Although humor is subjective, some comedy movies are so great that everyone seems to agree they’re hilarious. When they work and the jokes land, comedies can be among the greatest movies of all time. From Mel Brooks to Monty Python to the Zucker brothers, the best comedy filmmakers have mastered both the comedy side and the medium, making sure their movies are well-staged and well-shot in addition to having plenty of laughs.

Comedy is one of the most hit-and-miss genres, but the ones that hit really hit. There are some comedies from more than 50 years ago that still hold up today, like Dr. Strangelove and Some Like It Hot. Some comedies from the 21st century, like Bridesmaids and Shaun of the Dead, are so great that they rank alongside the all-time greats. From the pitch-perfect structure of Back to the Future to the prescient self-awareness of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, here's our take on the best comedy movies of all time.

If you're looking for more recommendations, why not check out our list of the best movies on Netflix, the best comedy movies on Prime, and the best TV shows of all time.

15 Step Brothers (2008)

Cruelly under-rated by critics on release, Adam McKay's delightfully silly comedy Step Brothers is one of Will Ferrell's funniest movies. Combining with John C Reilly in a partnership that would prove to be surprisingly prolific, Ferrell plays Brennan, a 40-year-old manchild forced to face the prospect of a step-brother (Reilly's Dale) infringing on his cozy only child set-up when his mother (Mary Steenburgen) remarries. What follows is a 98-minute war between the two developmentally stunted enemies whose escalation memorably includes scrotal defilement of a drum kit. Infinitely quotable and hugely funny, Step Brothers is easy watching with a slapstick kicker that gets better every time you watch it.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 55%

Where To Watch: Peacock

14 Raising Arizona (1987)

After bursting onto the scene with their grisly neo-noir Blood Simple, the Coen brothers followed it up with a tonal 180-degree turn. Raising Arizona’s story sounds dark on paper – an ex-convict and his wife, desperate to start a family, kidnap one of a local businessman’s octuplets to raise as their own – but the Coens’ execution couldn’t be wackier. Most comedies use standard coverage to keep the audience’s focus on the performances and the dialogue, but Raising Arizona uses a fast-moving camera to enhance the humor.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Where to Watch: Hulu

13 Withnail And I (1987)

Release Date: January 1, 1987 | Director: Bruce Robinson | Runtime: 107 Mins

Cast: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths

As with only the greatest comedy characters, almost everything Richard E. Grant's Withnail says could be a t-shirt slogan. So beloved is the cult classic British comedy, that its most famous lines are quoted back and forth among fans in an eternal loop, celebrating the unemployed actor and his straighter sidekick (Paul McGann's "I"). Withnail and I delightfully challenges the idea of British elegance, introducing the pair of debauched, possibly depraved down-and-outers who seek a weekend of respite in a country cottage owned by Withnail's wealthy, lascivious uncle Monty (the excellent Richard Griffiths). Roaringly funny and desperately sad, Withnail and I gave the world Richard E Grant, thanks to his stunning breakout performance, and should be on every comedy fans' to-watch list.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Where to Watch: Max

12 Back To The Future (1985)

When Marty McFly is flung 30 years into the past in his inventor friend’s time machine, he accidentally prevents his parents’ first meeting and has to make sure they get together so he won’t be erased from history. Back to the Future is as close to a perfect movie as there’s ever been, with a perfectly crafted script. Everything that gets set up in the present day in the opening act ends up having real significance when Marty goes back in time. What’s truly impressive is that Back to the Future manages to pack so many laughs into its airtight narrative.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Where to Watch: Apple TV

11 Team America: World Police (2004)

From the twisted minds of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Team America: World Police did for traditional marionette puppets what The Book Of Mormon did for musicals, making the art form accessible for a new generation by dialing into the same anarchist spirit of the animation its creators are best known for. Outrageous and provocative in equal measure, Team America skewers the perceived self-importance of actors, positioning their skills as the most valuable asset in the global fight against terrorism to frankly ridiculous results. Featuring a sex scene that needs to be seen to be believed, and a flagrant disregard for conventional offensiveness, it's actually a far more clever parody than its ever given credit for. And it absolutely sells the idea that almost everything could be possible if the world just opened its arms to puppets more.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%

Where to Watch: Max

10 Blazing Saddles (1974)

Mel Brooks has made many great parody movies throughout his career, but Blazing Saddles is arguably the greatest. Blazing Saddles doesn’t just poke fun at the western genre’s clichés; it also points out the inherent racism of glorifying that period of American history. It revolves around a corrupt politician who hires a Black sheriff in an attempt to destroy a town, and the sheriff turns out to be so good at his job that he saves the town and takes down the politician and his cronies. The fourth-wall-breaking finale is a meta masterpiece.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Where to Watch: Apple TV

9 Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Stanley Kubrick made his political satire Dr. Strangelove to reflect Cold War-era fears of nuclear war in the 1960s. But, since humanity is unfortunately still on the brink of nuclear annihilation, the movie is still just as timely and relevant today. Peter Sellers gives a trio of hysterical performances at the center of a star-studded cast. Dr. Strangelove has a wonderfully zany sense of humor, but its depiction of warfare and mutually assured destruction is startlingly accurate. Kubrick ends with the perfect punchline, using Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” to show that World War II-era optimism is moot in the age of nuclear weapons.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Where to Watch: Apple TV

