Top 10 Stoner Movies

What makes a movie a “stoner” movie? Is it a movie that you can get more enjoyment out of when you’re under the influence of marijuana? Or is it a movie that revolves around the main theme of weed? This is an age old question that stoners have been arguing about for years… while high, and nobody can seem to make up their mind. I did some research on what the Top 10 Stoner Movies [ever] are and some people just made a list of fun comedies and others included every movie with any sort of drug reference in it. Personally I would not consider movies like Requiem For A Dream and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as “stoner” movies. Sure they are drug movies, but the movie does not revolve around the use of pot which is what I deem necessary in order for a movie to be considered a “stoner” movie. So in light of the other top 10 lists I found on the internet I decided to make my own that only includes movies with a reoccurring theme of pot use. Like the other lists on this site, this is my personal opinion so if you feel that I left something out or that something doesn’t deserve the credit I’m giving it, feel free to leave a comment.

10. Knocked Up (2007) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – Seth Rogen stars as Ben Stone, a pot loving, party animal who is suddenly forced into an undesirable situation… he knocked up Katherine Heigl, which nobody wants… she’s kind of a bitch these days. This one just barely made the list as I’m not a huge fan of it. I love Judd Apatow, but this was a little long and not as funny as I was hoping, but there’s a good amount of pot smoking it so it just barely made the cut.

Click through to see the rest of the list.

9. How High (2001) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – Method Man and Redman in their first starring roles as two guys that love to smoke pot. Method Man is a botanist who grows all sorts of different strains of pot, but it’s only after he sprinkles some of his dead friends ashes in a new strain which when smoked makes the ghost of him appear. Method Man and Redman then meet while taking a college entrance exam and use the ghost of Meth’s friend to help them get “high” scores. They eventually get accepted to Harvard and turn the place upside down. Pretty much this entire movie is based on pot since the ghost only appears if they smoke the special strain. And while it’s a very funny, entertaining movie, there are other stoner movies out there that are better, which is why this only made it to #9 on my list.

8. Super Troopers (2001) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – The movie that introduced us to Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe that would bring us such classics as Beer Fest and some lesser known flops like Club Dread (which I still enjoyed). The opening scene alone in this movie made it a no-brainer for the list. “The Snozberries taste like Snozberries”. Imagine yourself stoned in the back of your buddies car and you get pulled over, but instead of giving you a ticket the cops get back in their car, peel out and race about 100 feet in front of you, slam on the breaks and peel out in reverse and pull you over again… I would be “freakin out man”, especially after eating a whole bag of pot and shrooms to get rid of the evidence. The rest of the movie revolves around a gang of less than intelligent state troopers trying to figure out who’s bringing in massive amounts of pot to the area. Super Troopers is one of those movies that was extremely stupid the first time I saw it, but after repeated viewings it became on of my favorites, kind of like Office Space.

7. Pineapple Express (2008) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – Whoever cast James Franco as one of the leads in this movie deserves a huge bonus. Sure Seth Rogen had become the poster boy for stoner comedies by this point, but most people only knew James Franco from the Spider-Man movies despite the fact that he was also on the short lived TV show Freaks and Geeks (also with Rogen), so to cast him as stoner was a great choice. This is more of an action/stoner adventure than your straight up laid back stoner comedy. Rogen’s character witnesses a murder and they bad guys are able to trace a joint back to Franco and the chase begins. Easily one of the best stoner movies in recent history, but far from the best.

6. Grandma’s Boy (2006) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – One of the most underrated movies of the decade. Grandma’s Boy stars all the familiar faces from pretty much every Adam Sandler movie. The movie revolves around pot and video games, which pretty much go hand in hand these days. Throw in Kevin Nealon and Nick Swardson and you have one of the funniest movies of the decade. If you’ve never seen this movie just stop what you’re doing and go buy it, you won’t be disappointed.

