Its based on a Saturday Night Live sketch. As hard as it might be to believe, there was a time about three or four decades ago when that was an intriguing proposition. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd proved their movie star bonafides by being on a mission from God, and Mike Myers reminded millions of Americans theyve been sleeping on Queens Bohemian Rhapsody for years. Theres a reason they kept making SNL movies: the shows best sketches are funny, so why not a film about those same characters?These days, the answer is obvious. Sometimes what works as a punchline for a five or three, or even two-minute sketch, does not translate to 90 minutes of laughs. And by the end of the 1990s, the idea of an SNL movie was quickly turning into a threat. Nonetheless, on the backside of the venerated television institution, the long line of movies based on Saturday Night Live skits has proven to have a few gems hidden in the rough, including some that audiences missed while they were in theaters. So without further ado, here is a ranking of the best and much, much of the rest of the SNL movie adaptations.11. Its Pat (1994)If success has many fathers and failure is an orphan, then Its Pat must be the most unloved and neglected of Dickensian street urchins to ever (barely) reach theaters. And thats saying something since no less than Quentin Tarantino in his pre-Reservoir Dogs days had a pass on the screenplay! But dont blame him. And as far as SNL maestro Lorne Michaels is concerned, dont blame him either: it was the idea of some folks at 20th Century Fox to make an Its Pat movie, and they got SNL alumni Julia Sweeney onboard before Michaels could gracefully say no. Supposedly.Whatever the case might be, Fox eventually abandoned the project and the film was nominally released into 33 cinemas by Disneys Touchstone Pictures. It would prove to be too many for what is the most unfunny, unwelcome, and wretched of SNL movies; a one-joke film that turned an already dire gag about gender confusion into 80 minutes where characters struggle to deduce whether Sweeneys Pat is a man or woman. Some mysteries though are best left unanswered.10. Stuart Saves His Family (1995)A movie I didnt even know existed before preparing for this article, the obscurity of Stuart Saves His Family proves an ill-omen for a film that should have honestly been a winner. Starring future U.S. Senator Al Franken in one of his more amusing creations as a veteran SNL writer and performer, Stuart Saves His Family has the added pedigree of being the brain child of Harold Ramis. The beloved comedy filmmaker apparently got the idea for the movie after reading Frankens comedy memoir for the Stuart character, Im Good Enough, Im Smart Enough, and Doggone It People Like Me!: Daily Affirmations by Stuart Smalley.Released between the best film in Ramis career, Groundhog Day (1993), and one of his more underrated gems, Multiplicity (1996), the lack of sincere laughs or even chuckles in Stuart Saves His Family is all the more perplexing. Based purely on the finished film, there seemed to be a decision made to play to the lowest common denominator in the development of Stuart Saves His Family, which would prove to be the downfall of most of the SNL movies developed in the 1990s. Yet going for the juvenile guffaw with talents of higher brow aspirations (or at least middle) like Franken and Ramis is a bad match. In other words, the movie is just bad.9. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)For a film understandably reviled by comedy fans, Blues Brothers 2000 at least came out of a good place: in addition to probably wanting to have a starring vehicle again, actor, producer, and writer Dan Aykroyd sought to preserve some great blues, R&B, soul, and even rock legends like B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Billy Preston, and Eric Clapton in one film. After all, he, Belushi, and director John Landis had done something similar to mythic effect in 1980 with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Cab Calloway.Well, at least the non-Blues Brothers musical numbers in Blues Brothers 2000 are sometimes goodif too overwhelming with more than 15 interludes (versus about a half dozen in the first movie). But even if its excessive, its not like theyre distracting from anything important, because the narrative that Aykroyd and Landis settled on to appease Universal Pictures proved to be the most vacant and insipid collection of studio notes this side of Batman & Robin. Theres a kid sidekick (J. Evan Bonifant) and literal animated ghost riders in the sky. It was also apparently the studios idea to make the belated sequel to their transgressive, R-rated 1980s hit into an anodyne family-friendly PG movie. Coupled with Aykroyd and Landis declining comedy instincts, you get a dull time that wouldve worked better had Aykroyd just organized a concert film with his faves.Another Dan Aykroyd vehicle, Coneheads holds the distinction (oddity?) of being the only movie on this list based on what was even then an aged SNL sketch. Whereas every other moviesave for the Blues Brothers sequelwas based on a recent popular character or two, Coneheads was already dated by 1993.Also proving there was already limits to nostalgia for SNLs earliest golden age in the 1970s, the film