Parody films?

[HBK-aholic]

It seems more and more of these are being made, all making action/horror films into comedies, all taking them and making them for different audiences, as well as adding more interest into the films they take their ideas from.

Many have been made in the past few years, and of these I'd say few have been bigger than Scary Movie. This is the parody of all parodies, and everyone has seen at least one film in the set. I'd be surprised if someone told me they hadn't.

Recently 2 that come to mind are Epic Movie, and Meet the Spartans. Both were full of cheap laughs, but made me laugh no doubt. Which was the purpose of them in the first place. I think these things are so bad, they're good. They make me laugh at how cheesy or horrible they are.

What's your favourite parody film? Do you think they serve a purpose or should they be stopped?

 

[Uncle Sam]

You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. Those movies are absolutely shit. There's no denying. But THEY MAKE MONEYZ, so are good wrestlers. Got a little sidetracked there. Anyway, they're all atrocious, with one exception. The first Scary Movie. That movie's solid at best, and is the absolute fucking height of the franchise, which no other installment has managed to get anywhere near.

I think this video sums up my point:

[youtube]mVHWJ9jPYw8[/youtube]

Something in Epic Movie made me piss myself though. You know Superman, yeah? You know how he's not meant to get hurt? And you know in Superman Returns, the bullet bounces off his eye. In Epic Movie, they reproduced it poorly, but this time Superman got hurt! LOLZORZ!!!!!

 

[Sparky]

Scary movie. None of them have failed to make me laugh, some of the storylines are as you said so stupid they are funny. I remember watching them over and over again when they first come out. the best one would have to be the first one as you can never beat the original. but the latest one was crap they must of either ran out of ideas or just chose crap movies to base them off. My favourite Parody film would have to be Superhero movie. Some of the Punchlines and mock of quotes of spiderman in this film made it almost as enjoyable to me as Spiderman. I dont think they should be stopped but like in the Scary movie series they should stop making sequals etc. and focus on coming up with completly different ideas. it aint like they are hurting anything.

 

[Uncle Sam]

There's no such thing as so stupid they're funny. I could take a shit, rub it in my face and eyes and run around in your house naked and squealing like a pig. Would that be funny? That's the cinema equivalent of these movies - movies that have struggled to get more than a 5% score on rotten tomatoes and over 20% on Metacritic. They're tragically unfunny and so outdated. Meet the Spartans? Is that meant to be a reference to Meet the Fockers, a movie released four years ago?

Anyone seen the Disaster Movie Trailer? Things I noticed: it's not funny, there's no Disaster movie referenced AT ALL, random jokes which have nothing to do with characters involved, makes Family Guy look that cutting edge, sophisticated comedy, it's shit, more cut-and-paste jokes. Here's the formula, if I can go a little Underpants Dwarves for a minute:

1. Reference movie.
2. Drop something on character from movie.
3. ...
4. Profit.

 

[HBK-aholic]

There's no such thing as so stupid they're funny. I could take a shit, rub it in my face and eyes and run around in your house naked and squealing like a pig. Would that be funny? That's the cinema equivalent of these movies - movies that have struggled to get more than a 5% score on rotten tomatoes and over 20% on Metacritic.

I would totally laugh at that. Seriously, would be hilarious to me. Do it please.

They're tragically unfunny and so outdated. Meet the Spartans? Is that meant to be a reference to Meet the Fockers, a movie released four years ago?

Meet the Fockers is already a comedy. Why would they make a parody of that? It's about 300, the action film. Which is my favourite film, hence the reason I decided to watch Meet the Spartans. It's so bad it's funny. Which is, I hope, the reason these films are made. Epic movie is incredibly cheesy, which makes me laugh.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Becca, I'm not ******ed. You've already insulted my intelligence by claiming these movies are remotely amusing. I know it's based on 300. But where does the "Meet The" bit come from? The fact that people like this shit angers me so much much.

Take the Disaster Movie trailer. First joke: Iron Man says "I am Iron Man" (may as well take this time to point out they're now only making jokes about what's in trailers as it gives them excuse to peddle this shit out faster), a cow then drops on him. If this was on the internet, it may be recognized as a sly Earthworm Jim reference - Jim would have a cow dropped on him at the end of the episode. But this obviously has no context you need to know. It's Iron Man having an object on him. That's it. That's all there is to it. What the fuck?

As for it being cheesy. It's not cheesy. Everybody Meets Raymond is cheesy. Sitcoms are cheesy. Superman Returns was cheesy. For this to be cheesy, it'd have to be coherent. It's original, I'll give it that. Nobody thought they could get away with making such unadulterated shit before. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

 

[Slim Pickns]

I'm with Sam 108%. These movies are awful and I seriously can't believe anyone watches them.

