50 Best Movie Spoof Moments
Top-drawer rib-ticklers
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)
The Moment: Having woken up after being frozen for 30 years, Dr Evil (Mike Myers) discovers that all of his evil plans are somewhat outdated.
What’s It Spoofing: Blofeld from the Bond films.
Why It’s Great: It sort of makes us love Dr Evil – he tries so hard, and it’s not his fault he’s behind the times.
Hot Shots! (1991)
The Moment: Charlie Sheen and Valeria Golino get down and dirty on the kitchen floor, slathering each other with food.
Best bit? He fries an egg on her stomach.
What’s It Spoofing: The sexy culinary scene from 9 ½ Weeks.
Why It’s Great: It’s funny and sexy. Right ?
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Moment: That unforgettable sequence in which Gene Wilder dances in top hat and tails with his monster while crooning ‘Putting On The Ritz’.
What’s It Spoofing: Monster movies ( Frankenstein , Bride Of Frankenstein ) and monochrome musicals.
Why It’s Great : It’s a simple idea delivered with po-faced elegance.
Blazing Saddles (1974)
The Moment: Taggart (Slim Pickens) and his men take a time out around a campfire and eat beans – with explosive results.
What’s It Spoofing: Any scene from an old Western in which cowboys gather around a campfire.
Why It’s Great: Alright, it’s pretty puerile, and there are loads of other gags in the film that are just as funny. But for getting us to giggle like five-year-olds, it earns top marks.
The Man With Two Brains (1983)
The Moment: Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) knocks over Dolores (Kathleen Turner), and instructs a little girl to call an ambulance – only his instructions are somewhat convoluted.
What’s It Spoofing: Any scene from a movie in which a character orders another character to call an ambulance. Normally they keep things a little simpler than Hfuhruhurr.
Why It’s Great: The little girl remembers Hfuhruhurr’s instructions exactly!
High Anxiety (1977)
The Moment: A man reads his paper while birds flock to a climbing frame behind him.
The worst part? Bird poo…
What’s It Spoofing: The Birds.
Why It’s Great: It’s a fun response to the one thing Hitchcock never addressed in his film – just how much crap that many birds would produce…
Spaceballs (1987)
The Moment: “Not again,” groans John Hurt as an alien bursts from his chest. Things are a little different second time around, though, as this mini ET comes with a top hat and cane…
What’s It Spoofing: Alien ’s chest-bursting scene.
Why It’s Great: Not only is it a funny send-up, Mel Brooks scored a cinematic touchdown by getting John Hurt to reprise his most famously blood-splattered role.
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Dead Men Dont Wear Plaid (1982)
The Moment: Private investigator Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin) disguises himself as a svelte blonde and meets up with Neff (Fred MacMurray) in a hilarious pastiche of Double Indemnity.
What’s It Spoofing: Film noir as a whole, but this scene pays particular attention to Double Indemnity.
Why It’s Great: It seamlessly blends the old with the new, making for a bizarre but clever (and funny) viewing.
The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)
The Moment: In the film’s opening scene, Frank (Leslie Nielsen) and co take down bad guys in a station…
What’s It Spoofing: The Untouchables.
Why It’s Great: It’s a parody of a scene from The Untouchables which was itself a tribute to the Odessa Steps scene in Battleship Potemkin . How’s that for layered?
Airplane! (1980)
The Moment: Old dear Barbara Billingsley steps in to help when a flight attendant finds it impossible to understand a passenger’s jive speak.
What’s It Spoofing: Street slang in general.
Why It’s Great: Billingsley is phenomenal. “Just hang loose, blood…”
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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