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Top 10 Movies Based on TV Shows

With the latest film incarnation of The Addams Family as well as a prequel to America's favorite crime family in The Many Saints of Newark dropping today, we've compiled our list of the best films based on a TV series.

#10. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Fire Walk With Me is the perfect companion piece to the short lived series and adds some incredibly eerie details to the death of Laura Palmer. It's a phenomenal extension of the original series that allows for Ray Wise and Sheryl Lee to really shine and give fans of the show one last trip to the mystical Northwestern woods.

#9. Star Trek

Before he took the reigns from George Lucas on Episode VII of the Skywalker saga, J.J. Abrams relaunched the other Star franchise with an incredible ensemble cast and updated the series for a brand new generation of fans resulting in the best Trek film in the long running series.

#8. Jackass: The Movie

It's not all that hard to take a concept like Jackass and stretch it into a full length feature - especially when you remove the restrictions of what can be shown on basic cable. But the crew goes above and beyond to deliver something that feels bigger and better than anything they'd ever done on MTV with some hilarious stunts and a slew of surprise cameos.

#7. The Simpsons Movie

The longest running animated comedy in television history didn't necessarily set the world on fire with their big screen debut, but trying to live up to nearly 20 years of hilarity in one 90 minute outing is no easy task. And with the decline in quality that the show has seen lately, at least the movie felt closer to the standards of their peak years than what the show's become currently. And who doesn't love Spider-Pig?

#6. The Fugitive

I know it probably seems odd to have the only Best Picture winner of the bunch down at number 6 but as fun an action flick as this is, The Fugitive just doesn't hold up all that well for me. It's definitely a solid 90's popcorn flick, just not a masterpiece by any means. Glad this got Tommy Lee Jones an Oscar though.

#5. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Back before we really knew what kind of damage Trey Parker and Matt Stone were fully capable of, the South Park movie served as an incredible showcase for the social satire and musical abilities this comedic duo posses. They proved to be much more than vulgar construction paper cartoonists and with the larger scale and freedom of an r-rating, their creativity soared to heights the show hadn't yet reached. I only hope we get another feature length film from them before it's all said and done.

#4. Wayne's World

As far as SNL movies go, you'd think the one about two grungy dudes in their basement making top 10 lists would be next to impossible to flesh out into a full length film. But the charm of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in early 90's Aurora, Illinois navigating their way into making their passion a career was so undeniably fun and full of so much personality that you can't help but want to cruise around and headbang to Queen with them forever.

#3. Mission Impossible

While Ghost Protocol definitely deserves a ton of credit for rejuvenating the series and Christopher McQuarie's sequels have made this one of the most consistently breathtaking action franchises going, I still think Brian De Palma's original film is the standout of the bunch. From the barrage of gadgets, to the nerve wrenching stunts, to the lifelike masks and surprise double crosses; De Palma set the template for what's to be expected in every film going forward in this classic espionage series that may have otherwise only been known for it's theme song.

#2. The Naked Gun

Rather than dwelling on the shortcomings of their short lived Police Squad television series (which only lasted 6 episodes) the comedic trio of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker had enough conviction about the project to bring it back for a full length feature 6 years later. A bold move but it paid off spawning 2 sequels and the original became the only other instance in their careers in which they were able to match (if not surpass) the hilarious slapstick parody gold they achieved with Airplane! not to mention cement Leslie Neilson's place in comedic history. Back before the word "parody" had been turned into a cinematic slur by the Scary Movie franchise, the Naked Gun sat atop the niche genre as one of the absolute best and still does to this day.

#1. Borat

Another seemingly limited concept that blossomed into an unthinkable success; Borat not only took the hidden camera comedy of Jackass and gave it a more significant purpose, but it also gave the current comedic zeitgeist a social consciousness that was previously absent in a genre overrun with cheap lowbrow constructs and bland fratboy protagonists. Borat has hallmark surface level laughs courtesy of his assortment of catch phrases and stunts but it's so much more than that. It's an absolute cultural revelation that hits it's target so precisely and covertly, that they don't even recognize it. A modern comedic masterpiece and one of the most memorable characters of the modern era of cinema.


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