The jokes are not even original. They use other movies names to garner interest, and try to make fun of them in stupid ways. We know Borat says "Very Nice, high five," we thought it was funny in the Borat movie, not yours. These movies are so bad that they have to tell you they are parodies, otherwise you wouldn't know.

The plots kind of remind me of those guys at parties who don't tell jokes, they just quote a comedian. You'll be watching the movie and all the sudden the "don't tase me bro" from Youtube or some other internet phenom will pop up, as if they are just saying "remember this? That was funny huh."

 

[klunderbunker]

About 2 weeks ago, I went to the dollar movies and saw Superhero Movie with two friends. It was full of D list actors and had a plot that was rather bland, jokes that weren't funny and bad acting. However, it was one of the best times I've had in a movie in a good long time. While it was pretty bad all around, it had a few lines that for some reason were just great. As for other movies such as this, if they're like this and can be seen for a very low price, I'd go see them as they do have their place. The biggest problem is their shelf life is less than 2 years. For the close time though, I don't mind and kind of enjoy them.

 

[jmt225]

"Not Another Teen Movie" is one of my biggest guilty pleasures, but other than that, I really, really hate these movies. The first two Scary Movie's were okay, but EVERYTHING to come out after that has blown so much fucking dick. After seeing "Date Movie" on Cinamax, I didn't bother with "Epic Movie" or "Meet the Spartans" and won't ever watch one of those movies ever again. They're terrible and a disgrace to the film industry. It makes me sick this crap actually does well in the box office.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's amazing to me that those films often have about 10 writers, and they can never come up with any decent jokes. I could write a film on my own and never come up with a decent joke. They don't even come up with any ideas. They will take the template from another film and just chuck aspects from other films at it. They will then do the opposite of what happened in the original. It's poor and anybody can do it.

But it's like the Saw films. They're cheap and people go to watch them in their millions. They'll continue to be made for years to come.

 

[Davi323]

Going old school. Spaceballs is without a doubt, the greatest parody movie of all time. It mocks Star Wars, Alien, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes, and was done by Mel Brooks. It featured actual actors that people have heard of, like John Candy, Rick Moranis, Joan Rivers, Bill Pullman, etc, and was actually well done.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Spaceballs is just that. Balls. It's a waste of time doing a parody of decent films. It just makes you think how good the original is. That's what TNA do. The best parody would probably have to be Airplane. Spoofed off a film that not many people on this forum will have seen. Or possibly This Is Spinal Tap, that spoofs rocks stars and not other films.

 

[Shocky]

I dunno Jake, Spaceballs is one of the better parodies written. that movie is pretty damn funny on it's own, as it ultra-quote worthy. Granted, it had the benefit of pardoying some great films.

Hotshots doesn't get any recognition, and those movies crack me the fuck up. Same with the Naked Gun and all of the Buddy Cop movies it ripped off during the late 80's.

I tend to agree with the above statement, Scary Movie 1 was the last decent parody. These movies that come out now are just plain atrocious and not funny in the least bit. Epic Movie is perhaps the least funny and worst movie I have ever watched. These films are a waste of time.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Hotshots doesn't get any recognition, and those movies crack me the fuck up. Same with the Naked Gun and all of the Buddy Cop movies it ripped off during the late 80's.

If you think Hotshots get's no recognition I'd like to point out a little film to you. It's called Top Secret! And it's by far one of the best spoofs I've ever seen. Probably the only time Val Kilmer has showed any personality. The main reason it doesn't get the recognition it deserves if because it's directed by, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker who've done bigger films. Also when you've done Airplane you can't expect people to remember the little ones.

 

[Davi323]

There is a difference between a lighthearted spoof and a parody. What Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, etc do, is just garbage. Its just cheap jokes, often the most obvious ones, without any real script, without any real talent needed to make. Its appealing to the lowest common denominator. It isn't nearly the same quality comedy as something like Airplane is, which was a takeoff of the Airport movies. As for Top Secret...I own it on DVD, lol Some movies, like Spaceballs, Airplane, etc can be seen on their own, without having seen the movies they are poking fun of, and still find them enjoyable. They are intelligently made, and genuinely funny.