5. Friday (1995) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – Friday is the stoner movie of the 90’s. It’s the Ice Cube movie before Ice Cube melted and started starring in such classics as “Are We There Yet?”, it’s the Chris Tucker movie before Chris Tucker was Chris Tucker. It produced such classic lines like “And you know this… maaan” and “I know you don’t smoke weed, I know this; but I’m gonna get you high today, ’cause it’s Friday; you ain’t got no job… and you ain’t got shit to do.” The movie also spawned a couple sequels “Next Friday” and “Friday After Next”, the 2nd movie was not so terrible, but the 3rd was just awful. The original still holds up today and is still one of the best stoner movies of all time.

4. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle(2004) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – That asian guy from American Pie and that indian guy from Van Wilder will no longer be associated with those roles as they will now forever be known as Harold and Kumar because of their stoned adventure to White Castle. When this movie first came out I had my doubts because it was the director of Dude Where’s My Car? which I absolutely hated, but after seeing this I was pleasantly surprised. The whole movie revolves around Harold and Kumar getting stoned and wanting something to eat. Needless to say it’s no easy task to find a White Castle when you’re high. This one also spawned a sequel which, while decent, seemed a little forced in it’s approach. The original will always rank high in my book.

3. Half Baked (1998) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – Probably Dave Chappelle’s most memorable movie role, this movie follows 3 stoner roommates as they try to raise money to bail their “cop killer/kindergarten teacher” friend out of prison. They devise a plan to sell weed throughout New York City and soon find themselves being hunted by Sampson, the biggest dealer in New York. We watched this movie almost every nigh in college and it still holds up today as one of the greatest stoner movies of all time.

2. Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke (1978) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – If I had to name one movie as the Godfather of stoner movies it would have to be this one and Cheech and Chong would be the founders of the genre. These guys were smoking pot and making movies about it before anyone else and their movies still hold up to today’s standards. They released a bunch of stoner comedies over the years, but “Up In Smoke” is still the best. It’s a shame that the duo had a falling out for a while, but it’s nice to see that they are back together doing a stand-up tour and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get another movie out of them. These guys are truly the kings pot-comedy.

1a. Dazed and Confused (1993) (imdb) (Watch This Movie Instantly!) – While it was a toss up between Dazed and Confused and Up In Smoke, I ultimately had to side with Dazed. While it may not encompass as much pot use as Up In Smoke, I feel it’s an overall better movie. The movie follows the lives of a handful of high school and soon to be high school kids on their last day/night of school for the summer. Complete with beer busts and paddling, this movie encompasses everything I can imagine about high school in the 70’s. So while it may not be as laugh out loud funny as Up In Smoke, the well roundedness of the movie catapulted it above the rest of the pack. This is a true classic in the world of stoner movies and it would take a lot to remove it from it’s throne.

1b. The Big Lebowski (1998) (imdb) – I really dropped the ball on this one, sorry guys. The Big Lebowski definitely deserves a spot at the top of this list and I apologize to everyone I offended by not putting it on here. It’s been years since I’ve seen the movie so it wasn’t fresh in my mind, nor do I really see it in the same vein as some of the other ones on the list, but ultimately it is a stoner movie and deserves to be included on this list. I hope this appeases “The Dude”.

Honorable Mentions

Reefer Madness (1936) (imdb) (Watch This Movie Instantly!) – At the time, this movie was made as a propaganda piece to try to get kids to stay away from Marijuana. It’s message is clear, marijuana will completely mess up your life. Now if you go back and watch it today this could be up there with some of the best stoner comedies, it’s just that ridiculous. If you haven’t seen this one I recommend giving it a quick watch.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) (imdb) (Watch movies instantly on your TV!) – I didn’t include this on the list because most of the pot use comes from one of the off center characters, Spicoli, played by Oscar Award Winning Actor Sean Penn. I will never take Sean Penn seriously in any role that he plays because he will never be as great as was as Spicoli.

So there you have it, my top 10 stoner movies. Did I miss one? Do you not agree with something? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@acslaterx)