10 FUNNIEST Epic Comedies Of All Time

The biggest and boldest comedies of them all - ranked!

Shaun Of The Dead Nick Frost Simon Pegg
Universal

Like all genres, comedy is a rabbit hole of branching sub genres and sub-sub-genres because we humans just love fitting every little thing into its own niche little category no matter how asinine it is. So in keeping with that spirit, what exactly is an "epic comedy"?

Well, like any proper epic, it should have a huge scale, an ensemble cast of characters, a huge blockbuster budget, and then you just add in a touch of insane wacky humor to give it that extra edge.

You've definitely seen one of these before, even if you didn't know what category of comedy they fit under. These were way more popular back in the day than they are now, but thankfully you still see them pop up every now and then.

But which is the absolute best? Which ones took their massive scale and used it to tell jokes you couldn't tell anywhere else or any other way?

10. Spaceballs

Shaun Of The Dead Nick Frost Simon Pegg
MGM

Choosing the best of Mel Brooks' work is especially hard because all of his films are comedic masterpieces. But when it comes to narrowing it down to epic comedies, there's really only one choice.

Spaceballs was Brooks' commentary on the new hotness of film at the time, that of course being Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet Of The Apes and other films like them. The interesting thing about this movie is how it's an old guard filmmaker commenting on the new trends of the movies, but unlike EVERY other time this happens, it comes off more as a celebration than an old man yelling at a cloud.

The characters are still likeable, the jokes - even the ones directly at Star Wars and its contemporaries' expense - have a fun ribbing nature to them rather than a bitter angry one, and you still want to see a happy ending for all involved.

And of course, the villains absolutely steal the show, with President Scroob, Sanders, and Dark Helmet being three of the funniest villains in cinema history.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?