10 best, most hilarious Star Wars parodies of all time

2. Spaceballs

Mel Brooks parodies might be some of the most well-known of all time. The comedic genius has directed parodies of everything from takes on a specific movie (such as Young Frankenstein) to entire genres of film (such as westerns with Blazing Saddles).

Finally, in 1987, it was time for him to turn his eye towards sci-fi with his film Spaceballs. While the movie technically parodies plenty of the popular sci-fi properties at the time, with references to Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and the Alien franchise, the movie is largely a loving sendup of Star Wars. The movie kicks off with a parody of the opening shot of A New Hope, with the image of a massive spaceship taking up the screen exaggerated to the point of absurdity. From there, characters named after food puns (such as Pizza the Hutt and Yogurt) to Rick Moranis and his portrayal of Dark Helmet, the most non-threatening version of Darth Vader possible, make this movie is one of the greatest hits in the Star Wars parody genre.

3. George Lucas in Love

This movie doesn’t parody the story of Star Wars, it instead takes its inspiration from the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love that had been released the previous year. For those who don’t know, Shakespeare in Love portrays a young Shakespeare struggling to find his muse and discovering inspiration for his most famous works all around him. This short film takes the same idea and applies it to the next most logical choice, George Lucas. Set in 1967 on the campus of USC, a young George Lucas is working on his masterpiece as he wanders campus running into people such as the short but wise professor who seems to talk backwards, or the girl with the odd hairdo that is leading a student protest, kind of like a rebellion. It seems that everybody on campus might have been part of the inspiration that this version of George Lucas needs to finally create Star Wars.