Darth Vader Parodies Online: 3 Short Movies
See the Funny Side of the Force: Comedy Clips of Sith Lord Vader
Oct 11, 2009
In the American Film Institute's 2003 “100 Years, 100 Heroes and Villains” list, Sith Lord Darth Vader, as he appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back”, took third place behind Norman Bates from “Psycho”, and Hannibal Lecter from “The Silence of the Lambs”. The following year, USA Today named Darth Vader as the top movie villain in their 2004 top ten list. With his black mask, armour and cape, and voiced by James Earl Jones, Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” film series is easily one of the most iconic evildoers in cinema history.
This, of course, makes Darth Vader a prime target for movie-making satirists. Darth has been the subject of Eddie Izzard's wit on a number of occasions, including the “Death Star Canteen” sketch. Vader has appeared in “Family Guy” in episodes such as “Mother Tucker”, where Darth is cast in the role of a meter maid, and the part of Darth Vader was played by Stewie in the “Star Wars” spoof episode, “Blue Harvest”.
The advent of such video hosting sites as youtube has created a venue for broadcasting short funnies. What follows are 3 of the best “Star Wars” parodies featuring Darth Vader.
Darth Vader Has a Nervous Breakdown
This pastiche is one of the finest Vader spoofs ever made. Clips from the original “Star Wars” movie that feature Darth have been expertly woven together with voice-overs taken from James Earl Jones's other movies, to superb comedic effect. The whole convincingly demonstrates how the Sith Lord finds himself losing his grip on reality, culminating in a psychotic break.
Darth Vader in Love is a sketch from the BBC Peter Serafinowicz show, in which Vader falls clumsily in love with a female version of himself, complete with pink Vader mask and body armor. This parody humanises Darth, showing him to be vulnerable to the more tender emotions, and the tongue-tied foot-in-mouth responses that anyone who has ever fallen in love with can relate to.
Darth Vader Versus the Japanese Police
In the second of 2 clips from a Japanese comedy show, Darth Vader has a lightsabre duel with a trio of security guards.
Cultural differences tend not to translate well in comedy. As a result, eastern humor often falls flat in the west. However, the Darth Vader versus the Japanese Police movie clips demonstrate that seeing a Sith Lord being kicked in the backside and arrested has a universal comedic appeal.
Other Funny Darth Vader Comedy Movie Clips
There a many other Darth Vader spoof movies available on the web. These include the long running “Chad Vader” series; the 2008 Spike tv commercials, advertising their run of the entire “Star Wars” saga, which includes the hilarious “Darth Vader Playing Golf”, and an extensive range of fan-based parodies, recorded on a low budget with a home video camera.
A Google search of “Darth Vader spoof” displays over 150 thousand urls, demonstrating that while the Sith Lord may be one of the most feared and best known villains in cinematic history, he is also widely regarded as comedy gold.
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