Broken Lizard Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best. This week, I'm ranking the work of comedy troupe Broken Lizard-whose latest project "Quasi" releases on Hulu on Thursday. 

Unranked: Puddle Cruiser (1996): 

A full 6+ years before Super Troopers properly launched their careers, the Broken Lizard crew made this DIY movie on the campus of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York-which is where members Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske went to college and started doing comedy together. Despite screening at Sundance and eventually landing a DVD release through 20th Century Fox in 2005, the movie has remained obscure and based on its current lack of streaming/rental availability, it appears it will remain that way for at least the forseeable future.

Grade: N/A

5.Beerfest (2006): 

A combination of hearing it quoted way too many times in high school and finding their subsequent projects to be funnier kind of soured me on Beerfest. With that being said, it's impossible for me to completely dislike a movie that features the late Cloris Leachman making disgusting sex jokes, Will Forte doing a cartoony German accent and an on-the-noise Willie Nelson cameo that teases a weed-themed sequel called Potfest that never came to fruition.  

Grade: B-

4.Club Dread (2004):

Following up a breakout hit in Super Troopers with a gory spoof of slasher movies was a fascinating risk that didn't quite pay off. The kills aren't overly memorable or creative, and the joke hit rate isn't all that high, but Bill Paxton's flat-out hilarious turn as a retired Jimmy Buffet-esque singer named Coconut Pete who runs a tropical resort in Costa Rica singlehandedly saves the movie from mediocrity.  

Grade: B-

3.The Slammin' Salmon (2009):

The Slammin' Salmon has a secret weapon, and its name is Michael Clarke Duncan. Clarke Duncan taps into a super goofy side that he hadn't really shown before on screen and it turns out the man is a powerhouse comic actor. His ability to roll with whatever material is thrown at him makes him a great fit for comedy's sandbox-esque environment and his timing/instincts are tremendous. Without his contributions, this movie would've been hovering around the bottom of the list. With them, The Slammin' Salmon is able to easily solidify itself as the best non-Super Troopers entry in Broken Lizard's filmography.

Grade: B

2.Super Troopers 2 (2018):

Ultimately, the 16-year wait for a 2nd installment of Super Troopers was worth it. Returning to playing these characters reinvigorated the comedic chemistry between the group, the new additions to the cast (Rob Lowe, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Tyler Labine, Will Sasso, Paul Walter Hauser) are all game to make themselves look silly to earn laughs and the relatively important plot point involving the protagonists losing their jobs with the Vermont State Troopers over an incident involving Fred Savage is a painfully funny home run that produces huge laughs every time its brought up. 

Grade: B+ 

1.Super Troopers (2002): 

Super Troopers isn't just a high bar that Broken Lizard likely won't even come anywhere close to reaching ever again, it's a comic masterstroke that will forever define the early-to-mid-2000's stoner comedy movement. The idiocy, camaraderie and chaos on display here comes from such a pure place that the movie manages to be both outrageously funny and deceptively sweet at the same time. These ragtag goofballs had waited their whole lives to prove themselves as performers on a huge stage and that hunger paired with the love they have for making stupid jokes together is what makes Super Troopers so timelessly special. 

Grade: A