Though they're not as popular as they once were, spoof movies are still some of the best and most revered forms of comedy ever made. For every popular movie trend, there's a parody ready to make a joke out of it.
Sometimes a parody is made to pay comedic homage to something that deserves tribute, while others are created to knock it down a peg. Whatever their motivation, film parodies know how to entertain their audience.
10 Last Action Hero Was The Last Hurrah For 80s Action Movies
When Last Action Hero was released in 1993, the testosterone fueled 80s action romp was already on its way out. Whether or not the filmmakers intended to, Jack Slater's gun-slinging adventures inside and outside of his action-packed world wound up being the trend's swan song.
Though flawed, Last Action Hero deserves credit for being one of the few action movies that heartily laughed at itself. The movie's self-aware analyses of the genre's absurdities, juvenile tendencies, and limits are more poignant and relevant today, especially in light of the genre's resurgence through self aggrandizing martyr complexes.
9 Austin Powers Accidentally Demystified James Bond
The legendary spy James Bond endured as an immoveable male power fantasy for decades, but that came to a screeching halt in the 90s. In 1997, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery hit theaters, and mocked 007 so effectively that it basically killed the British icon's mystique and credibility – even if it was a heartfelt and silly homage.
Austin's trilogy specifically aimed at the 60s Bond era, but his satire was so thorough that the entire spy genre (especially Bond movies, starting with Casino Royale) had to reboot as dour thrillers to be taken seriously again. Even outside of Bond's shadow, Austin works well on his own not only as a goofy spy, but as the definitive espionage movie icon of the 90s to the early 2000s.
8 Shaun Of The Dead Was The Perfect George A. Romero Tribute
Before The Walking Dead took over zombie pop culture, the undead were parodied through the dryly humorous yet respectful Shaun Of The Dead. Set in boring Crouch End, London, Shaun's story is a coming–of–age drama and romance set during a zombie apocalypse. Basically, it's a slice of life parody of a George A. Romero zombie movie.
While the zombies are depicted as annoying but still dangerous nuisances, Shaun and his friends casually address and subvert zombie clichés while trying to survive. Romero loved the tribute so much that he invited lead actor and writer Simon Pegg, and writer, director Edgar Wright to cameo as zombies in his own undead comeback, Land Of The Dead.
7 Mean Girls Exposed Teen Movie's Underlying Self–Importance & Vanity
For as long as the genre existed, teen movies were usually criticized for being shallow and vapid. Mean Girls showed how petty social climbing in high school was, and depicted typical all girl feuds (i.e. the popular girls versus their chaste rivals) as self-defeating. Of course, these were played for laughs.
In later years, Mean Girls was favorably reevaluated. Instead of just a fun and snarky clap back at the likes of Clueless or Never Been Kissed, it's now seen as a satirical feminist icon. The school-life parody was further immortalized through timeless memes that quote its characters – including one-scene wonders like Glen Coco.
6 Monty Python & The Holy Grail Robbed Fantasy Epics Of Their Grandiosity
The Monty Python comic troupe mocks just about anything, but Monty Python And The Holy Grail stands out as one of the most recognized and beloved spoofs of all time. The gang's first movie was a parody of fantasy epics (specifically those of the Arthurian mold), and it's been credited for all but killing the genre.
In this unpredictably madcap quest for the Holy Grail, the self-serious King Arthur came across as the only sane knight in a realm filled with hilariously eccentric and rude denizens. The movie did its job too well. Fantasy epics, which were already going downhill at the time – struggled to be taken seriously until Lord Of The Rings revived the genre.
5 Black Dynamite Brought Blaxploitation Back Into The Mainstream
Blaxploitation movies may have been one of the most important facets of 70s independent cinema, but they were written off as no-budget relics in the succeeding decades. This didn't stop Black Dynamite from parodying the niche through a sincere homage in 2009, and reviving interest in Blaxploitation.
Owing a lot to the likes of the Dolemite and Shaft movies, Black Dynamite lampooned the genre through its eponymous hyper-masculine hero, and its filmmaking. From scathing parodies of 70s-era politics, to deliberately awkward editing choices, this movie functioned as a Blaxploitation spoof on both a narrative and technical level.
4 Galaxy Quest Was A Love Letter To Star Trek & Its Fans
Before Star Trek reemerged as a pillar of modern science-fiction, it was dismissed as a campy and corny TV show from a bygone decade. That all changed when Galaxy Quest came along. Despite its premise, it was a genuine tribute to the final frontier and the dedicated fanbase it inspired.
While it's best known for laughing at or with Star Trek's sillier quirks, Galaxy Quest's parodic genius really shined whenever it focused on the in-universe show's washed out cast and their oddball fandom. In fact, the spoofing got too real for the actual Star Trek cast, who loved the movie but likened it more to a documentary than a comedy.
3 Scream Gave Horror Movies A New Meta Edge
Mainstream horror was in a bad place during the early 90s as the slasher trend ran its course and studios began diverting towards more self-serious dramas masquerading as "horror." Wes Craven's solution was to deconstruct and reassemble the genre that turned him into an icon, first with A New Nightmare then refining that self-awareness with Scream.
As Scream mocked horror movies' predictability through its self-aware cast, it also delivered a gory murder-mystery and social commentary that took aim at the negative stereotypes associated with the genre. Scream was such a success that it didn't just spawn a franchise, but inspired a new wave of meta horror movies that are still around today.
2 Gremlins 2: The New Batch Mocked Its Own Existence & Success
Despite the tangentially Christmas-movie Gremlins being his most successful movie, director Joe Dante had no intention of making more. As far as he was concerned, Billy and Gizmo's stories were complete. Warner Brothers tried to make a sequel without Dante but failed repeatedly. In desperation, the studio gave the director a tripled budget plus full creative control.
This led to The New Batch, an incredibly self-aware sequel that mocked everything that made Gremlins a household name. The New Batch lampooned its lore and the idea of Gremlins 2 so well that it didn't just become one of the most revered parodies of all time, but it put the franchise to rest for decades.
1 Blazing Saddles Turned The Cowboy Myth Into A Farce
Cowboys who brought law and order to the Wild West used to be one of the most enduring American icons, until Mel Brooks, the undisputed king of spoofs, entered the picture. Through Blazing Saddles, Brooks didn't just demolish the classic cowboy story's trite formula, but exposed the historical era's ugliness (such as racism) that the movies always ignored.
Rather than simply deconstruct these outdated tropes and offensive politics, Brooks eviscerated them by turning them into punchlines. Blazing Saddles was so good that it effectively killed the classic Western. No one took Westerns seriously again. It would be decades until filmmakers revived the genre, but through self-serious dramas.