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| Scene from Airplane (1980), top spoof, poking fun at overemphasized sweating in action scenes of thrillers. |
Welcome
to our Reel
Fives pre-launch movie rankings for the best spoof movies, also referred to
as parody films, of all time. After an extensive online search, we found 35
published rankings for parody movies. Reel Fives has taken all of those
rankings and aggregated them into definitive rankings for the top 45 spoofs of
all time. For each ranked list of top movies for the parody film genre we found
online, we have taken the top five ranked parody films. The original sources of
rankings on top spoof movies are included at the bottom of this post and
include rankings of the best spoofs created by movie experts as well as spoof rankings
from polling sites, such as ranker.com.
Spoofs
are not meant to be taken seriously and the rankings show the less seriously
the topic is taken, the better spoof it makes. They take the film genre norms
and exaggerate them – resulting in a comical outcome. Airplane! (1980), ranked the all-time best spoof, is a parody of
the thriller movie genre. Ted Striker (Robert Hays) dislikes flying but he
wants to win his ex-girlfriend Elaine (Julie Hagerty) back. In a hilarious turn
of events, everyone falls ill on the plane and Ted reluctantly saves them. Blazing Saddles (1974), ranked second,
plays upon Westerns
and turns the genre upside down with a black sheriff. Spoofs turn genres inside
out and Blazing Saddles (1974) does just
that by poking fun at all the stereotypes of Westerns. Sheriff Bart (Cleavon
Little) takes matters into his own hands and holds the power. In another
excellent example, in a parody of spy
movies, Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) must figure out who is trying to
assassinate Queen Elizabeth II in The
Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad! (1988), ranked fifth. This is Spinal Tap
(1984),
ranked seventh, follows a band that could have a comeback. The film pokes fun
at not only music, but also documentaries,
as it is filmed as a documentary; it was the movie that brought mockumentaries
into the mainstream. Horror films are an easy genre to poke fun at, and the Scary Movie series does so. Taking advantage
of the popularity of teen horror movies Scream
(1996) and I know what you did last
summer (1997) at the time, Scary
Movie (2000), ranked eighth, takes every horror film serial killer
stereotype and overdoes it. A group of immature teenagers mixed with a serial
killer on the loose is bound to end badly. In another spoof of spy
movies, a rock star (meant to poke fun at Elvis Presley) becomes involved
in international relations in Top Secret!
(1984), ranked tenth. Nick Rivers (Val Kimer) becomes part of the resistance
movement during WWII while he performed in Eastern Germany. Most elements, even
themes as serious as the Cold War, have to be dramatized because that is what
makes a film a great spoof.
The
rankings paid homage to the classics, as only one film in the top 10 came after
2000. There were no real surprises on the list, as the top spoofs have large
cult followings. Those cult followings help the film’s popularity. Most plots
are driven by male leads and b-list actors who are just starting out in their
careers. We enjoy the variety of genres among the top ranked parody movies, especially how they point out the deficits in several genres. These top
spoofs push the spoofed genres themselves forward by cementing clichés and
bringing them out to the forefront.
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