In homage, spoof or parody? - The end

It's wrap up time folks so expect a larger than life feature full of professional particulars, courtesy of my fully functioning and reliable hawk eye.

The general rule of thumb hasn't changed as some need no explanation or commentary...

I'll start with some film spoofs.

This is used for confirmation purposes only.

Some may believe that Scary Movie kicked this idea all off but the late and great Leslie Nielson should not be just remembered for The Naked Gun, but also for Repossessed, Spy Hard and of course, Airplane!  Charlie Sheen and his Hot Shots had some reasonable moments but the efforts of today are largely terrible such as Vampires Suck, Meet the Spartans and Epic Movie.  Although each entry gradually worsens, the original Austin Powers still rocks.

You could also mention Mel Brook's Spaceballs, Johnny English and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Television in general, Family Guy and The Simpsons have been doing it for years...

Like I say, there are loads of these and I've given you just a flavour.

Meet Biffa Bacon who along with The Fat Slags, Sid the Sexist and Roger Mellie, is probably the best thing to come out of adult comic Viz. 

Bully Beef ensured that The Dandy had fish with their Chips .

I chose to separate this on purpose because it was such an odd choice to spoof Ragged Riggs and Mellow Murtaugh when the franchise was already getting too old for this shit.  Regardless, it was a different role for Mr Jackson.

I wonder what Rik and Ade and parodying here...

Although this Sonic wannabe deserved to flop, at least the subtitle was a decent take on Close Encounters. 

Could this provide a fitting end to a fairly memorable comedy franchise*?  This appears to be like another poster... 

*When I originally wrote this, The Hangover Part III wasn't yet released and I've only just watched it.  Please see my opinion in another feature.

The 1989 Data East arcade heavily resembled James Bond with bosses based on villains such as Jaws and Oddjob.  The artist made an accurate recreation of...

...Timothy Dalton posing unselfishly for a publicity shot.

You don't have to Einstein to guess who this is... 

In theory, I'm sure the great man could give an explanation.

This is your Mission Commander in Carrier Airwing, Capcom's spiritual 1990 sequel to UN Squadron.  I wonder if he likes his Vodka Martini, stirred not shaken...

The James Bond legend would beg to differ.

For anybody who fancies an alternative to Lake Placid, this is also a very decent 2007 Australian crocodile thriller.  Anyway, to the obvious point. 

Even Dolph Lundgren as He-Man in Masters of the Universe couldn't save this live action adaptation of the classic cartoon.  I'm sorry, this was a complete debacle and for anybody who suggests otherwise, I'll confidently predict that their nose will grow longer than Geppetto's puppet.

You talkin' to me?  You talkin' to me?  Tannen?  Well I'm the only here.  Go ahead, make my day.

Marty 'Clint Eastwood' McFly's scene obviously parodies Taxi Driver and the guts of the famous quote during that scene but 'Go ahead, make my day' was coined by Clint Eastwood in Sudden Impact.

This is probably an incredible coincidence but here's Lee Wong (the hero of Capcom's 1987 action effort Tiger Road).

Robert De Niro's unstable war veteran Travis Bickle in Scorsese's 1976 classic is a man who will not take it anymore.  Yeah , I'm talking to you.

I know what you’re thinking: "Did he fire six shots, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya, punk?

Even comedy genius Adrian Edmundson used it to great effect in Bottom The Big Number II Live while he taunts a robot parrot.  Great stuff!

Today, you wouldn't call it anything else but way back in 1987, the original MSX2 version had a title that was far from Solid.  FYI, the NES port featured the same artwork.

Sergeant Tech-Com DN 38416, more affectionately known as Reese in Cameron's The Terminator is Michael Biehn's most famous role.  Yeah, even more famous than Corporal Dwayne Hicks in Aliens.

He's not dead baby, he's just having a break. Uh huh huh.

This is not a clever attempt at Jekyll and Hyde.

As the title of this Christmas Special suggests, John Sullivan cleverly based it around Fatal Attraction.  Albert boiling his pants instead of the gerbil should raise a smile... 

This is quite a nice piece of work but why...

...Kevin Costner?

This spoof band takes the piss out of efforts from Oasis, Manic Street Preachers and Blur such as A Roll With It, If You Tolerate This Piss... and Country Spouse respectively. 

Radiohead adopted a new sound that originally, I wasn't sure about.  However, it started to cling to me quicker than ivy on a wall...

This must be a tribute to H.R. Giger, it just must be...

This Amiga game based its environment on the fantastic world of Giger.

This is Taylor, from SNK's yawnathon Riding Hero.

How do you 'Mad' Max Rockatansky?  With a surname like that, no wonder he's an olive short of a pizza.  Incidentally, Mad Max: Fury Road is due out in 2014 and Tom Hardy is Max.  Mel Gibson will appear in a cameo role.

This is how it should be done.

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

I suppose using an iconic image from Apocalypse Now is one way of selling your product to the average consumer.  For the record, this 1994 Amiga effort was inspired by Choplifter.  

This is part of the ending sequence to System 3's 1991 variant to Chase HQ II, Turbo Charge on C64.  A medley of references exist...

