The 35 Best Parody Movies of All Time, Ranked
Updated
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Standing as one type of movie within the broader comedy genre, the parody movie has an unusual history. Parody movies have existed for almost as long as cinema has, with the genre dating back as far as 1905, though it's also safe to say that it took considerably more time for this type of film to truly take off. The 1970s and 80s likely represent the golden age for what's now identifiable as a parody movie, with this brand of comedy being all over the place quality-wise in the decades since said golden age.
Though there are undeniably bad and/or disappointing parody movies, and fewer good ones now than there used to be, at least those old ones still exist and can continually be enjoyed. The following can be counted among the best parody movies of all time, and all do a remarkable job at spoofing either entire genres or sometimes a more selective group of movies. They're ranked below, more or less from funny to funniest.
35 'The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear' (1991)
While it’s not nearly as memorable or quotable as the first Naked Gun movie, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear is still pretty decent as far as sequels to parody movies go. And, honestly, it’s as good a time as any to revisit all the original Naked Gun movies (and the show, Police Squad), given that 2025 is the year The Naked Gun is being rebooted/continued with Liam Neeson in the lead role.
Its plot (like anyone cares too much) sees Frank Drebin clashing with corrupt people in the energy industry, bumbling his way around and accidentally saving the day, but not before doing a tremendous amount of (sometimes very funny) damage. The best thing about The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear is probably the absurd title, but to its credit, there are also some funny gags sprinkled throughout. Few of them hit quite as hard as the best moments of the first movie, though. It's a case of slightly diminishing returns, to be honest.
34 'Kung Pow: Enter the Fist' (2002)
No other movie makes fun of classic martial arts cinema in quite as ridiculous a way as Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (like, if you couldn't tell straight away, from that title). Director/writer Steve Oedekerk is also the star of this movie, which is pretty much just him inserting himself into clips from older martial arts movies, generally making them sillier and more absurd.
Well, some of the other things added to such old film clips also help in that regard, as does the fact that all the older actors are re-dubbed to say ridiculous things. It really depends on your sense of humor, because Kung Pow: Enter the Fist could well be torture if you don’t find this style of comedy funny. But if you like silly things and enjoy absurd/random humor, this is worth a watch, because parts of it are genuinely hilarious.
33 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me' (1999)
Like with The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, here’s another sequel that might not be on quite the same level as the original, but here, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me honestly isn’t too far off. It feels fitting, as a James Bond parody, to go into sillier and more (or Moore?) over-the-top territory than its predecessor, with the film kind of saying “screw it” and just going for full-on time travel.
Austin kind of went forward in time in the first movie, and then in this one, he goes back in time. There are enough funny jokes and novel new characters (including, of course, Mini Me) to make The Spy Who Shagged Me pretty good fun. It’s also better than the third movie in the series, Goldmember, even if that one’s not entirely worthless, either, admittedly.
32 'Kung Fu Hustle' (2004)
While it’s perhaps less of a parody than Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, Kung Fu Hustle is also an immensely silly movie that does gently make fun of certain martial arts movie tropes and conventions. But, on the other hand, it also works surprisingly well as a martial arts movie, delivering some seriously impressive action sequences, all of which are wonderfully over-the-top and even reminiscent of a live-action cartoon at certain points.
Narratively, it’s about training, gangsters, and standing up for what one believes in, but all done in a way that highlights absurdity and zaniness. Kung Fu Hustle starts seemingly in the highest gear it can, and then it just doesn’t let up, somehow building and only continuing to manage to get wilder. It’s a bit of an exhausting movie, sure, but it’s also a blast.
31 'South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut' (1999)
As a show, there’s little that South Park won’t make fun of, and that goes for the movie, too: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. It’s pretty epic in scope, compared to what came before, but the way it’s still animated in the show’s style makes the grandeur funnier, since it still has that endearingly cheap-looking feel to it. Also, more than anything in the show, this movie really wants to make fun of musicals.
And it does so well, since South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is honestly a pretty great musical while also being a keen parody of the genre. And then it makes fun of the film industry itself (with a particular focus on the absurdities of film ratings), and anything else that it can make fun of along the way, it proves happy to parody. It’s dumb, smart, gross, and sometimes even profound, all at once.
30 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' (1993)
Of the movies he directed during the 1990s, Robin Hood: Men in Tights was probably Mel Brooks’s best effort. It pales in comparison to his greatest parody movies from decades prior (more on those in a bit), but it generally works as a fun lampooning of the titular character, as well as a more specific riff on 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which starred Kevin Costner.
There isn't a ton of consistency to Men in Tights, given it throws numerous jokes at the viewer, one after the other, and a fair few misses. But it’s the relentless pacing of the comedy that means a few misfires are easy to overlook. There’s good and bad here, but a little more of the former than the latter, and that proves to be enough to ensure this is a decent parody overall.
29 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' (2016)
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping functions as a surprisingly good parody of music documentaries, taking a mockumentary style to tell the story of a ridiculous popstar’s tumultuous career. It’s mostly centered on his attempts to go solo, ditching the other members of his boy band, with the film ultimately having some heart in how it explores their eventual reconnecting.
But, before then, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is mostly about making fun of the music industry and the relative shallowness/repetition found in some less-than-amazing documentaries out there; the ones that sometimes feel more like puff pieces for the central subject. While Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping runs out of steam just a little before the end, it delivers more than enough big, broad laughs earlier on to be easily recommendable.
28 'Hot Shots!' (1991)
Blockbuster movies of the 1980s were the main target of Hot Shots!, with a specific focus on Top Gun, which had come out half a decade before Hot Shots! hit theaters. It did get an overall better sequel shortly after, and one that targeted a different kind of action film, but Hot Shots! is still pretty good, and maybe even a little underrated, all things considered.
Indeed, Top Gun is a good target to make fun of, given there’s already an element of cheese and humor—perhaps of the unintentional kind—to be found in that film. There are certainly tangents throughout, though, ensuring other movies and genres get skewered in a comedic way, and though it’s a little hit or miss in the way many parody movies seem to be, it’s still a good time.
27 'Silent Movie' (1976)
True to its title, Silent Movie is almost completely silent… in other words, without dialogue. The 1970s had already seen Mel Brooks try his hand at parodying old horror movies and classic American Westerns, and so Silent Movie—while not one of his absolute greatest—saw the legendary spoof-master take on the ambitious task of parodying silent cinema; a style of film that had been out of fashion for almost 50 years by 1976.
Silent Movie is a silent movie about the struggles of making a silent movie, and so it’s packed with fun, kind of meta humor, and does an alright job of replicating the style it gently pokes fun at. It’s about what you'd expect from a Mel Brooks-directed parody of silent movies, but that’s enough. It’s solid stuff, and one of the filmmaker’s more underrated/overlooked efforts.
26 'Top Secret!' (1984)
Loosely taking on the spy genre and contrasting greatly with more gritty and intense stories of espionage, Top Secret! also feels like a little more than just a parody movie. Recognizable spy movie tropes are pointed out, laughed at, or subverted, but it’s also a film that’s willing to waddle off in some other chaotic and fun directions, all with a very young and charismatic Val Kilmer at the center.
Kilmer plays a singer who gets caught up with resistance fighters, kidnappings, and rescue attempts, with non-stop goofy sight gags and lovably corny dialogue/visual puns along the way. Top Secret! is overshadowed by some of the other films Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker collaborated on, and while some of those films are a little better, this one in no way should be overlooked.
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