 

[RVD KAMALA 440]

"Not Another Teen Movie" is one of my biggest guilty pleasures, but other than that, I really, really hate these movies. The first two Scary Movie's were okay, but EVERYTHING to come out after that has blown so much fucking dick. After seeing "Date Movie" on Cinamax, I didn't bother with "Epic Movie" or "Meet the Spartans" and won't ever watch one of those movies ever again. They're terrible and a disgrace to the film industry. It makes me sick this crap actually does well in the box office.

I liked some of Not Another Teen Movie, the 1st 2 Scary Movies also. Some are funny but some sucked. Like Date Movie, Superhero Movie, I saw Epic Movie on cable. Dumb. Meet the Spartans, now that was funny . I feel that the movie industry needs 2 try something different, new instead of the SOS. I mainly hate that movies that constantly have characters be incompetent buffoons[Superbad & some Will Ferrell movies] & animated movies[robots & Wall-e] that seem dumb does well in the box office. Like its uncool to not be as perfect as possible.

 

[Dark Blaze]

Last time I properly enjoyed a parody movie, would definitely have to be Scary Movie, the others are now a collection of pop references, with little to no jokes in them. And the jokes they do have suck. End of story. I try to give them a chance, I always read reviews of movies before I catch them, and even if the reviews are utterly terrible, I still try to formulate my opinion. Know what I learned after watching movies like Date Movie and Meet the Spartans? The reviewers had it spot on.

The unfortunate thing is they'll keep on being made as long as they make money, good thing I don't HAVE to watch them. I pity those who do.

 

[twiztid_lestat]

Okay. Basic math

Without Mel Brooks or Leslie Nielson. Parody films = Not funny.

Space balls, Naked Gun, now THATS how you do Parody movies right. The movies (If they can be called that) Like super hero, Epic movie, Meet the spartans, And Scary Movie, are ALL horrid, unfunny, not creative trash fests that people go to see, because decent comedy is DEAD, and need a fix.

This is just as bad as saying Punk in 2008 is just as good as Rancid and Iggy pop in their prime. Comedy is a dead genre, Its either Bad parody movies, or ******ed stoner comedy. And in both cases, Its not entertaining to me at all.

George Carlin (RIP) was clever comedy, that made you think. That parody crap is NOT clever, its trash

 

[FromTheSouth]

Airplane and Spaceballs and Top Secret Aside, aren't all these movies produced by the same people? Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Superhero movie, et. al seem to have the same actors, and I refuse to believe that more than one production company is involved.

 

[Heart Break Kid]

Meet the Spartaans was suprisingly funny. I payed little attention to Epic Movie, Date Movie, etc because I heard they were all shit. I was dragged into Meet the Spartaans when it was released and I have purchased it for my collection. If you havent watched it yet because you've seen the others and thought they were ******ed I highly recommend you go and rent it.

 

[santinoistight44]

scary movie is by far the best parody movie ever, its so freaking funny! the best part is when hes in the house hiding behind the couch and then she sees him. there are so many funny parts in that movie and the new parody films are trying so hard to be funny that thyre just not scary movie is simply the best!

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I forgot Scream. A parody so good most people didn't even know it was a parody. A parody so good it even received it's own parody. A parody so good it started off a franchise of parody films. A parody so good it started off a second franchine of parody films. Scream wasn't even subtle about it. The scream that Drew Barrymores mother does when she finds her body points out that the film isn't to be taken seriously. People might say that it's not funny. I direct you to Meet The Spartans & Date Movie.

 

[Enigmania]

Last time I watched a parody movie was Date Movie and Epic Movie. What a waste of money!

Scary Movie, Naked Gun, Not Another Teen Movie, Spaceballs, Hot Shots (1 + Deux) Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Blazing Saddles, Shaun of the Dead and Airplane (1+2) were entertaining parody films. (Haven't seen Top Secret but I'll have a look out for it)

Parody films aren't what they used to be, which is a shame because I personally enjoy a good parody film.

Spy Hard was dire!

 

[X]

All of these parody films, every "(Insert Genre Title Here) Movie" parody that comes out takes away more and more of my hope in humankind. The only worse cinema trash I can imagine recently has to be Mamma Mia!, which I'm pretty sure was prophecized by Satan at some point.

Parody films can be good if done cleverly. Unfortunately there hasn't been a funny joke in this recent hash of parody movies since the original Scary Movie.

In other words, the people that write, create, and produce these films are actually Beelzebub's demon spawn.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Parody films suck. They are pointless garbage and I don't understand people's interest in them. The only ones that were remotely any good was Scary Movie and S.M. 2 and even that wasn't very good. Scary Movies 3 & 4 and all the ____ movies are just awful pieces of cinema and should be boycotted by every one with any taste.