1. Putty was also developed by System 3 and the Amiga original was released and ported to the SNES in 1992 and 1993 respectively.  Was this a futuristic inference saying that it was originally going to be a C64 exclusive but then thought it would be 'silly' to release it on inferior hardware?  It's definitely possible.
2. An unsubtle poke at Giger's Alien design.
3. Ninja Ate My Ferrari! This is either spoofing the name of Codemaster's Rock Star Ate My Hamster or suggesting that the protagonist of their very own classic franchise turned to a strict diet of fancy sport cars...
4. Frying Tonight!  Okay, that's a cheesy way of describing an infamous execution but more than likely, it's a reference to a scene from comedy classic, Carry On Screaming.
Kenneth William's Doctor Watt is being pursued by the recently revived Rubbertiti and falls into a vat of batter.  After clambering out, he is dragged into a vat of boiling fat by his own creation, while hollering the well known quote.
You can also link this to the process of how fish is prepared in a 'chippy'.  

After catching your breath, please move on.

Slugs and salt are a match made in hell.  EastEnders is just a different animal... 

Okay, the game was crap but the cover paid excellent homage to Vinnie Jones's infamous squeezing of Paul Gascoigne's love spuds during a game between Wimbledon and Newcastle United in 1988.

Thereafter, it ensured that handball would be seen in a completely different light.

The use of play on words will never go out of fashion...

Arnold action again.

We know who this is but capturing the image of what it's obviously based on surely deserves a standing ovation.

Rambo: First Blood Part II

He's not done yet...

SNK's cult classic happily cashed in during the height of Rambomania.

This is Konami's 1988 obvious tribute and is it just me, or does the helicopter 'face' look like some kind of disturbed deep sea fish?

In this piece of imagery, the former Green Beret looks much older than his years...

One of America's most famous landmarks, Mount Rushmore.

General Zod and his criminal cronies, Ursa and Non (seen flying above) have made some 'alterations' in the rather great special effects marathon Superman II.  You'll notice that Abraham Lincoln is left untouched but this is only temporary... 

A nice parody of Kubrick's important 1987 war entry.

Those SNK boffins took it upon themselves to brilliantly recreate iconic imagery via pixels in Neo Geo debut Nam 1975.

I hope nobody has an unlocked footlocker because if there's one thing in this world I hate, it is an unlocked footlocker!  You know that don't you?  Sir, yes sir!  Well in that case, you must all be a set of sick bastards who get a thrill out of ruining my life and now I'm going to take a giant shit on you.  Do you maggots understand?  Sir, yes sir!  Bullshit, I can't hear you?  SIR, YES SIR!  Holy shit!  How did a jelly doughnut get in there?

Apart from a change in colour, you can't really tell Animal Mother apart from his live action lunatic but even so, look at his helmet...

The inscription on Adam Baldwin's helmet reads 'I Am Become Death', a quote from the Bagavad-Gita.  This has to go down as a monumental fuck up as the said helmet is only worn by Private Joker (Matthew Modine) who was 'Born To Kill'.  Also, what's with the arrow through the heart as that's not on either helmet. 

It get's more bizarre as the 'incomplete' inscription is now seen a mirror image.  Weird!

The guy on the right is pure fiction but Private Pyle is looking like a man clearly knee deep in a world of shit.

Seven six two millimetre.  Full metal jacket.

Brilliant, simply brilliant.

So our man rests with thoughts of just 'To Kill'.  Hmmm, there's even more curious shit going down quicker than the Titantic.  The madness of war has compelled him to paint his gun green and the arrow through the heart is now pointing upwards.  What [the] FUCK? 

SNK, you little minxes, Animal Mother is really Silver?  Well shit the largest of king-sized beds because this is bollocks.  In regards to the other dude, Brown did exist in the film but Hartman swiftly gave him the adopted the name of Private Snowball.  Is there any truth to their respective date of births?  Who knows as this is never revealed.  Hold on a mo while I check the military glossary of terms...  Nope, there's definitely no such rank of Senior Lievtenant.

At ease.  Goodnight ladies!  Goodnight sir.

This is a scene from Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead and shortly before it all kicks off, a mutilated poster of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes can be seen 'circled' in the basement.  Trust me, you won't find that incredible special effect in any other version.
For shits and giggles, Darren Lynn Bousman pays homage to his 1972 directorial debut in Saw II.  When Jigsaw is directing Matthews to the fake house, he advises that it's The Last House on the Left.

More SNK shenanigans and is this unique in video games?

Axel Hawk in Fatal Fury Special is muddled up when quoting Muhammad Ali's most famous catchphrase.

Mr. Big from Art of Fighting 2 has a crack at Queen's We Are The Champions.

The original arcade was called Athena and the artist definitely had Lynda Carter and Wonder Woman on his/her mind when designing this box art.  Although I don't think Lynda would be too flattered by how her thighs are represented... 

The original 'moustache' - Tom Selleck.

Another magnificent example, as worn by Donald Sutherland.

The Raconteurs have decided to Call It a Day so I can hardly argue.