was a flop. Still, we admit it has a few good lines and gags that would have worked well in an updated Coneheads sketch that lasted a few minutes. The problem, of course, is there not enough here to sustain a movie, even with Aykroyd and Jane Curtin reprising their signature roles in what amounts to an origin story for the sketch (actress Michelle Burke steps into the role of their teenage alien daughter, originally played by Laraine Newman). Its damning when in spite of this old school talent, the funniest bits are provided by Chris Farley in a small role.7. The Ladies Man (2000)The Ladies Man sketchtailored around Tim Meadows smooth-talking, Courvoisier-swilling gent about town who had afro and platform shoes to matchwas one of the first SNL gags I remember being (barely) old enough to watch. And the glaring naughtiness of his double entendres (most of which I did not get) still earned a giggle. That is perhaps why like a lot of folks who grew up watching Comedy Central in the early 2000s, this cable TV staple has a soft spot in my heart. But generally it is difficult to say it is any better or worse than Coneheads. But hey, this one has Leon Phelps, so that gives it the edge.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Meadows reprises that genuinely funny character in this mostly unfunny movie which manages to sneak in a few chuckles. In the film version, Leon is on hard times after losing the radio show that the skit is based around. Luckily, he discovers one of his former conquests wants to make him a kept manwhich is groovy, babybut unfortunately he doesnt know which one. Its a paper-thin premise that features some natural charm from Meadows, plus a pre-movie stardom Will Ferrell outraged that he has been cuckolded by Leon and his besotted wife (Save by the Bells Tiffani Thiessen).6. A Night at the Roxbury (1998)Based on another of my earliest formative memories of funny SNL sketches, A Night at the Roxbury has the advantage of starring Will Ferrell at the height of his comedy powers when he was the NBC series MVP. So the fact it failed to deploy him with the brilliance of Jon Favreau in Elf (2003) or Adam McKay in Anchorman (2004) and Talladega Nights (2006) a few years later betrays what wasted potential this one is. All the more inexplicable is comedy legend Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Clueless) had a hand in its development. One wonders whether she could have made it work if she had directed instead of just produced.As it is, the movie plays as a jokey riff on Saturday Night Fever where Kattan and and Ferrell are hopelessly lame nightclub rejects still stuck on the dated sounds of early 90s Eurodance music. This is about five years after that Ace of Base sound fell off and already seemed kitsch. This one never really fell on, however.5. Superstar (1999)The first movie on this list that garnered some audible laughs on revisit, Superstar isnt as dire as half the movies were ranking. Nonetheless, it reveals the clearest problem with most SNL movies: virtually none of these characters are interesting or empathetic enough to engender an audiences sympathy or emotional investment. So programming them into those flat 90s Hollywood comedy plots used by, say, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, and Jim Carrey always backfires. Each of those talents might have come from sketch comedy, but they developed their movie personas in a glaringly commercial (and often successful) way. Their films were designed to build audience allegiance to their slackers and goofs, begging you to root for them on their journeys of growth and self-actualization.By contrast, youre never going to root for Mary Katherine Gallagher, Molly Shannons painfully awkward and horny student at a Catholic private school. And the movie refuses to be clever enough to allow her to be an agent of chaos or scorna protagonist who is an antagonist to everyone else she meets. Still, she is played by Molly Shannon who in the 90s seemed willing to just about break every bone in her body for a laugh, and she earns quite a few of them here, be they through the aggressive pratfalls, or sequences where she starts licking a tree while practicing French kissing. Its aimed at the lowest-common denominator, but this might be the first one that at least finds its target a few times.4. Waynes World 2 (1993)Here is first good movie on this list, and I have to give it the backhand of saying it isnt a patch on Waynes World 1. Which is true, this quickie sequel released less than two years after the first filmand made while both stars Mike Myers and Dana Carvey remained cast members on the TV serieslacks the spontaneity and charm of its predecessor. What it maintains, however, is an infectious joy provided by both Myers and Carvey as Wayne and Garth, two 90s metalhead basement dwellers with big dreams, as well as the boldness to imagine a future (and movie) larger than its SNL skit origins.Whereas most SNL movies feel doomed by the limitations of their sketches, both Waynes World flicks use those humble beginnings as a jumping off point for entering a larger wacky universe that, like Blues Brothers before it, is powered by a sincere affection for music and the culture of odd admirers it attracts. In the sequel, that amounts to Wayne dreaming of building