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It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

1963
Comedy
Crime
3h 30m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 53.15% from 1011 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1011)
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Rated 19 Dec 2019
85
63rd
Dated, but pleasant enough. More notable for its cavalcade of old-timey comedian cameos than for any actual humor it contains. Probably the only comedy I've ever seen with an intermission (really, it didn't need to be this long). Dick Shawn is the MVP.
Rated 14 Jan 2021
73
74th
Would work better as a play. Too short. Could've used some star power. etc.
Rated 24 Sep 2016
82
71st
Although I'm sure that nobody could possibly consider this movie funny (no jokes here, just people screaming at each other), it's a lot of fun to watch. I loved seeing the 5-8 groups searching for the treasure weave into and out of each other. Never boring, despite it's long long long long length.
Rated 03 Dec 2006
91
91st
There is never a dull moment in this madcap masterpiece. Also, Barrie Chase dancing around in the bikini is one of those great, underappriciated sexy Hollywood moments.
Rated 14 Mar 2009
74
55th
One of the most beloved old comedies, I found it to be pretty funny and fun to watch. The characters are all very good. But dare I say too long? It's over 2 and a half hours.
Rated 12 Sep 2013
75
65th
Man if I was an old person all these cameos would make me feel alive. Popped for the Three Stooges. Saw this during a "Classic Event" screening at theater near me and was the youngest person there by decades and it was packed. It must've been the haze of old popcorn farts but that 6 hour run time just melts on by.
Rated 26 Feb 2021
50
45th
It's not that good. It's overly long and mostly involves the same driving scenes. The character slate got too big but I guess that's the point. I agree with PeaceAnarchy that most gags were a few beats too long. Other gags just got so tiresome, like the couple stuck in the basement. Worst MIL ever but the daughter wasn't much better. Tracy's character didn't add much to the story. Fav scene: Buddy Hackett going HAM and single-handedly destroys a gas station.
Rated 23 Oct 2014
96
92nd
The grand-daddy of the all-star comedy film; big, bold and brassy, with the entire cast going full-bore, and held together by Tracy's rock-solid performance at the centre of the madness (though he is also amusing when allowed to cut loose for the climax). Helped enormously by Kramer's classy and energetic direction; you can feel him wanting to silence all of those who doubted he could make a comedy!
Rated 02 Oct 2010
5
20th
Who do they stick it to as the greedy, senseless, egotistical Americans battle it off on the narrow highway road ? Why, the black man of course ! Offensive, needlessly long and most importantly, not funny at all. "Rat Race" is just as overblown, but at least it made me laugh. This movie is pretty much insane.
Rated 21 May 2009
80
72nd
Not as good as Rat Race, but then again, what is?
Rated 03 Jul 2011
58
21st
Everything about this film screams homage to the golden age of Silent comedy. Unfortunately, it also has the screams of Ethel Merman, the Bette Midler of her day. Stanley Kramer is no Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton, he doesn't know slapstick comedy. There's a reason that most of the celebrated silent comedians were successful, they knew when to move on to the next gag. Sadly, Kramer does not, and the movie suffers for it. It's watchable, but barely.
Rated 19 Aug 2007
80
62nd
Whacky, funny. They don't make them like this any more.
Rated 26 Mar 2016
40
14th
Hasn't aged very well. The humor is based on the absurdity of everything, but unfortunately the ridiculous plot situations feel contrived and the over acting is more annoying than funny. I only got laughs when a subtle line is slipped in amidst the chaos.
Rated 09 Jul 2014
79
70th
On the one hand, you could write this off as a slick and bloated celebration of passive evil that everyday people are quite capable of if given the right circumstance (which is wonderful). Or, it is simply a coda to the bygone days of slapstick, giving each at least some due for their glory days of beating themselves up for a quick laugh, at their expense (which is wonderful). But if you read it both ways at once, the climax on the firetruck has quite a vicious sting (which is brilliant).
Rated 14 Aug 2007
75
52nd
hilarious, but dated.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
74th
Hilarious and awesome movie
Rated 20 Jun 2014
78
58th
Very long for a comedy, but doesn't get boring, tiresome, or too unfunny. Plenty of anarchic humour and destruction, and I kinda dig the satire in its story, too. Did you see how close that guy was to getting hit by that car?
Rated 27 Oct 2007
75
44th
Pretty funny with a lot of great gags, but every joke seems to be stretched just a couple of beats too long. They're still amusing but it makes the movie as a whole occasionally feel tiresome and repetitive.
Rated 09 Sep 2017
75
84th
(Rewatched on 10/06/18): Kramer set out to make the most epic comedy ever made, and an all star cast of talent was assembled to achieve that rather lofty goal. The film looks great with an expert use of Panavision that evokes nostalgia for a time when comedy had real cinematic ambition. At 160 mins, it's probably too much of a good thing, and it starts to falter under its own weight despite its virtues, which are numerous, but it remains the most joyous depiction of greed in cinema history.
