Movies have been referencing each other since the beginning of cinema, which can be fun for viewers who catch the jokes, but it often makes those films harder to understand years later. It’s a lot of fun to watch adelightfully self-aware movieat the time of its release, as it spoofs, lampoons, and satirizes the films of that era. While the very best examples of this type of filmmaking have given us all-time beloved comedies likeBlazing SaddlesorAirplane!, there were plenty more classic comedies that don’t hold up as well or just plain don’t make sense today.
Parody franchiseslikeScary Movieorgenre spoofslikeRobin Hood: Men in Tightsnot only made fun of a particular genre but actually required audiences to have seen several other movies to fully get the joke. This means modernviewers are often left scratching their heads and wondering what was so funnyor what was actually being referenced. Just because a movie makes less sense today does not necessarily mean it’s bad; it’s just that older viewers or those who caught the film the first time around will have a much fuller and more enjoyable experience.
8The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
Directed by John Landis
While comedy writing trio Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker, known as ZAZ, would later write perhaps the greatest parody movie of all time,Airplane!, they previously wrotethe anthology sketch filmThe Kentucky Fried Movie. Through a series of rapid-fire sketches, the trio’s distinctive and absurd writing style was on display from the start; however, those unfamiliar with 1970s pop culture, news media, and public broadcasting will likely be left wondering what all the jokes were referencing.
The Kentucky Fried Movieis entirely dated today, and its legacy is more closely tied to what the people involved in it did afterward. With ZAZ going on to make several comedy classics, including theNaked Gunseries, director John Landis secured a job directingNational Lampoon’s Animal Housethe very next year. WhileThe Kentucky Fried Moviewas funny for viewers at the time, looking back, it’s a dated glimpse into the bright futures of several new voices in comedy.
7Top Secret! (1984)
Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ)
Following the success of the directing trio ZAZ’s all-time great disaster movie spoofAirplane!, they returned for yet another self-referential comedy. However, unlikeAirplane!,Top Secret!did not possess the same timeless quality as its predecessor, and references to everything from Elvis Presley movies to Cold War-era spy films feel quite dated today. While there’s a lot of self-aware satire to enjoy, only those who are already familiar with older media will get everything that’s been lampooned in this forgotten comedy.
As the late actor Val Kilmer’s feature film debut,Top Secret!was packed with hilarious one-liners and a near-constant stream of gags. WithKilmer as the American rock star Nick Rivers, it’s clear his character was modeled after the movie career of Elvis Presley and the absurd scenarios he found himself in across his 31-film career. As an underseen comedy packed with real talent, although not everything inTop Secretwill make sense to modern viewers, it still deserves far more attention.
Directed by Carl Reiner
WhileDead Men Don’t Wear Plaidwas a hilariously clever comedy, it won’t make a lot of sense to those unfamiliar with film noirs of the 1940s. Through clever editing techniques, this underrated Carl Reiner movie incorporated Steve Martin’s private investigator, Rigby Reardon, into scenes from 19 other films where he acted opposite classic film stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, like Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis. By mixing dialogue from old movies and new footage with Martin, this experimental comedy created an entirely new hard-boiled mystery.
With plenty of silly humor that leaned into the tropes and cliches of classic noirs,Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaidpaired the outrageous comedy style of Martin with the distinctive aesthetic of detective fiction. As Martin and Reiner’s follow-up toThe Jerk,Dead Men Don’t WearPlaid had a far more niche appeal but was no less enjoyable than a comedy classic. As a farcical love letter to film noir, this wasa movie that will only make sense to those who already have a great love for releases likeThe Big SleeporDouble Indemnity.
5Hot Shots! (1991)
Directed by Jim Abrahams
While the renewed popularity of theTop Gunfranchise following the success of its legacy sequel,Top Gun: Maverick, means that modern viewers won’t be totally confused when watching the spoof filmHot Shots, there are still plenty of references that will go right over most audiences' heads. WithCharlie Sheen as the Tom Cruise stand-in Lieutenant Sean “Topper” Harley, this self-referential parody was packed with gags and didn’t overstay its welcome at a brisk 84 minutes.
