A parody film is a comedy that parodies other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the genre is often overlooked by critics, parody films are commonly profitable at the box office. With that being said I'm going to bring you my top 10 favorite parody films of all-time. So without further ado...
10. Scary Movie 2
This is the very first parody film that I had ever seen I think it's just absolutely hilarious. Although many of the first film's main characters were homicide victims, Shorty (played by Marlon Wayans), Ray (played by Shawn Wayans), and Cindy (played by Anna Faris) return anyway to "re-possess" their roles for this follow-up in which four students are invited by their professor (played by Tim Curry) to his haunted mansion, Hell House, for a weekend sleep-deprivation study. Providing the sleep deprivation, however, is a series of murderous, supernatural goings-on. Scary Movie 2 has a rating of 15% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
I love Mel Brooks's style of directing and films and just a heads up you'll see a copule more of his films on the list. Robin Hood (played by Cary Elwes) comes home after fighting in the Crusades to learn that the noble King Richard (played by Patrick Stewart) is in exile and that the despotic King John (Richard Lewis) now rules England, with the help of the Sheriff of Rottingham (played by Roger Rees). Robin Hood assembles a band of fellow patriots to do battle with John and the Sheriff, including Asneeze (played by Isaac Hayes) and his son Ahchoo (played by Dave Chappelle), the blind watchman Blinkin (played by Mark Blankfield), Will Scarlet O'Hara (played by Matthew Porretta), and Rabbi Tuckman (played by Mel Brooks). The Sheriff is eager to put Robin Hood out of business with the aid of criminal mastermind Don Giovanni (played by Dom DeLuise), but Robin soon has an ally in the royal palace when he falls for the lovely Maid Marian (played by Amy Yasbeck), whose minder Broomhilde (played by Megan Cavanagh) has uncooperatively outfitted Marian with a chastity belt. Robin Hood: Men in Tights has a rating of 48% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Mars Attacks!
This film is absolutely hilarious and it's a perfect sci-fi comedy. Flying saucers have been reliably seen over the capitals of the world, and the whole world awaits with bated breath to see what will transpire. Among those waiting is the President of the United States (played by Jack Nicholson), who is assured by his science advisor (played by Pierce Brosnan) that the coming aliens are utterly peaceful. This advice is hotly contested by the military who advises the President to annihilate them. When the aliens land, they are seen to be green, garish, and very cheerful. But appearances prove deceiving when the "friendly" aliens abruptly disintegrate the entire U.S. Congress. Hollywood notables appear in vast quantities in roles (and sub-plots) of all sizes in this zany feature. Mars Attacks! has a rating of 52% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Austin Powers in Goldmember
IMHO this is the best Austin Powers film in the franchise. Austin Powers in Goldmember continues the exploits of the swinging-'60s leftover Austin Powers (played by Mike Meyers), who, as the film opens, is busy critiquing a big-budget Hollywood production of his life story, replete with a 20-million-dollar star in the lead role and a slew of John Woo-style action scenes. But not far from the soundstage lurks arch nemesis Dr. Evil (played by Mike Myers), who has opened up a talent agency representing some of the industry's biggest stars -- all the while channeling their profits into a diabolical world-destruction plan with the unfortunate code name Preparation H. Dr. Evil presents a distraction to Austin by kidnapping his similarly swingin' father, Nigel Powers, and transporting him back in time to 1975. Travelling there to save his father -- and in turn win back his dad's sometimes-errant affection -- Austin comes across the alluring superspy Foxxy Cleopatra (played by Beyonce Knowles). The three of them travel back to the present day, where they join forces to battle Dr. Evil and his posse of nefarious evil-doers, including the trusty clone Mini-Me (played by Verne Troyer); his snotty son, Scott (played by Seth Green); the inimitable Fat Bastard (played by Mike Myers); and the eponymous new addition to the fold: the epidermis-obsessed, precious-metal-fortified Dutchman called Goldmember (played by Mike Myers). Austin Powers in Goldmember has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Galaxy Quest
