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.

20 'Team America: World Police' (2004)

Directed by Trey Parker

Team America: World Police is a movie that comes from the minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the duo responsible for South Park. While it predominantly makes fun of U.S. militarism, it also takes aim at Hollywood in general, and plays out as something like a parody of action movies and the 1960s TV series Thunderbirds.

Parker and Stone like to make fun of just about everything under the sun, so it's fitting that Team America takes aim at so many things, and does somehow successfully ridicule them all. No trope is safe; not even something as beloved as the humble movie training montage, torn apart here with a self-aware and impossible-to-forget song fittingly called "Montage."

19 'Not Another Teen Movie' (2001)

Directed by Joel Gallen

It's always going to be a risky move to satirize a genre that's already trying to be funny, given how traditionally, parodies make fun of movies that take themselves more seriously. But Not Another Teen Movie had a go at making fun of teen comedies regardless, in turn being a decently fun and engaging comedy making fun of other comedies.

Then again, not all teen movies are comedies, so Not Another Teen Movie also manages to parody the sorts of teenage-centered movies that were particularly popular in the 1980s (often thanks to John Hughes, perhaps the director most associated with this sub-genre). Also, a pre-Captain America Chris Evans stars in this. That's kind of neat.

18 'Mars Attacks!' (1996)

Directed by Tim Burton

It's quite amazing how such a silly and messy (though admittedly very fun) movie attracted such a huge cast, with that being the thing that jumps out most when it comes to Mars Attacks! This film features Jack Nicholson playing two characters, alongside Glenn Close, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Jack Black, and Natalie Portman, among many others.

Released the same year as Independence Day, the synchronicity made it feel like something of a parody of that blockbuster, but its real target was the charming yet cheesy sci-fi B-movies of the 1950s. It pays homage to and pokes fun at these sorts of movies expertly throughout, but for those not in on the joke, it can admittedly feel like an exasperating and one-note kind of movie.

17 'Scary Movie' (2000)

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans

While it might not be entirely fair to blame Scary Movie for the overall decline in the quality of parody movies, the connection can be made from its title alone. This movie was enough of a success to not only get sequels, but also inspire a whole range of Scary Movie movies, all of which generally got worse in quality (the nadir perhaps being 2008's calamitous Disaster Movie).

But as for Scary Movie, it's actually pretty good, all things considered, and does a solid enough job at poking fun at a whole host of movies, including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. It didn't reinvent the parody genre or bring it to new heights, but it has enough funny moments to be worth watching, even if it regrettably helped pave the way for lesser films to follow.

16 'Black Dynamite' (2009)

Directed by Scott Sanders

Even if you watch Black Dynamite without having seen many classic Blaxploitation movies, it's still hilarious enough on its own to be one of the funniest comedies of the 2000s. Its character is a martial arts expert and womanizer who will stop at nothing to stomp out all the injustice he sees in the world around him, usually in over-the-top and comically violent ways.

It packs so many jokes into its brief 85-minute runtime, and though most will watch it for its comedy rather than its action, it has to be said that star/co-writer Michael Jai White really knows his way around a fight scene. Black Dynamite certainly earns its status as a cult classic, and is justly seen as one of the best parody movies in recent memory.

15 'Tropic Thunder' (2008)

Directed by Ben Stiller

Taking a page out of the Team America playbook when it comes to parody, Tropic Thunder is a film that's unafraid to take aim at more than one target. Primarily, it is a satirical movie that mocks Hollywood and those who work within it, but it also works as a parody of cliches and excesses found in large-scale war movies.

It uses some fairly extreme methods to satirize certain targets, but uses such risky comedy to make insightful and oftentimes hilarious observations about hypocritical and ridiculous attitudes and practices within the American film industry. It's a great time all around, and even if some of the humor might not work for everyone, it's hard to imagine anyone not at least enjoying Tom Cruise's surprising and unforgettable role here.

14 'Galaxy Quest' (1999)

Directed by Dean Parisot

Certainly one of the more wholesome and affectionate parody movies out there, Galaxy Quest is a very enjoyable and quite gentle spoof of old-school sci-fi, particularly the original Star Trek TV series. It's about the cast members of a TV show who get mistaken as the real deal by an alien race, and as a result, they find themselves engaged in a conflict in outer space.

Though it's primarily a comedy, it celebrates rather than mocks sci-fi and those who are fanatical about the genre, which helps make it stand out among more cynical (though still funny) great parody movies. As a uniquely satirical movie with a good heart, Galaxy Quest undoubtedly holds up as a cult classic.

13 'What We Do in the Shadows' (2014)

Directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

Though it's been spun off into a popular and now long-running TV show, the 2014 movie version of What We Do in the Shadows remains a compelling vampire comedy in its own right. It pokes fun at various conventions found in classic vampire fiction, following several blood-suckers - all from different eras - as they try to survive immortal life in modern-day New Zealand.

It's done in the style of a mockumentary, which technically makes it, by definition, also a parody of the documentary format. However you want to define it, the core thing is that it's very funny and quotable, and easily ranks among the greatest horror comedies of the past decade or so.

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12 'Spaceballs' (1987)

Directed by Mel Brooks

It's hard to talk about classic spoof movies without eventually bringing up Mel Brooks. While he has starred in and directed movies that aren't direct parodies of certain things, it's arguable that those parodies are what he's best known for, and one of his many classic efforts is 1987's Spaceballs, which largely serves as a comedic takedown of the Star Wars series.

It's not one of Brooks's very best parody movies, but he set a high bar in the 1970s (see below), so you can't really blame him. And Spaceballs is still something of a minor spoof classic in its own right, featuring enough simultaneously dumb yet smart jokes delivered in rapid succession to be an overall good time.

11 'Hot Shots! Part Deux' (1993)

Directed by Jim Abrahams