8 Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

Edgar Wright kicked off his Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy with one of the greatest horror comedies ever made. Shaun of the Dead combines a George A. Romero zombie movie with a Richard Curtis romantic comedy as an immature slacker tries to grow up and win back his ex-girlfriend in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. As with all the best parodies, Shaun of the Dead has real affection for its chosen genre. Wright doesn’t look down his nose at zombie movies; he genuinely loves them.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Where to Watch: Apple TV

7 Bridesmaids (2011)

Judd Apatow’s comedies have dominated the box office by combining crowd-pleasing raunchy humor with heartstring-tugging sincerity, and the pinnacle of that style is Bridesmaids. Bridesmaids follows a down-on-her-luck single woman in the lead-up to her best friend’s wedding. There are plenty of big laughs throughout the movie – including the notorious dress fitting scene – but Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s Oscar-nominated script keeps its focus on the emotional cores of the story: friendship, arrested development, and burgeoning romance.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

Where to Watch: Netflix

6 Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975)

After changing the comedy landscape with their iconic sketch show, the Pythons brought their blend of sharp satire and unbridled silliness to the big screen with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a lampoon of the Arthurian legend. There’s a big laugh every few seconds, ranging from shameless slapstick to highbrow historical references. From the coconut-clattering horseback riding to the beautifully anticlimactic ending, this movie’s self-awareness was way ahead of its time. Monty Python and the Holy Grail shatters the fourth wall at every opportunity.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Where to Watch: Netflix

5 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Release Date: December 2, 1988 | Director: David Zucker | Runtime: 85 Mins

Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, OJ Simpson, George Kennedy

If the success of a comedy movie were judged purely on frequency of laughs, Leslie Nielsen's The Naked Gun would be in everyone's top 10. The joke rate of the Zucker brothers' slapstick comedy is almost unrivalled (save for Airplane! perhaps), relying on Neilsen's impeccably straight performance as Frank Drebin who debuted in the equally brilliant Police Squad TV show. Setting the gold standard for pun work and offering both some of the funniest and - by modern standards - most outrageous jokes of any comedy movie, it's a lesson in making short, successful comedy that really lands. The plot is almost unimportant, as it works only as a vehicle for the goofiness, but the real pleasure is in watching Nielsen's pitch perfect parody of stoic TV detectives thrown into cases and situations completely beyond his limited capability, and watching him somehow prevail.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Where to Watch: Max

4 This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Rob Reiner pioneered the mockumentary format with his classic rock ‘n’ roll satire This is Spinal Tap. Parodying rock-docs like The Last Waltz and The Song Remains the Same, This is Spinal Tap follows one of England’s loudest bands as they attempt to stay relevant in a changing music industry. There are a few specific gags that stand out – like Nigel’s amp that goes up to 11 – but the movie as a whole is a spot-on spoof of rockstars and their erratic behavior. The cast’s improvised dialogue gives This is Spinal Tap the spontaneous energy of a real documentary.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Where to Watch: Apple TV

3 Groundhog Day (1993)

Alongside Scrooged and Ghostbusters, classic comedy Groundhog Day is Bill Murray at his very best, an unhinged but mostly normal man (albeit usually with a questionable sense of morality), thrown into an extraordinary situation designed to test him to his limit. As sarcastic, egotistical weatherman Phil Connors, Murray is, once again, a surrogate for the audience, faced with the deliciously simple (but actually very complex high concept sci-fi) idea of being trapped in an eternal loop of reliving the same day. What follows is a living nightmare, and the humor comes from watching Connors run the full gamut of emotions, from shock, to outrage, to depression, and finally to acceptance, as he finds increasingly desperate ways to break the loop before realizing that the best way to live is the best way to endure. Hugely rewatchable, Groundhog Day should be watched again and again. And again.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Where to Watch: Max

2 Some Like It Hot (1959)

• Release Date: March 29, 1959 | Runtime: 121 minutes | Director: Billy Wilder
• Cast: Marilyn Monroe (Sugar Kane), Tony Curtis (Joe/Josephine), Jack Lemmon (Jerry/Daphne)

Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, Some Like It Hot revolves around two musicians who witness a crime and disguise themselves as women so they can join an all-female traveling band and escape from the gangsters pursuing them. Despite being made in the 1950s with a premise that might sound problematic, Some Like It Hot is a timeless movie with surprisingly progressive attitudes. Marilyn Monroe gives one of her most magnetic performances as ukelele-playing singer Sugar Kane, while Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon share terrific chemistry as musicians on the lam.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Where to Watch: Max

1 Airplane! (1980)

In a spoof of Zero Hour! (and the disaster movie genre in general), Airplane! follows a traumatized ex-fighter pilot who reluctantly gets back in the cockpit to land a passenger plane when the entire crew falls ill. Airplane! introduced the moviegoing public to the Zucker brothers’ uniquely absurdist sense of humor. The movie is jam-packed with sight gags and one-liners, and they all land. Rather than casting comedic actors to play up every joke, the Zuckers cast dramatic actors to play it straight, which made the comedy even more effective (and launched Leslie Nielsen into a comedy career).

Nielsen is an absolute joy as the straight talking doctor in a sea of incredibly zany characters both in the air and on the ground, and while the jokes range from ridiculous to incredibly subtle, their frequency and success is what is most impressive. Like all of the greatest comedy movies, it's hugely quotable, and Airplane! scores extra points for hiding so many visual puns in plain sight that it's impossible to enjoy them without watching it multiple times. And it just keeps getting funnier with each watch.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Where to Watch: Apple TV