I'm a fan of Star Trek and this film does a great job of making fun of the franchise (in a good way). in the mid-1970s, when brave if reckless Captain Peter Quincy Taggart, lovely Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and inscrutable alien Dr. Lazarus were the leaders of an interstellar law enforcement team on the TV series mnamed Galaxy Quest. Twenty years later, the show is still in reruns, and Jason Nesmith/Captain Peter Quincy Taggart (played by Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco/Lieutenant Tawny Madison (played by Sigourney Weaver), and Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus (played by Alan Rickman) prop up their sagging careers by making appearances at sci-fi conventions, where they grudgingly shake hands and give autographs for the show's socially inept following. However, it turns out that nerdy sci-fi fans aren't the only ones watching: somewhere in another solar system, a group of alien rebels living under a regime of violence and repression have picked up broadcasts of Galaxy Quest, and they aren't aware that it's fiction. They travel to Earth and encounter the Galaxy Quest cast, who figure that they're just another bunch of guys who like to dress funny. However, they soon realize that they're being hired not for another autograph-signing session but for a real-life outer space rescue mission. Galaxy Quest has a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Scary Movie
After have never seeing the first one until after watching 2, 3 and 4, I can say that this is the best in the franchise. As you might expect, a group of teenagers -- not-terribly-bright Buffy (played by Shannon Elizabeth), her best friend Brenda (played by Regina Hall), stoner Shorty (played by Marlon Wayans), fey football player Ray (played Shawn Wayans), loudmouthed Greg (played by Lochlyn Munro), sexually overexcited Bobby (played by Jon Abrahams), and his prim girlfriend Cindy (played by Anna Faris) -- are on the run from a maniacal killer who is looking for revenge after the kids accidentally kill a man following an auto accident. They also find themselves having to contend with intrusive reporter Gail Hailstorm (played by Cheri Oteri) and eccentric high school principal Squiggly (played by David L. Lander). Scary Movie has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Spaceballs
Lone Starr (played by Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog co-pilot, Barf the Mawg (played by John Candy), are content to scour the galaxy living the easy life. But they reluctantly come to the rescue when Druish Princess Vespa (played by Daphne Zuniga) is threatened by the evil Lord Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis), who wants to steal all of the air from her planet, Druidia. Trapped on a harsh desert world with Vespa and her robot chaperone, Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers), Lone Starr and Barf are helpless to prevent Helmet from kidnapping the girl. But assistance arrives in the form of Yogurt (played by Mel Brooks), a wizard who turns Lone Starr on to a mysterious power known as The Schwartz. Catching up with Helmet just as he's transforming his spaceship into a giant vacuum cleaner in orbit around Druidia, the reluctant heroes stage a dramatic showdown. Spaceballs has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Hot Shots! Part Deux
This film was one of the last that Charlie Sheen had made while he was in the prime of his movie career. Topper Harley (played by Charlie Sheen), who has retreated to a Buddhist monastery after being dumped by Ramada Rodham Hayman (played by Valerie Golino). In this far-off retreat, the monks have "taken a vow of celibacy, just like their fathers and their fathers before them." But Topper bulks up and goes back into action when his superior officer, Colonel Denton Walters (played by Richard Crenna) is captured by a Saddam Hussein look-alike, missing somewhere between "Iraq and a Hard Place." Topper charges into Iraq (after barreling through a Beverly Hills barbecue) along with sexy CIA operative Michelle Rodham Huddleston (played by Brenda Bakke) in tow, his guns ablazing. Hot Shots! Part Deux has a rating of 59% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Airplane!
When you have as many parody references as this film does then you may be one of the best of all-time. Alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (played by Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (played by Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (played by Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor. Airplane! has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Blazing Saddles
Here is the last Mel Brooks film on the list and not only favorite parody film, but it is also my favorite comedy of all-time and it's in my top 5 favorite films of all-time. The film satirizes the racism obscured by myth-making Hollywood accounts of the American West, with the hero being a black sheriff in an all-white town. Blazing Saddles was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actress, Best Film editing and Best Original Song and it has a rating of 90% on rottentomatoes.com.