Rated 28 May 2011
77
62nd
for a brief moment all of the aspects of this movie come together in a gloriously hilarious period of about twenty minutes. the problem is that the other two and a half hours mostly sits at a tolerable level, never rising above average, yet never sinking down to any bit that's unlikable.
Rated 11 Dec 2018
86
23rd
Finally saw this one. For being around 3 hours long and chock full of stars of the day, there were very few laughs for me.
Rated 16 Feb 2007
60
62nd
Comedy classic.
Rated 14 Jul 2010
68
49th
Fun, but also often rather abrasive at length. Could do with more Phil Silvers and Dick Shawn, with less overall mugging (Hackett especially).
Rated 03 May 2011
84
69th
The second act drags for a bit, they really try and milk the comedy a bit too far. However, the ending is enjoyable and the cast is brilliant. This puts any future attempts at an all-star comedy cast to shame. I'm looking at you, Grown Ups.
Rated 22 Oct 2012
40
4th
What is supposed to be funny is stupid. Highly predictable plot. I fast forwarded through most of it. The only redeeming factor was the wide variety of great actors and actresses they got to be in the movie.
Rated 27 Jun 2011
75
35th
Just not that good.
Rated 24 Jan 2009
70
56th
If this was just Dick Shawn dancing, I'd give it a 100. All American Hollywood ending ruins it.
Rated 20 Mar 2023
64
62nd
The part after they found the money felt unnecessary and hard to sit through after the previous 2 hours, but otherwise it was packed with a lot of comedy and unexpected twists
Rated 18 Mar 2022
18
10th
If this was an hour shorter I'd be more forgiving, but fuck me this goes on forever.
Rated 04 Dec 2018
40
2nd
A comedy black hole.
Rated 12 Sep 2009
88
95th
one of my dad's all-time favorites and by extension, it became one of mine. i believe this would be run around thanksgiving time on tv, but all i know is that whenever it came on, my dad and i would watch this. this succeeds, where latter-day attempts like cannonball run didnt. almost every actor in here had a memorable part, though in the end it was jonathan winters and phil silvers that absolutely stole the show.
Rated 29 Sep 2019
65
63rd
Don't get me wrong this is a funny movie but even the shorter 163 minute version was exhausting and repetitive.
Rated 24 Oct 2023
1
0th
It's a no from me dog
Rated 29 Jan 2010
72
19th
Strained, but occasionally amusing.
Rated 20 May 2020
100
93rd
Top ten comedy.
Rated 02 Jan 2008
79
53rd
Madcap comedy based around a cross country treasure hunt. Some deeply funny moments and wonderful cameo performances by Ethel Merman and Buddy Hackett. Cinematography is fairly basic but works a treat.
Rated 27 Apr 2010
9
92nd
I would really like to know out of the budget, how much of it went into car stunts/damages. One of the funniest and most enjoyable films I have seen.
Rated 06 Aug 2022
89
75th
Voracious entertainment. I had a blast with this from the start. It’s still impressively well-made, and where its seams show it’s still hilarious for being so stupid (see: Jonathan Winters rampaging through a gas station made of balsa wood). Spencer Tracy has little to do and the third a t is way too long, but this is a slapstick classic teeming with influence.
Rated 17 Jan 2015
74
52nd
It feels about a half hour too long, and near the end its a little too moralistic, but the setpieces are high slapstick fun, and the jokes aren't bad either. Just the slower pace of the film drains the high-stakes race plot of any urgency, and it becomes a little overindulgent at times.
Rated 16 Sep 2012
34
24th
Greatly exceeds my admittedly low slapstick threshold. And the non-stop mugging by pretty much the entire cast is really grating. It also appears to conclusively prove that Ethel Merman could not act.
Rated 15 Nov 2015
67
76th
Over 50 years on, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World still holds up. The slapstick is funny. The witty retorts still work, and its themes of greed and one-upmanship are ever as relevant. That said, the film is a tad longer than it needs to be and does tend to go off on tangents, but it's a classic and has spawned several "homages", including Rat Race which brought me to this film in the first place.
Rated 04 Sep 2007
69
66th
Good
Rated 24 Nov 2021
50
37th
Long and abrasive.
Rated 20 Dec 2018
45
6th
very long, very unfunny, very poor.
Rated 03 Feb 2019
75
44th
A bit too long for it's own good, and by far the better for it's star-studded ensemble cast than for any technical or directorial effort.
