Time

Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller is one of the most interesting voices in comedy, and his epic spoof of Vietnam war movies is hilarious even though it came out close to 40 years after the war at the heart of the story ended.

There have been many parodies of late '70s, early '80s action movies, and while the best of them is yet to come, there's still plenty that this movie skewers all on its own that separates it and makes it its own thing.

On the surface, the movie is very purposefully similar to the genre it's parodying, except with the usual Ben Stiller twist of taking everything just that extra step further to clue you in that this is not meant to be taken seriously. From the overly dramatic moments of most '80s action films being cranked up to 11, to the hilarious fake trailers that precede the film itself that you're shocked haven't actually been made yet.

Tropic Thunder isn't the most clever film out there, but the rule of what's funny reigns supreme here. Tropic Thunder, like all the entries on this list, is just funny as hell.

Shaun Of The Dead

As with Spaceballs, it was hard choosing just one entry from two filmmakers, and the other one of those two was Edgar Wright. The man is the second coming of Monty Python-era Terry Gilliam, with jokes that come faster than light and thus make him the perfect rewatch comedian.

But at the end of the day, the original of the Cornetto trilogy is still the best. Shaun Of The Dead is both a hilarious spoof on zombie movies and mid-2000's British culture (it takes much of the first act for anyone to even NOTICE a zombie outbreak because zombie behavior was just normal for your average British citizen at that time) while also just being a really good zombie movie when it sets its mind to it.

It's ultimately a comedy, yes, but it still pulls the "sh*t gets real" trigger when you least expect it, like Shaun having to shoot his own mother in the face. Shaun Of The Dead is one of the best horror comedies ever made because it remembers to be both an epic comedy and truly spin chilling horror

Ghostbusters

Praising this movie is the prime definition of preaching to the choir, but hey, it's a choir worth preaching to. Ghostbusters is one of the most universally praised movies in existence, everyone with a heart in their chest and a brain in their head adores it, this author included. While not the best epic comedy on this list, it's definitely the one everyone quotes the most, with lines so casually cynical and funny that you can find a way to fit just about any line from this film into everyday conversation.

And of course, this movie has by far the best special effects of any film on this list. Even today every effect looks stunning, making the climactic battle against Gozer all the more epic. This movie isn't just hilarious (though make no mistake it's DEFINITELY that) it stays in people's minds because it takes its world building just seriously enough to have a believable world populated by characters you want to see come out on top. A perfect balance of science fantasy and screwball comedy, Ghostbusters is an epic comedy we won't soon forget.

The LEGO Movie

So, eventually Phil Lord and Chris Miller are gonna make a bad movie, right? Like not an unsuccessful movie but a straight up BAD movie. It's got to happen eventually. Well, if The LEGO Movie is any indication, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

What would have been just another cheap marketing ploy disguised as a movie was turned into a comedic masterpiece as well as the GREATEST marketing ploy LEGO has ever come up with by having Lord and Miller at the helm.

The LEGO Movie isn't just one of the funniest animated movies ever made, but it's also a biting yet loving satire of America's obsession with toys and nostalgia and nostalgic toys ever made.

From every frame of animation to every last letter in the script, you can tell top to bottom that the people who made this absolutely ADORE everything they're satirizing, from the toys at the center of the story, to the tired chosen one narrative that we've seen in every blockbuster movie since Joseph Campbell first put pen to paper.