10. Scary Movie 2
This is the very first parody film that I had ever seen I think it's just absolutely hilarious. Although many of the first film's main characters were homicide victims, Shorty (played by Marlon Wayans), Ray (played by Shawn Wayans), and Cindy (played by Anna Faris) return anyway to "re-possess" their roles for this follow-up in which four students are invited by their professor (played by Tim Curry) to his haunted mansion, Hell House, for a weekend sleep-deprivation study. Providing the sleep deprivation, however, is a series of murderous, supernatural goings-on. Scary Movie 2 has a rating of 15% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
I love Mel Brooks's style of directing and films and just a heads up you'll see a copule more of his films on the list. Robin Hood (played by Cary Elwes) comes home after fighting in the Crusades to learn that the noble King Richard (played by Patrick Stewart) is in exile and that the despotic King John (Richard Lewis) now rules England, with the help of the Sheriff of Rottingham (played by Roger Rees). Robin Hood assembles a band of fellow patriots to do battle with John and the Sheriff, including Asneeze (played by Isaac Hayes) and his son Ahchoo (played by Dave Chappelle), the blind watchman Blinkin (played by Mark Blankfield), Will Scarlet O'Hara (played by Matthew Porretta), and Rabbi Tuckman (played by Mel Brooks). The Sheriff is eager to put Robin Hood out of business with the aid of criminal mastermind Don Giovanni (played by Dom DeLuise), but Robin soon has an ally in the royal palace when he falls for the lovely Maid Marian (played by Amy Yasbeck), whose minder Broomhilde (played by Megan Cavanagh) has uncooperatively outfitted Marian with a chastity belt. Robin Hood: Men in Tights has a rating of 48% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Mars Attacks!
This film is absolutely hilarious and it's a perfect sci-fi comedy. Flying saucers have been reliably seen over the capitals of the world, and the whole world awaits with bated breath to see what will transpire. Among those waiting is the President of the United States (played by Jack Nicholson), who is assured by his science advisor (played by Pierce Brosnan) that the coming aliens are utterly peaceful. This advice is hotly contested by the military who advises the President to annihilate them. When the aliens land, they are seen to be green, garish, and very cheerful. But appearances prove deceiving when the "friendly" aliens abruptly disintegrate the entire U.S. Congress. Hollywood notables appear in vast quantities in roles (and sub-plots) of all sizes in this zany feature. Mars Attacks! has a rating of 52% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Austin Powers in Goldmember
IMHO this is the best Austin Powers film in the franchise. Austin Powers in Goldmember continues the exploits of the swinging-'60s leftover Austin Powers (played by Mike Meyers), who, as the film opens, is busy critiquing a big-budget Hollywood production of his life story, replete with a 20-million-dollar star in the lead role and a slew of John Woo-style action scenes. But not far from the soundstage lurks arch nemesis Dr. Evil (played by Mike Myers), who has opened up a talent agency representing some of the industry's biggest stars -- all the while channeling their profits into a diabolical world-destruction plan with the unfortunate code name Preparation H. Dr. Evil presents a distraction to Austin by kidnapping his similarly swingin' father, Nigel Powers, and transporting him back in time to 1975. Travelling there to save his father -- and in turn win back his dad's sometimes-errant affection -- Austin comes across the alluring superspy Foxxy Cleopatra (played by Beyonce Knowles). The three of them travel back to the present day, where they join forces to battle Dr. Evil and his posse of nefarious evil-doers, including the trusty clone Mini-Me (played by Verne Troyer); his snotty son, Scott (played by Seth Green); the inimitable Fat Bastard (played by Mike Myers); and the eponymous new addition to the fold: the epidermis-obsessed, precious-metal-fortified Dutchman called Goldmember (played by Mike Myers). Austin Powers in Goldmember has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Galaxy Quest