Rated 03 Sep 2022
11
4th
It’s a tad tad tad tad bit long
Rated 25 Apr 2014
80
64th
79.500
Rated 24 Jan 2009
66
54th
Pretty funny, at the same time as it's unintentionally pretty creepy... somehow. Also the screaming gave me a headache.
Rated 22 Nov 2011
85
91st
A fantastic premise, and they really don't pull any punches in making it an over-the-top race. My greatest complaints (minor though they still are) would probably be that the airplane scene runs a little too long, and although the Three Stooges make an appearance in the movie, they never actually do anything. The movie gives the impression that they're being set up for a later scene, but that scene never comes. I mean, it does, but the stooges are absent from it. Kind of a pointless cameo.
Rated 16 Nov 2014
75
92nd
madness, madness! longest, silliest, eternal madness!
Rated 13 Feb 2014
83
85th
As much as I enjoyed this, this movie is way too long.
Rated 08 Dec 2021
60
27th
Watching it for the first time, it doesn't click for me. Way too long as well.
Rated 18 Jun 2010
60
43rd
Bloated and overblown, with the filmmakers throwing absolutely everything they have at the screen -- and y'know, not only does it sometimes work, but there's an overall congeniality to the thing that works. Still, the funniest single shot in the movie involves The Three Stooges simply showing up.
Rated 13 Jan 2013
0
2nd
Grating at every possible level, not actually funny, way too long, and probably my worst experience ever watching a movie
Rated 14 Dec 2008
60
32nd
A couple memorable moments by funny people, but certainly not enough to justify a two-and-a-half-hour comedy.
Rated 12 Jul 2012
100
88th
Now who wouldn't want to watch a movies with such a title. It will have you splits and literally, you will be ROFL. Watch it for the sheer entertainment.
Rated 26 Dec 2011
59
12th
This movie has a huge all star cast. But not many laughs. Plus it is about 1 hour to long. With all the great actors involved it could have been so much better.
Rated 11 Apr 2016
65
32nd
I'm a sucker for big budget bloated films filmed mostly in landscapes, i.e. Around The World in 80 Days, but this film mostly went wrong where Around The World went right in cameos; they have to be there for plot development or you're just slapping names on there for a hoot and a holler. They played out the whole "Mother-In-Law being an anagram of Woman Hitler" schtick too seriously, but it's balls-to-the-wall everywhere else, anyway.
Rated 06 Apr 2008
75
59th
Complete and utter silliness. Would not have been nearly as good if it wasn't for the incredible cast, though.
Rated 08 May 2012
78
61st
77.750
Rated 09 Jun 2023
60
23rd
I'm not the intended audience for this film. I'm not particularly fond of most of the key comedic actors in this film. I'm really not a fan of post-silent slapstick comedy. I laughed maybe twice during the 2 1/2 hours watching this. I'll grant this though. I enjoyed it to whatever extent you can enjoy watching a comedy you don't think is particularly funny. That's often a painful experience. This wasn't.
Rated 06 Sep 2015
76
40th
Stanley Kramer's epic comedy has held up well in some respects; its portrait of the rancidity of greed is pretty timeless, and the stunt work is nothing short of incredible. In other respects--the depiction of women, the repetitive story, the overlength (uncut it tops three hours)--it now creaks a little under its own weight. Still, the amazing cast can't help but get their laughs, and Ernest Gold's score gives it a cheerful bounce at odds with its potent--and Kramerian--despair at human nature.
Rated 29 Aug 2021
20
12th
It's the equivalent of watching 7 "Dukes of Hazzard" episodes back-to-back in one sitting. The only enjoyable moment was the "What could happen to an Old Fashioned?" line.
Rated 12 Jun 2023
65
29th
This is okay and has impressive ambition but doesn't hold up all that well. It's one of those movies with 100 stars in it and Kramer does a pretty good job balancing time, though it still feels like many people don't get enough time while the movie still feels long. It's also one of those movies with 1000 jokes a minute, and like many in that subgenre, they can be very hit or miss. There are some great lines but also a bunch of stuff that falls flat. The definition of a movie going Big.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
95
95th
There isn't enough room to tell exactly what is right about this movie. Awesome.
Rated 31 Aug 2019
75
64th
Maybe goes a little long and a little heavy with cameos. It's still a very fun comedy with some great set-pieces.
Rated 27 Mar 2021
75
50th
I was recommended this film after reviewing Rat Race, since that movie took inspiration from this. What I can say is that this is definitely a fun classic comedy that utilizes a lot of physical humor and repetitive gags, but it has NO RIGHT to be 3 hours and 17 minutes long! Seriously! Even the best and funniest moments can be seen as boring with that length.
Rated 19 Oct 2012
76
56th
The cinematic equivalent to throwing everything in the fridge at the wall and serving whatever's stuck there.

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