his own Woodstock in the desertnamed, of course, Waynestockpaling around with real-life musicians like Aerosmith, and recreating the ending of The Graduate by winning back everyones early 90s crush, Cassandra Wong (Tia Carrere). Its not necessarily as clever the second go-round but it has enough sweet shamelessness to power through. Rock on, guys.3. MacGruber (2010)Released a full decade after the last SNL movie on this list, and about 15 years following audiences wising up to the fact SNL movies by and large suck, theres a reason MacGruber came and went without a trace. But there is also a reason this one remains a cult favorite for a discerning type of genre fan who got wind of its brilliance a cult that includes no less than Christopher Nolan amongst its ranks. And that fact is MacGruber goes so f**king hard.Less an extension of Will Fortes 90-second MacGyver gag on SNL than it is a loving and meticulously well-thought out satire of 1980s meathead action movies that starred Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and other relics of Reagan era values and stupidity, MacGruber revels in the badness and fun of that Commando culture. Its also directed and co-written by one of the Lonely Island guys, Jorma Taccone, bringing the flair of 2000s-era SNL digital shorts to the proceedings.Best of all, perhaps because the original sketch made the MacGruber character a dick, or because this one was allowed to be rated R, the film doesnt try to make Grubes an actual hero. Fortes protagonist is a cowardly narcissist with borderline sociopathic tendencies and he makes the lives of everyone who knows him worse. So much of the humor derives from looks of outright horror on the faces of co-stars Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, and Val Kilmer. Classic MacGruber.2. Waynes World (1992)The movie responsible for Paramount Pictures and Lorne Michaels onslaught of awful 90s SNL also-rans, it is easy for some to forget how earnest and endearing the first Waynes World is. Theres a reason this was such a hit that we got inundated with an avalanche of copycat dreck. But this one is an original. Or at least as original as a movie can be when it unabashedly builds its opening credits around Mike Myers Wayne and Dana Carveys Garth lip-synching along and thrashing their heads to Queens Bohemian Rhapsody.That extended three-minute sequence reveals the big-hearted fun at the center of the flick: it is a movie for and about nerds hanging out, and it invites you to bop along in the backseat (which in the process turned BoRap into a bigger phenom than ever before in the U.S.). It also has almost nothing to do with the sketch about Wayne and Garths public access TV show in the basement. Thats in the movie, too, but so is an amusing indictment of the entertainment industry that fanboys like Wayne and Garth never have a shred of hope of navigating. Theres also fourth-wall breaks and enough chutzpah to literally stop the movie mid-scene and rewrite the sequence you just watched so as to get the mega happy ending. Excellent.1. The Blues Brothers (1980)The Blues Brothers as a concept didnt really begin as an SNL sketch. The show was pivotal in it becoming popular after two of the shows original stars, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, began performing their characters Jake and Elwood Blues on television, but even that was touch-and-go because they had been doing it as a gag to warm up the live audiences before shows for months. There was skepticism it could actually work on TV. Yet after the sketch was a hit, Aykroyd and Belushi released a bonafide blues album, Briefcase Full of Blues, that was mostly 1950s covers; they also toured with Steve Martin at the height of his standup popularity.Belushi and Aykroyds choice to also leave SNL to make a Blues Brothers movie for the highest bidder (which notably could not include 1979-era Lorne Michaels) probably paved the way for Michaels obsession with recreating The Blues Brothers success via other SNL movies. He never really could though. The Blues Brothers was a genuine pop culture phenomenon in the late 1970s built as much on its affinity for a classic kind of sound as it was comedy. And the movie, co-written by Aykroyd and the films director John Landis, certainly didnt feel obligated to tip any black hat to the pictures roots in sketch comedy.The movie has a rugged counterculture energy befitting its 70s TV origins and in some ways outdoing it by virtue of a lack of censorship. There is also an emphasis on celebrating legends of blues and R&B like Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, James Brown, and Ray Charles. Landis films the musical icons with a sweaty excitement, and along with Belushi gets a lot of the periods hippest stars to cameo, be it Princess Leia-era Carrie Fisher or the anointed Beard of filmmaking himself, Steven Spielberg. And they also include, just because they can, a wildly dangerous-looking but still thrilling car chase, complete with the wrecking of 104 cars (arguably making it the most destructive car chase in film history). The sheer excess of the movie turning Chicago into a demolition zone suggests a certain arrogance and swagger unique to the moment it was made in. And at least in The Blues Brothers, it struts its stuff with abandon too.