Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley

Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (Spanish for Torrente, the dumb arm of the law) is a 1998 Spanish dark comedy written, directed and starred by Santiago Segura and produced by Lolafilms. Characterized by its deliberately thick, cartoonish humor, it had a great reception from the public and critics, making Torrente part of Spanish contemporary popular culture. The title is a parody of Cobra, el brazo fuerte de la ley (Cobra, the strong arm of the law), the title that was used in Spain for the 1986 film Sylvester Stallone-starred film Cobra. This film won two Goya awards and it became the highest-grossing film in the history of Spanish cinema, later surpassed by its sequel, (Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella). It also laid the foundations of the Torrente film series by Santiago Segura, who also directed the sequel, the third (Torrente 3: El protector), the fourth (Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis) and fifth (Torrente 5: Operación Eurovegas) films. These last two were shot in stereoscopic 3D.