The old ZAZ (Zucker-Abrams-Zucker) stuff was terrific – I wish they’d get back together again.
Mel Brooks is a genius, though I admit that he’s been losing it for a while. SpaceBalls was so unfunny, it was painful. Robin Hood: Men In Tights was better, though. And IMO, Get Smart! (though it’s a TV show) will live forever as the definitive spy spoof.
I’ve always been partial to Galaxy Quest myself, but Airplane and Spies Like Us hold a special place in my heart as well.
“There’s a problem in the cockpit!”
“The cockpit? What is it?”
“It’s a little room in the front of the plane, but that’s not important right now!”
Someone has to give props to Amazon Women on the Moon, Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle, and the Wayans brothers’ I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.
“The Rutles”! It’s a brilliant send-up of the history of the Beatles written and directed by Monty Python’s Eric Idle. Very cool.
Return of the Living Dead, anyone?
“Send… more… cops…”
I loved galaxy Quest too.
What about UHF? There are a lot of parodies in that movie.
“Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted By UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs” or “Conan the Librarian”, and the many of other parodies in that wonderful movie.
Young Frankenstein, Frankenstien, whatever, is clearly a superior piece of parody, but don’t forget Blazing Saddles and the Peter Sellers Pink Panther films. All good stuff that took dead aim at their own particular bag of formula.
Naked Gun is a classic. It also ruined the end of Casablanca for me. “The problems of two people might not amount to a hill of beans in this world; but this is our hill, and these are our beans.”
I also second UHF. By the way, go to Amazon.com and say you want to hear when they release it on DVD. The studio is looking at it to judge interest.
I have an inordinate fondness for National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. You have to be in the right frame of mind (read: drunk) to watch it, but it’s always guaranteed to crack me up.
And if you can find it, Student Bodies is a very early spoof of teen slasher pics. It was made in the early 80’s and is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. Man I love it so. Here’s an example of the jokes in the movie (this is a phone conversation):
And the jokes just get stupider from there. If you are a true connoisseur of stupidity (say, you’ve enjoyed Troll 2), I highly recommend picking it up.
The best part of that movie is that the girl got some DAMN good lovin’. I mean holy cripe I would love to be a tenth as good at that. I mean he must have ruined her for all other men forever. My mind boggles at the possibilities
Has anyone else heard of The Specials? I saw it recently on the comedy channel here in Korea and laughed my ass off. It’s a movie about the personal lives of a group of super heroes… just their personal lives, not their crime fighting careers. In fact, we don’t even get to see them use their super powers until the last two minutes of the movie.
If you spent too much of your youth reading comic books, you’ll probably find this movie funny. If not, you probably won’t understand it.
This one’s only a short but holy crap is it funny. I searched but seems as though it hasn’t made the rounds yet. I wont link to it cause its pretty naughty, even though it’s animation.
Spoof on Star Trek and Star Wars starring Stephen Root. And beware Six of One.
Spaceballs, hands down. The first three times I saw it, I absolutely laughed my butt off. No other movie of any kind has even come close since then.
I can’t really explain why. There’s a ton of stuff in here, and somehow, all of it just works. There seems to be just enough edginess and crudity to enhance the humor without getting offensive. They don’t make movies like this anymore, I tell ya.
One that’s been overlooked: Movie Movie Two spoofs for the price of one: a 1930s boxing flick (in black & white) and a Busby Berkeley musical (in color). Very funny, and very appreciative of the source material.
Spaceballs? Spaceballs?!?!
I just watched that movie last night and it was so not funny that I almost cried. It was terminally unfunny. It was horrible. Absolutely horribe. And I used to love it…when I was 8.
[Comic Book Guy]
Worst Movie Ever
[/Comic Book Guy]
My vote goes to Young Frankenstein. Fatal Instict is always good for a laugh.
OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS? I thought I was the only one who thought that movie wasn’t funny!
~~ What is that movie set in 19th century Mexico? …That has
to be my favorite…
…and going back a ways, “Casino Royale”, with Peter Sellers as James Bond and Woody Allen as little Jimmy Bond. A great spoof of the James Bond films. Thinking about it the “Flint” movies with James Coburn were also Bond spoofs.
No, every Bond film that came afterwards was a spoof of Casino Royale. Casino was the first. Great great theme song by the Tijuana Brass.
Gotta say Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Classic.
Play It Again Sam, Woody Allen’s parody of Casablanca.