I never found his films funny.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Mel Brooks
doorkeeper — 12 years ago(May 22, 2013 12:17 PM)
The American Masters program airing on PBS recently has reminded me that he's not really a comedian. I know that comedy is highly subjective, and a lot of people will strongly disagree with me, but I don't think his films are all that funny, they're more silly than anything else. I always get the feeling his 'direction' is to tell people to clown around in front of the camera and we'll call it a wrap.
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royu2 — 12 years ago(October 12, 2013 02:33 AM)
Agree with OP, some of his movies are half-watchable but no they aren't funny. His humour is unsophisticated and extremely old fashion if you ask me, its just one terrible joke after another. But sometimes i wonder if its just an endless stream of lame jokes by lack of talent, or if its "suppose" to be that way?
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felipelp94 — 12 years ago(March 30, 2014 07:08 AM)
I agree, but i like his direction. His movies rarely make me laugh, but I really enjoy his lighthearted style, I find it calming and entertaining. And he doeas a rwally good job when he's not trying too hard to be funny (High Anxiety and Youn Frankenstein, for example).
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stevenackerman69 — 11 years ago(April 16, 2014 07:43 PM)
Well, they are supposed to be silly. I do feel that a lot of times the films he has are full of dummies, like the Prehistoric Man in History of the World: Part 1. However, we are all stupid at some level.
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bond_98 — 11 years ago(May 22, 2014 07:29 PM)
The whole point of a parody. Is to exaggerate and point out the absurdity of it all. Mel Brooks films do that just fine. So yes its silly. A Parody would not be effective if it took itself too seriously. Otherwise you might as well make a remake. The only way i can see someone not laugh at a Mel Brook film. Is if your dead inside or don't have any sense of humor. If you want talk about something not being funny. You might want to watch some movies from Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
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maverx1 — 11 years ago(March 21, 2015 11:28 AM)
Yeah, I think he's extremely overrated. I love intentionally silly comedy (Marx brothers, Monty Python, Naked Gun type spoofs, etc.), but with a lot of gags in his movies it's like there's this huge, flashy arrow pointing to the joke. Nice ideas, hit and miss execution.
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rascal67 — 10 years ago(June 02, 2015 07:33 PM)
..silly is not the same as funny. Self-conscious humor that says "see how funny I am?" is not funny
Silly or absurd, or maybe not mutually exclusive? Brooks, has never been a favorite of mine, yet I enjoy BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN-74'. They were parodies and while not that witty or cleverly satirical, it was fun watching them. YF, has some interesting and even artistic visuals and it is always nice to see Teri Garr, in her prime.
Monty Python, is not everyone's cup of tea and their absurdist humor can fall flat and silly at times; but I still find most of their work amusing. Brook's humor, may be a bit more juvenile and obvious, than Pythons though.