Although theTop Gunreferences still make sense, fewer people will immediately recognize references to erotic romance films like9½ Weeksor the comedy-dramaThe Fabulous Baker Boys. While classic references to films likeGone with the WindorRockyhave remained relevant in the 21st century, just as many aspects ofHot Shotshave become woefully dated. Although viewers might not get every joke,Two and a Half Menfans will be excited to see an appearance from Sheen’s future co-star Jon Cryer as Lieutenant Jim “Wash Out” Pfaffenbach.
4Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)
Directed by Jay Roach
While Austin Powers now stands out as a pop culture icon, modern viewers may not realize that this Mike Myers character is actually an amalgamation of various character tropes and clichés.Austin Powers: International Man of Mysterywas a parody of British spy movies from the 1960s, in particular the womanizing persona of Sean Connery’s James Bond. This, paired with the counterculture of Swinging London and hippie psychedelia, made for a groovy movie that does not make much sense without understanding these cultural references.
From its “shagadelic” dialogue to outdated references to 1990s culture, likeThe Jerry SpringerShow,Austin Powers' meta-humor is likely to go over the heads of many younger viewers in the 21st century. However, while outdated sexual attitudes could have easily characterized the womanizing endeavors of Austin Powers, thankfully, this 1960s spy actually demonstrated quite modern viewpoints when it came to issues of consent in his pursuit of the opposite sex.
3Scary Movie (2000)
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans
While parody movies have been around for a long time,Scary Moviereinvigorated the genre for the 21st century, as the Wayans brothers cast a self-referential eye on contemporary horrors. By using the plots ofScreamandI Know What You Did Last Summeras its foundation, this franchise-starting comedy poked fun at everything fromBuffy the Vampire SlayertoThe Sixth Sense, pairing its pop culture references with plenty of gross-out humor. WhileScary Moviemay still elicit a few laughs from viewers today, they will not have nearly as much context for the references it makes.
Scary Moviewas a major box office hit and went on to have plenty of sequels throughout the 2000s, which continued to parody the most popular horror movies of its time, includingThe Haunting,The Ring,Signs, and even non-horror movies like8 Mile. At the time these movies were released, it was immediately obvious what they were satirizing; yet, many of their target movies have failed to maintain much pop culture relevance, meaning that a lot of the jokes in these movies make less sense to younger viewers today.
2Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993)
Directed by Mel Brooks
Director Mel Brooks was the king of self-referential parody films, helping to popularize the genre in the 1970s with works like the Western satireBlazing Saddlesand horror spoofs such asYoung Frankenstein. A later self-referential spoof from Brooks that doesn’t make as much sense today wasRobin Hood: Men in Tights, which parodied the Robin Hood legend, but its target was the 1991 movieRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves. With numerous scenes that directly mimic and parody Kevin Costner’s action adventure, viewers today may have less context for many of the jokes.
Robin Hood: Men in Tightspoked fun at the overly serious tone of thePrince of Thievesand added a much-needed sense of levity to the story. Whether it was through fourth-wall breaks or infusing the narrative with hip-hop musical numbers, comedy stars like Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle kept the laughs coming, even if not all of them hold up today. WhileMen in Tightshad its moments, it has not endured as well as Brooks' best work.
1Last Action Hero (1993)
Directed by John McTiernan
Last Action Herowas a peculiar example of a self-referential movie being created by the very people behind the material it was referencing. WithDie Harddirector John McTiernan and action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger, this satirical action film made light of the legacies of both of them as it deconstructed the genre by parodying the tropes and cliches of Hollywood blockbusters. With Schwarzenegger playing a fictional action hero who enters the real world as well as a fictionalized version of himself,Last Action Herowas interesting for the way it blended fact and fiction.
Through cameo appearances from the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme and incredibly meta sequences that mimicked the one-liners and cheesy dialogue Schwarzenegger was known for,Last Action Herowas a movie that made a lot more sense if you were familiar with all the biggest action hits of the 1980s and early 1990s. WhileLast Action Herohas become a cult favorite, its high production values mean it almost looks too slick to be a satire, as it feels a little strange to watch a parody film that was even more expensive than the movies it spoofed.
