Ranked: All Of The ‘Saturday Night Live’ Movies
Since a new season ofSaturday Night Liveis kicking off this weekend withhost Miley Cyrus on October 3rd, and yours truly will be reviewing every new episode, there’s no better time to take a look back at all the movies that have been spawned from the iconic late-night sketch series and rank them from worst to best.
This wasn’t too monumental an undertaking since there’s only 11 total movies produced that were based onSaturday Night Livesketches, but there’s bound to be some dissension when it comes to where they fall on the list. So without further adieu, let’s get to rankingSaturday Night Livemovies.
#11. Blues Brothers 2000
Why did anyone ever think that making aBlues Brotherssequel without John Belushi would be a good idea? Sure,John Goodmanis probably the best possible replacement to take over for the late, great comedian alongsideDan Aykroyd, but this sequel was never going to shake a stick at the original, even if Belushi was back from the dead. While it does offer a fantastic soundtrack, as expected, there’s also some smart ass little kid brought into play, and it just doesn’t work.
#10. The Ladies Man
One of the easiest criticisms of movies that are adapted fromSaturday Night Livesketches is that the characters going to the big screen just don’t have enough depth to lead a feature film, and that’s very clear withThe Ladies Man. But even despite a colorful cavalcade of characters to surroundTim Meadowsas Leon Phelps, includingBilly Dee WilliamsandSaturday Night LivestarWill Ferrellbefore he really made it big, this movie is all over the place with musical numbers, an attempt at romance, and some strange and unsatisfying tangents.
#9. It’s Pat
Your enjoyment of this movie wholly depends on whether or not you actually likeJulia Sweeneyas the androgynous misfit who confuses people everywhere the character goes. And since I think she’s fantastic as Pat, that’s why this film isn’t at the bottom. Also helping things is the presence ofKids in the HallstarDave Foleyas Pat’s newly found, equally gender-perplexing partner Chris. However, everything about this film is pretty bad, and this truly lives up to the criticism of anSNLmovie that feels like a sketch idea being stretched very thin for a feature film. Even the production quality is pretty poor, looking more like a made-for-TV movie than a real studio film.
#8. A Night at the Roxbury
Full disclosure: I actually loveA Night at the Roxbury. But at the same time, I also recognize that it’s not a very good movie. Much of my enjoyment of this movie comes from my love of this sketch fromSaturday Night Liveat a time when I truly became obsessed with the late night sketch show, but a quality comedy is not whatA Night at the Roxburydelivers. It’s downright dumb and never lets up the stupidity, much like the Butabi brothers (Chris KattanandWill Ferrell) themselves. The movie is so bad that the only celebrity cameo they could get was fromRichard Grieco. Yeesh.
#7. Stuart Saves His Family
This is the oneSaturday Night Livemovie that you’ve either never heard of or have completely forgotten about.Al Franken, who is now a United States senator, plays self-help TV personality Stuart Smalley, who is good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like him. The movie is much sweeter than you would expect aSaturday Night Livemovie to be, even if Smalley is probably the strangest decision for anSNLcharacter to leap to the big screen, but it’s not nearly as funny as it should be.
#6. Superstar
Here’s where our countdown takes a pretty decent turn towards the good movies thatSNLhas made over the years. WhileMolly Shannon’s Sister Mary Katherine Gallagher feels like the kind of character that couldn’t sustain a feature film, she actually ends up being up weirdly fascinating, and when we start to learn about her childhood and life outside of smelling her armpits by way of her hands, she turns out to be rather charming too. She’s almost like aNapoleon Dynamitecompanion. It also helps that we getWill Ferrellin two roles, including a very cool Jesus Christ.
#5. Coneheads
Perhaps one of the most heartwarmingSaturday Night Livemovies every made,Coneheadsis a movie about family through and through. It truly has a lot of heart among the alien family played byDan Aykroyd, Jane CurtinandMichelle Burke, but making this movie even more of a delight is the cavalcade ofSNLstars and other comedians who pop up.Sinbad, Phil Hartman, David Spade, Michael McKean, Dave Thomas, Eddie Griffin, Drew Carey, Adam Sandler, Kevin Nealon, Jason Alexander, Chris Farley, Jan Hooks, Julia Sweeney, Garret Morris, Laraine Newman, Tim Meadows, Tom ArnoldandEllen DeGeneresall pop up. It might be worth a rewatch, right?
#4. Wayne’s World 2
In some ways, this comedy sequel starringMike MyersandDana Carveyis superior to the original. It relies less on the gags that made the sketch characters famous and features some extremely memorable spoofs ofThe GraduateandJurassic Park. However, it also treads the exact same territory storywise as another scheming executive comes along to take Wayne’s girlfriend Cassandra away. It helps that it’sChristopher Walkenas the bad guy this time, but it just can’t top the original, which is coming later.
#3. MacGruber
This movie may have bombed hard when it hit theaters in 2010, earning just over $8 million at the domestic box office in its entire theatrical run, but it has found quite a sizable audience since hitting home video, rightly taking it to cult comedy status.Will Forteis a comedy tour de force as the title character, a less-skilled MacGyver knock-off with a serious attitude problem, but everyone makes this movie far better than it had any business being. It’s absolutely hilarious, and it even looks good. Plus,Val Kilmeras the villain? If you haven’t seen this movie, remedy that immediately. KFBR392.
#2. The Blues Brothers
Easily one of the best and most iconic comedies ever made, this one is a real classic.John BelushiandDan Aykroydare one of the best duos to ever grace the big screen, and what’s even more impressive is that their musical antics aren’t just funny, but also worthy of busting some moves on the dance floor.The Blues Brothersis a road trip and chase movie with plenty of musical interludes, and while it feels a little dated, you can’t help but get caught up in the wackiness and pumping soundtrack. It’s a timeless slice of Hollywood and comedy history.
#1. Wayne’s World
I’ve lovedWayne’s Worldsince an age when I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed a movie like this and should have been watching a Disney movie or something instead of developing my first big screen crush onTia Carrere. And in rewatching it several times each year, it still holds up magnificently. Surely there will be many who don’t think it topsThe Blues Brothers, but we can chalk that up to a generational thing if necessary. Plus, if it makes anyone feel better, I could probably flip-flip the top two movies on this list and still not feel like I was betraying myself.
ButWayne’s Worlddefines a generation, perfectly skewering the pop culture of the decade (including a phenomenalTerminator 2: Judgment Dayjoke that never gets old) but without feeling overly dated. If anything, the film almost feels like it was created intentionally as a time capsule of the 90s with the bits still working 23 years later. It even has fun with the medium by endlessly breaking the fourth wall and delivering so many classic meta bits.
Fun Fact: A trailer for the movie was created just for audiences seeingThe Addams Family, and you can watch it right here:
What’s your favorite of theSaturday Night Livemovies?
