I recently watched the very funny Darth Smartass on YouTube, a waggish re-edit of that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader’s clamshell pod chair is opening just as that guy is coming in to give him a report. YouTube is unsurprisingly filled with gonzo Star Wars video parodies, re-edits and spoofs – which range from the shockingly homemade to the shockingly good homemade. They often focus on Darth Vader – probably because he’s the easiest character to dress up as and look exactly alike. The hysterical Chad Vader (pictured above) downgrades Vader’s ruthless hand of rule to that of an ordinary grocery store manager. The self-explanatory Darth Vader Taking a Bath is surprisingly effective – a fan’s obsessive private moment (in the bathtub?) painstakingly filmed, edited and dubbed into reality. Space Knights puts The Phantom Menace through a 1930’s trailer filter. This elaborate parody of Revenge of the Sith has great sets, effects and editing… but I wish some of the comedy acting was better (here’s some by the excellent Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders‘ BBC show). This Vader of the Opera take-off is a clever idea, which turned out okay. This CGI-animated clip of Vader and fleet as an orchestra of little toys performing the film’s theme is …odd. Darth DJ is funny but but I hope it was made in the 1990’s. Want claymation? This is a good stop-motion piece imagining a nervous Darth Vader calling the Emperor to let him know the Death Star has been blown up. This overdub of James Earl Jones’ voice over Vader’s is a little disjointed, but is often works. There’s something peculiar about this fan in a Darth Vader costume, who taped himself walking around the strip mall area where a bunch of fans are camped on the sidewalk of an LA movie theater, waiting for opening day of Revenge of the Sith. As is this science class-ish clip of some guys trying to blow-up a paper mache model of the Death Star, which is worth the wait (check out the slo-mo footage at the end too). Star Wars, in particular Darth Vader, has been one of the most pardy-able things since it’s debut in 1977 (check out this way-70’s clip of Vader and Wolfman Jack on The Midnight Express variety TV show). Of course for sheer ha-ha’s; Mel Brooks’ 1987 film Spaceballs needs a mention, as does that weird Star Wars Kid accidental online video (and eventual lawsuit) phenomenon from a few years ago. But I must say that Mad Magazine‘s original 70’s and early 80’s print parodies; “Star Roars,” “The Re-Hash of the Jedi” and “The Empire Strikes Out” were some of the first – and are undoubtedly my nostalgic favorites (don’t scans of these in their entirety exist anywhere online?)

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