Lost in Translation 480 – The Naked Gun (2025)

Sometime back, *Lost in Translation* reacted to the news that there was a potential remake of The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson. This past week, it’s no longer a potential. The trailer for the new movie has been released.

The scene looks to be similar to the openings of the Leslie Nielsen movies, where Drebin engages in extracurricular crime fighting. The trailer also promises similar levels of absurdities, like Drebin disguising himself as a little girl. Neeson plays the disguise straight and serious, despite the outfit. The trailer also addresses the elephant in the room, OJ Simpson who previously played Nordberg in the movies. The original *Naked Gun* movies were all made prior to Nicole Simpson’s death and the subsequent murder trial.

The one issue in the trailer is the use of blood. The original TV series, Police Squad, and the subsequent Naked Gun movies didn’t show blood. That’s not to say no one died. Each TV episode featured a celebrity being killed in increasingly odd ways in the opening credits. The villains of the movies died in bizarre ways. As can be seen in this clip from The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, Ricardo Montalban’s Ludwig died in a terrible manner, but there was no blood shown.

It’s been over thirty-five years since the first *Naked Gun* movie, and over forty years since *Police Squad* aired, so comedy has evolved. Shock humour is a thing, as is using a scene to get the desired rating for a movie. It’ll be a matter of individual taste.

The proof is in the pudding. Right now, this is all speculation. The true test will come when the new movie is released. Liam Neeson is always worth a watch, no matter what the movie is.