The 22 Funniest Movie Names Of All Time, Including Spaceballs & Snakes On A Plane

A title is a key component in marketing a movie, but there have been some truly funny movie names in the past that have had audiences laughing before they see a single frame of the film. It is possible for a bad title to sink a movie, with examples like Lucky Number Slevin and John Carter being cited. While most movies attempt to deliver short and snappy names to get our attention, it is a rare talent for a movie title to actually amuse viewers with a few words.

While there are plenty of movies getting hilarious translations of their titles in foreign markets, these are examples of original titles that brought some big laughs. In some cases, the names were some clever wordplay that highlighted the movie. In other instances, the titles boldly went for absurdity over catchiness. There are even some notable instances where the humor may have been unintentional. Whatever the case, these movie names put a smile on our faces.

22 Shanghai Noon (2000)

Directed By Tom Dey

Transplanting Jackie Chan's brilliant comedic martial arts skills into the Old West, Shanghai Noon stars Chan as an Imperial guard who travels to America and teams up with a cunning bank robber (Owen Wilson) in order to rescue a Chinese princess. The title is a funny play on words, giving the classic Western movie High Noon an Eastern flare that playfully tells the audience everything they need to know.

21 Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Directed By Steve Pink

Hot Tub Time Machine is a hilarious R-rated comedy with a sci-fi twist as it follows a group of middle-aged friends who return to the favorite ski lodge of their youths and party in a hot tub only to find themselves transported back to the 1980s and into their younger bodies. Sometimes a title gets a laugh by simply being direct with its premise, and this off-beat title promises a different take on a time travel movie.

20 Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)

Directed By Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick's iconic wartime satire follows various storylines surrounding the threat of nuclear war as a rogue military man orders a bomber plane to drop a nuke on Russia while the bumbling politicians attempt to prevent catastrophe. The movie lets the audience know it's in on the joke with the hilarious long title, which also mixes absurdity with a dark sense of humor, much like the movie itself does.

19 Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Directed By Adam McKay

Will Ferrell's sports movie sees him starring as Ricky Bobby, a talented, self-important, and dim-witted NASCAR driver who sees his position at the top of the racing world crumble, putting him on a path of redemption. Ferrell excels at playing foolish and pathetic characters who see themselves as something grander, and the mere use of "Ballad" in this title is a hilarious hint that Ricky Bobby is one such character.

18 Dumb And Dumber To (2014)

Directed By Bob Farrelly & Peter Farrelly

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels make for an iconic buddy comedy team in Dumb and Dumber as two clueless best friends who set out on a cross-country road trip to return a briefcase to a woman, accidentally getting caught up in a bigger scheme. A simple misspelling in the title makes for a funny nod to the brainless duo and the fun adventure they are going to take us on.

17 Spaceballs (1987)

Directed By Mel Brooks

Following the success of the original Star Wars trilogy, Mel Brooks takes aim at the space opera and other sci-fi movies in this entertaining parody movie about a pair of heroic space mercenaries who attempt to rescue a princess from an evil cosmic lord. Brooks' comedy is rarely subtle, and the title gets right to the laughs with a juvenile, silly, and effective suggestion of how seriously you should take this movie.

16 Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)

Directed By Danny Leiner

Dude, Wheres My Car?

PG-13

Comedy

Mystery

Sci-Fi

Release Date: December 15, 2000
Runtime: 83 minutes
Director: Danny Leiner
Writers: Philip Stark

Cast

Another brainless buddy comedy, Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott star as two best friends who wake up after a wild night with no real memory of what happened and no idea where their car is. It is another hilarious straight-forward title that indicates the simple plot and is also not shy about insinuating the lack of sophistication of the main characters.

15 Borat! Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan (2006)

Directed By Larry Charles

Sacha Baron Cohen takes one of the standout characters from his sketch comedy series and brings him to the big screen in this mockumentary about a curious and friendly but misguided visitor to the United States looking to learn more about the country. While a very different movie from Dr. Strangelove, it is another hilariously long title, but it is made even funnier by sounding like something that was haphazardly passed through an online translator.

14 Cop Out (2010)

Directed By Kevin Smith

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan team up for this buddy cop comedy about partners who find themselves targeted by a vicious crime lord while going in search of a stolen baseball card. The humor behind the title needs a little behind-the-scenes context as the movie was originally titled A Couple of Dicks only to be forced to change it and settle for this title that makes a joke on the disappointing decision.

13 Meet The Fockers (2004)

Directed By Jay Roach

A sequel to Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers reverses the premise with Gregg Focker (Ben Stiller) bringing his wife and her parents, including his disapproving father-in-law (Robert De Niro), to meet his own eccentric parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. The first movie got a lot of mileage out of Gregg's hilarious last name, and the sequel leans even heavier into the joke with a title that catches the audience off guard.

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