Are parodies dead, or have we just grown up?

Man, I loved these things when I was a kid. Golden Gun,Pilot, even the newer stuff like Don't Be Cruel

Darkness movies were kind of this weird transition period where they went from funny to just gross—especially the later sequels. They finally hit rock bottom with Disaster Movie. Honestly, that one was just nasty, and it wasn't even funny. Not even a little bit... 🤷

Seriously, even rewatching Pilot recently left me feeling pretty let down. Like, why wasn't it as hilarious as it used to be?

So, am I being too harsh on modern parodies, or have they actually just gone to hell?

Yeah, it's been a while since I watched anything good.
The first Darkness Movie was a pretty decent parody.
McGruber is supposedly okay.
I stopped watching these new American ones after I gave up on Meet the Spartans fifteen minutes in.
We'll see.

We all know they're pretty desperate

Matthew Anderson4 said:We all know they're pretty desperate

Except for this majority claiming otherwise.
The poll doesn't lie.
That's empirical proof right there.
There are some good parodies out there too.

It seems the parody genre has just hit a bit of a losing streak over the last five years.

Once again, even my recent attempt to revisit Pilot in Airplane 2 left me feeling let down; the film just doesn't hold up as funny as it once did.

Airplane 2 really isn't as hilarious as the original. It’s funny how you only realized that during your most recent viewing.

Edward Price6 said:Except for this majority claiming otherwise.
The poll doesn't lie.
That's empirical proof right there.
There are some good parodies out there too.

Since when is 10% considered a majority? Because everyone else is saying they're trash.

What absolute legends... Golden Gun, Top Secret... they just never get old 😁

The last parody I sat down to watch was Star Wars: Empire Strikes Backyard,
it wasn't anything particularly special, especially if you aren't a fan of the Star Wars franchise...

I think it’s both. They’ve been ruined, and we grew up in that environment.🙂

David Price5 said:It seems the parody genre has just hit a bit of a losing streak over the last five years.

Once again, even my recent attempt to revisit Pilot in Airplane 2 left me feeling let down; the film just doesn't hold up as funny as it once did.

Airplane 2 really isn't as hilarious as the original. It’s funny how you only realized that during your most recent viewing.

Man, honestly, I watched that one when I was just a little kid.

lonesailor6 said:The last parody I sat down to watch was Star Wars: Empire Strikes Backyard,
it wasn't anything particularly special, especially if you aren't a fan of the Star Wars franchise...

Look, I haven't even heard of that one... 😲

Send me a link in a DM if you've got it?

Nothing even comes close to those classics like Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I and Young Frankenstein 😁. And don't even get me started on Hot Shots! 1 and 2—those are still actually funny. But these modern parodies? They’re absolute zero. Just total garbage like Meet the Spartans and Movie... honestly, just pure 👎.

They’ve absolutely gone to hell in a handbasket. Don't get me wrong, I’ll still happily sit down and watch those old classics from time to time, but this modern stuff? Most of the time, I'm turning it off after maybe ten minutes... It’s just a total waste of time. It's such a shame because I've always found this whole genre pretty fascinating...

Walk Hard is such a brilliant parody. Honestly, these other "so-called Movies" are just straight-up garbage.

Hmm, yeah, I think those older parodies actually worked way better because they leaned into specific gags and really sharp jabs at famous movies. Take that one classic parody—you know, the one that kicks off with that legendary quote about peeing in the popcorn? Honestly, Airplane! never really clicked for me. But man, I can always watch Hot Shots!—those bits like grilling hot dogs over a jet engine or the whole deer hunting season thing are just genius. 🙏

Now, Scary Movie is more of a crude parody, but it does a great job mocking slasher flicks—especially Scream—and all those tired tropes, from the clueless cops to people constantly running up and down stairs. The second one is decent enough, though I haven't sat through the third or fourth ones.

I've seen my fair share of these parodies, and honestly, most of them just fall flat because the humor isn't there. Just because you're making fun of a movie that popped into your head doesn't mean it's funny. With stuff like Scary Movie or Hot Shots!, you actually have to catch the references—the scenes, the dialogue, all of it—to get the joke. But these days? It feels like they're being made for an audience that needs everything spoon-fed to them just to figure out which movie is being mocked.

It’s not even about how much time has passed; it’s just that the humor in these newer parodies is plain low-quality. It just goes to show that not everyone is cut out to be a master of movie satire...

Honestly, the stuff coming out lately just isn't hitting the same because they lean way too hard on being stupid for the sake of it, and they’ve totally lost that certain spark they used to have.

Back in the day, parodies actually felt like they were crafted with some genuine creativity, though if I'm being real, maybe we're all just getting a little burned out on the whole genre anyway, don't you think?

I noticed nobody has mentioned Dracula, Shaun of the Dead, or Hot Saddle by Mel Brooks... I'm skipping today's releases... It doesn't mean we've outgrown this stuff, it just means the entire standard for filmmaking has gone straight down the drain.

My wife and I just grabbed a quick coffee yesterday, and when we got back, we ended up watching Immortal Weapon(😂).
I haven't seen it in about four years.

It doesn't hit quite as hard as it used to, obviously, but it’s still a good time. Honestly, I think old-school parodies were way better than the stuff they make nowadays—most modern ones are just gross instead of actually being funny.

did they totally tank... hmm, how do I even put this.
I’ve always had a soft spot for parodies that poke fun at tropes while actually having their own original scripts—takes a certain level of talent. For me, "Top Secret" is basically the gold standard.

On the flip side, those cheap parodies that just rip off one specific blockbuster? Total trash—definitely not worth your time. You’ve got these B-list wannabe directors trying to cash in on massive hits right after they drop, basically slapping a parody label on them to hide the fact that they can't write anything original. Honestly, the only thing they're successfully mocking is themselves and their own lack of creativity.
I don't touch those kinds of "parodies" with a ten-foot pole.

When it comes to that entire series of cinematic vomit, much like Meet the Spartans, I suppose one could argue the blame lies squarely with the Friedberg/Seltzer duo. It seems to me that this particular team possesses a unique talent for ruining just about any genre they touch, let alone parody.

That being said, if we look at the last few years, a handful of actually decent films have managed to surface—though I should clarify, it’s really only a tiny handful, which I guess is still better than absolutely nothing—specifically Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Tropic Thunder.