Best spoofs of all time?

personnally i have to say KUNG POW! while bombing , it has achieved cult status.
the problem with it was not many ppl undrstood the concept of steve oderkirks genius, the way it is put together is amazingand his voiceovers ....my god why hasnt this man been in a comedy bockbuster.

Evil betty is one of the funnest characters ever in my book.

memorable lines:
guy"where does it hurt".......guy2"pretty much around the bg bloody area"

looking at an important scroll, evil betty."tiga, tiga tiga, bird...birdy birdy"


oh lets not forget naked gun........

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Yeah, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist definitely deserves the cult rep it's been building since it hit video. The only parts of the movie I don't care for at all are the bits where Oedenkerk isn't using the footage from the two movies - such as the baby in the opening minutes and especially the cow. The whole Matrix parody thing has been so played out it's just groan-inducing now. But, when he's interacting with the re-dubbed footage, it's very funny stuff, sometimes even downright hysterical.

But if you want to see an even more complicated and clever spin on this idea, check out Carl Reiner's very underrated Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982). Steve Martin plays Rigby Reardon, a private dick trying to solve a kidnapping case after the beautiful Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) falls into his office looking for her missing scientist father. The hook is that Rigby interacts with various scenes from some '40s Film Noir classics, such as Hitchcock's Notorious and Suspicion, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep, Raoul Walsh's White Heat, and Tay Garnett's The Postman Always Rings Twice.



What makes Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid so exceedingly clever is how the footage is grafted into the narrative. This was long before digital trickery ala Forest Gump where Martin could be dropped into the clips, so in a very meticulous manner the filmmakers have matched the lighting, sets and costumes where it looks like Steve Martin is interacting with Bette Davis or Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart. They also didn't do any overdubbing, so they had to find ways to make conversations to their fixed dialogue, and somehow work up a detective plot around it all. It's very funny and extremely clever, all the funnier and more clever if you're familiar with all or many of the original films.

Also, unlike Kung Pow, I think the Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid scenes that don't utilize the other film footage work extremely well and are funny in their own right. It's a really brilliant project, unfairly ignored upon its release, and still doesn't have the reputation it quite deserves. Check it out sometime, especially if you're an old film buff of any kind.



By the by, welcome to the board!

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And more generally on the subject, the best spoof of all-tme still remains...
Young Frankenstein (1974)


"That's 'FRONK-in-STEEN'...."


Some of the other greats for me are Airplane! (1980), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Blazing Saddles (1974), Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1974), Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1943), Murder by Death (1976), Top Secret! (1984), "Police Squad!" (1982) and the Naked Gun flicks. Lots of others out there. I listed a bunch of 'em in THIS thread.


I like Kung Pow a lot, but frankly it's not in the same class as Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Young Frankenstein, Airplane! or the Monty Python flicks. Still quite enjoyable though.

I have yet to see Kung Pow but it is recieving recommendations from everyone that has seen it.

For me the best was and shall be for some time, Not Another Teen Movie, just plain disgusting in parts but i still loved it and it definatly gets my vote.

i almost forgot about those

Im glad you mentioned Top Secret, Holden. It is a seriously under rated movie, mainly because Val Kilmer is in it I think.

I love the underwater fight which is extremely well done and will always remember the line, "Your flaming hog balls sir!"

Also the first five minutes of Scary Movie II, the Exorcist spoof bit, were quite funny, shame about the rest of the film.

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I bet nobody's heard of this one: Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters. It came out in the early nineties, and like "Kung Pow", it is a dubbed Asian film, but far superior because the voice-overs are done by members of the Second City troupe (I think). If you can find this raunchy R-rated treasure (which I bet you won't) check it out, it is about the funniest spoof I have ever seen. It was a straight-to-video release, and I happened to catch it when I worked for a video stroe at the time. Trust me guys it's a riot.


I haven't been able to find it, but if someone here happens to, let me know because I'd love a copy.

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not exactly the same kind of spoof as those you've mentioned but i'd give scream a mention

One of my favorites...

Finally, someone who loves Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid! I'll have to go rent that one. Haven't seen it in ages but adored it when it first came out. You're right, Holden. Why isn't it a cult favorite?

Also, of course, having been an official member of the Gene Wilder Fan Club in the '70s, I have to agree about Young Frankenstein. All the more authentic in that it uses much of the original 1931 film's set equipment. A true classic. Starts right in the beginning with the clock chiming midnight ... but gonging 13 times. The many times I saw this in the theater, no one was counting the tolls and I was the only one who laughed. With Brooks and Wilder, you have to be sharp or you miss something.

As for parodies and Oedekerk, we must add in here all his Thumb movies. I've now finally seen them all, but am still waiting for Blair Thumb to come back to Showtime so I can tape it. (The others are all taped now.) I can't wait till Thumbatrix is done.

As for voiced-over films, we can't forget Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?, which is a voice-over of a Japanese spy film. I think he redoes it to make the spy portion something about a potato salad recipe. (Again, it's been ages since I've seen it.) Wild for its day and still funny, as are most early Allen movies.

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I dug What's Up, Tiger Lily? (saw most of it), but it did drag quite a bit at times. I think today's flicks are just flat-out denser. It did have it's moments, though.

"TELL ME! Who do you work for?!"
"No one. I freelance."

I remember seeing that in the theater when I was a kid. My Mom and her friend went to see The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas while her friends kid and I went to see Steve Martin. I didn't appreciate it as much as I do know though.

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I've never been much of a fan of Odekirk films... he jujst doesn';t get my jollies off I guess.

As for the greatest parody, my vote goes to Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (I believe I've actually discussed the film with you somewhere around here Holden.)
Apart from being a huge Steve Martin fan, I just can't help but laugh at the best-when-subtle, although oftentimes over the top humor of this "comic gem".

"Your breasts needed adjusting"

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Hmmmmm....... REPOSSESSED!

Kentucky Fried Movie

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How about Johnny Dangerously with Michael Keaton? Or Hudson Hawk with Bruce Willis. Both of these films were panned by critics, but I thought they were very funny. Would Last Action Hero be considered a spoof? I love that one too, despite its low scores.

I did quite enjoy Hudson Hawk, but I guess I just don't see how it was a spoof. Or if it was a spoof, I guess I just don't see it as being a well-executed one.

Spoofs:
5. Blazing Saddles
4. Naked Gun
3. Airplane
2. Young Frankenstein
1. Casino Royale

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Young Frankenstein or Scary Movie

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The Naked Gun series...totally outrageous!

Also, Mel Brooks' spoof of Hitchcock movies...High Anxiety.