I'm a fan of Star Trek and this film does a great job of making fun of the franchise (in a good way). in the mid-1970s, when brave if reckless Captain Peter Quincy Taggart, lovely Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and inscrutable alien Dr. Lazarus were the leaders of an interstellar law enforcement team on the TV series mnamed Galaxy Quest. Twenty years later, the show is still in reruns, and Jason Nesmith/Captain Peter Quincy Taggart (played by Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco/Lieutenant Tawny Madison (played by Sigourney Weaver), and Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus (played by Alan Rickman) prop up their sagging careers by making appearances at sci-fi conventions, where they grudgingly shake hands and give autographs for the show's socially inept following. However, it turns out that nerdy sci-fi fans aren't the only ones watching: somewhere in another solar system, a group of alien rebels living under a regime of violence and repression have picked up broadcasts of Galaxy Quest, and they aren't aware that it's fiction. They travel to Earth and encounter the Galaxy Quest cast, who figure that they're just another bunch of guys who like to dress funny. However, they soon realize that they're being hired not for another autograph-signing session but for a real-life outer space rescue mission. Galaxy Quest has a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Scary Movie
After have never seeing the first one until after watching 2, 3 and 4, I can say that this is the best in the franchise. As you might expect, a group of teenagers -- not-terribly-bright Buffy (played by Shannon Elizabeth), her best friend Brenda (played by Regina Hall), stoner Shorty (played by Marlon Wayans), fey football player Ray (played Shawn Wayans), loudmouthed Greg (played by Lochlyn Munro), sexually overexcited Bobby (played by Jon Abrahams), and his prim girlfriend Cindy (played by Anna Faris) -- are on the run from a maniacal killer who is looking for revenge after the kids accidentally kill a man following an auto accident. They also find themselves having to contend with intrusive reporter Gail Hailstorm (played by Cheri Oteri) and eccentric high school principal Squiggly (played by David L. Lander). Scary Movie has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Spaceballs
Lone Starr (played by Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog co-pilot, Barf the Mawg (played by John Candy), are content to scour the galaxy living the easy life. But they reluctantly come to the rescue when Druish Princess Vespa (played by Daphne Zuniga) is threatened by the evil Lord Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis), who wants to steal all of the air from her planet, Druidia. Trapped on a harsh desert world with Vespa and her robot chaperone, Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers), Lone Starr and Barf are helpless to prevent Helmet from kidnapping the girl. But assistance arrives in the form of Yogurt (played by Mel Brooks), a wizard who turns Lone Starr on to a mysterious power known as The Schwartz. Catching up with Helmet just as he's transforming his spaceship into a giant vacuum cleaner in orbit around Druidia, the reluctant heroes stage a dramatic showdown. Spaceballs has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Hot Shots! Part Deux
This film was one of the last that Charlie Sheen had made while he was in the prime of his movie career. Topper Harley (played by Charlie Sheen), who has retreated to a Buddhist monastery after being dumped by Ramada Rodham Hayman (played by Valerie Golino). In this far-off retreat, the monks have "taken a vow of celibacy, just like their fathers and their fathers before them." But Topper bulks up and goes back into action when his superior officer, Colonel Denton Walters (played by Richard Crenna) is captured by a Saddam Hussein look-alike, missing somewhere between "Iraq and a Hard Place." Topper charges into Iraq (after barreling through a Beverly Hills barbecue) along with sexy CIA operative Michelle Rodham Huddleston (played by Brenda Bakke) in tow, his guns ablazing. Hot Shots! Part Deux has a rating of 59% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Airplane!
When you have as many parody references as this film does then you may be one of the best of all-time. Alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (played by Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (played by Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (played by Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor. Airplane! has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Blazing Saddles
Here is the last Mel Brooks film on the list and not only favorite parody film, but it is also my favorite comedy of all-time and it's in my top 5 favorite films of all-time. The film satirizes the racism obscured by myth-making Hollywood accounts of the American West, with the hero being a black sheriff in an all-white town. Blazing Saddles was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actress, Best Film editing and Best Original Song and it has a rating of 90% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of my list and what are some of your favorite parody films of all-time? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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