Mel Brooks's thoughts on certain Epic Disasters

[EricJ]

Couldn't let last week's viewing of the new 2008 "Young Frankenstein" BD commentary go by without pithily appropriate quote from Brooks--
(And although not mentioning any names by title, given the timing, it's pretty darn hard not to guess):

"I've been called the Grandfather of the Parody Genre--That may be true, and...I'd like to apologize: I'm sorry I started it. It's gotten out of hand."

(Testify, Mel--You knew enough to back away from the cliff after the Leslie Nielsen movie.)

[GoYanks]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Couldn't let last week's viewing of the new 2008 "Young Frankenstein" BD commentary go by without pithily appropriate quote from Brooks--
(And although not mentioning any names by title, given the timing, it's pretty darn hard not to guess):

"I've been called the Grandfather of the Parody Genre--That may be true, and...I'd like to apologize: I'm sorry I started it. It's gotten out of hand."

(Testify, Mel--You knew enough to back away from the cliff after the Leslie Nielsen movie.)

though I was pretty young, I still enjoyed Dracula Dead and Loving It. It doesn't even come close to Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles, but it's still better than "Not Another Teen Movie" and the like.

Nice thread though. I'm a huge Mel Brooks fan.

[Blu Jacket]

Robin Hood: Men in Tights was hysterical, probably his last movie that I liked.

[GoYanks]

Originally Posted by Blu Jacket

Robin Hood: Men in Tights was hysterical, probably his last movie that I liked.

a classic, but ddali was the only movie he did since then. So i think that's probably a common opinion.

[jj5206]

he needs to come back and do some more parodys..........

[vegeta88]

I cannot stand all the recent parody movies that they make. I'm glad that Mel sees how bad they are as well. We may be turning a corner in that department though with An American Carol...

[Mxr5150]

The reason Mel Brooks movies work and the others don't is that Mel spoofs things we all love, which is more fun. I think Mel said himself that it's too easy to make fun of something everybody hates [which explains why we are so tired of the _____ Movie(s)] and that you have to poke fun at things we love.

[vegeta88]

Originally Posted by Mxr5150

The reason Mel Brooks movies work and the others don't is that Mel spoofs things we all love, which is more fun. I think Mel said himself that it's too easy to make fun of something everybody hates [which explains why we are so tired of the _____ Movie(s)] and that you have to poke fun at things we love.

I think you've got a good point there. Plus the fact that he actually made fun of the other movies; for example, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" ...

"The gag about Robin being able to speak with an English accent is a reference to Kevin Costner's performance in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Unfortunately viewers who saw both movies in a dubbed version couldn't get this gag. For the German dubbed version the gag was changed to: "because I -- unlike some other Robin Hood -- do not cost the producers 5 million". The German word "kosten" (cost) was also pronounced to sound a little bit like Costner. In the French (France) and Italian (Italy) dubbed versions, it is translated as, "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves", referring to another Kevin Costner movie Dances with Wolves (1990). In Quebec, the translation becomes "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I accept to wear tights," which refers to the fact that Costner didn't wear tights in the 1991 movie."

Taken from IMDB.

Whereas the other spoof movies are about icons getting hit with things.

[blitz6speed]

Dracula: Dead and Loving It is one of the greatest comedies of all time. I still watch it till this day.

[Mxr5150]

Originally Posted by vegeta88

I think you've got a good point there. Plus the fact that he actually made fun of the other movies; for example, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" ...

"The gag about Robin being able to speak with an English accent is a reference to Kevin Costner's performance in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Unfortunately viewers who saw both movies in a dubbed version couldn't get this gag. For the German dubbed version the gag was changed to: "because I -- unlike some other Robin Hood -- do not cost the producers 5 million". The German word "kosten" (cost) was also pronounced to sound a little bit like Costner. In the French (France) and Italian (Italy) dubbed versions, it is translated as, "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves", referring to another Kevin Costner movie Dances with Wolves (1990). In Quebec, the translation becomes "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I accept to wear tights," which refers to the fact that Costner didn't wear tights in the 1991 movie."

Taken from IMDB.

Whereas the other spoof movies are about icons getting hit with things.

That's awesome, I didn't know that.

[Big Daddy]

My two favorite Mel Brooks movies are:

Silent Movie (1976).
Best Quote: Remember it was a silent movie.
Mel Funn: [mouths, very clearly] "You son of a bi***!"
[an insert title appears, which reads: "You bad boy."]

High Anxiety (1977). He dared to make fun of Alfred Hitchcock's classics.
Best Quote:
Nurse Diesel: "Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup."

[swifty7]

for me Mel's best is young frankenstein(that's Frankensteen) and To Be or Not to be. I also like Life Stinks.

[EricJ]

Anyone who's listened to the most recent 2000 Year Old Man album (and jokes about Martin Scorsese, Bruce & Demi, and Planet Hollywood) knows that the new West Coast Mel's fallen victim to the native LA celebrity-culture--
Which may be the one reason that the "old" Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety and Young Frahnk were affectionate salutes to movie genres that he used to watch in real theaters as a kid, and the "new" Spaceballs, Dracula and Robin Hood were au courant jokes about mover-and-shaker let's-do-lunch current studio-exec movies...

Most fans put "History of the World Pt. 1" at the dividing line, but "Life Stinks" could be considered Mel's official change-of-address notice:
New York humor is Jewish humor, LA humor....isn't.

[Grant Matrix]

Mel should have no regrets, he the best in the pardy genre and none of his films have gone the route of recent parady crapfests. The problem is that you can't just keep cranking out these things once a year. A lot of Mel's movies revolved around a central theme, where as today's movies try to be all things pop culture at the same time. Mel didn't worry about was the current fad, he actually worked great material into his movies whether is was current or dated and it worked well!!

[charlie swords]

Mel Brooks should be ashamed of Spaceballs: The Animated Series, every episode I have seen has been abysmal.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Anyone who's listened to the most recent 2000 Year Old Man album (and jokes about Martin Scorsese, Bruce & Demi, and Planet Hollywood) knows that the new West Coast Mel's fallen victim to the native LA celebrity-culture--
Which may be the one reason that the "old" Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety and Young Frahnk were affectionate salutes to movie genres that he used to watch in real theaters as a kid, and the "new" Spaceballs, Dracula and Robin Hood were au courant jokes about mover-and-shaker let's-do-lunch current studio-exec movies...

Most fans put "History of the World Pt. 1" at the dividing line, but "Life Stinks" could be considered Mel's official change-of-address notice:
New York humor is Jewish humor, LA humor....isn't.

Let's not forget that he had great co-writers on Blazing Saddles (including Richard Pryor) and Young Frankenstein (Gene Wilder).

[Sushisake]

Silent Movie is by far the BEST - Anne Bancroft's dance scene was hysterical - as well as Bernadette Peters "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"!

[Ator the Invincible]

I wonder if people would be upset if Silent Movie was released on blu-ray without lossless audio...

Anyway, I kind of dig the Spaceballs cartoon. Yeah, it's bad, but it comes across as very self-aware. I'm entertained. It's certainly better than the Date/Epic/Spartan/Disaster Movie crap that Mel was surely referencing in that quote.

[AintNoSin]

Originally Posted by Ator the Invincible

I wonder if people would be upset if Silent Movie was released on blu-ray without lossless audio...

Yes, because we would miss the full impact of the crucial Marcel Marceau scene.

[billypoe]

I wish he would parody LOTR. If done right, it would be hysterical.