Even action films can’t avoid being lampooned by the absurd touch of The Far Side’s movie parodies didn’t define the comic, Larson got a lot of mileage out of borrowing elements from a wide variety of films.

While it was natural for parodies in The Far Side, but the following strips skewer several well-known action movies.

10 Karate School

Movie Referenced: Enter the Dragon

Who hasn’t watched Enter the Dragon and thought they too could be kung fu masters? Larson plays with the idea here in The Far Side and shows a group of kids in a dojo learning karate. Then, as expected in The Far Side, aliens invade and the students think now is the perfect time to show what they can do with their martial arts skills. Kung fu was incredibly popular at the height of The Far Side’s popularity, and it seems like Larson is lampooning the massive overconfidence of an entire generation of fans brought up on Bruce Lee movies.

9 Clown Duel

Movie Referenced: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Westerns were the progenitors of the action movie and if there’s one thing Larson loved, it was making fun of the Old West. Much like how The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly featured a duel, this Far Side strip plays with the same idea. Only the shootout here is a hell of a lot funnier since the duelists in question are a cowboy and a clown. The cowboy has been pied, and the clown has been shot down, yet the townspeople can exactly tell who one. Maybe it’s not as gripping as a movie, but it’s certainly more entertaining.

8 Boxing Nightmares

Movie Referenced: Rocky

The movie Rocky covered one of the most violent sports athletes can put themselves through. While Rocky Balboa was haunted by his own demons, The Far Side decides to twist things up and have its boxer face a different kind of fear. While sleeping, the boxer has a nightmare of going up against an incredibly difficult opponent: a crab who manages to sidestep every one of the boxer’s hits. Larson expertly applies his love of the animal kingdom to something completely unrelated and makes for a hilarious parody of one of the best boxing movies of all time.

7 Toby vs. Godzilla

Movie Referenced: The Godzilla Franchise

In his incredibly long history, Godzilla has faced some of the most powerful movie monsters: King Ghidorah, Destroyah, and Spacegodzilla. But if there’s one thing readers can count on, it’s the unexpected twist. In this Far Side strip, Larson doesn’t have the King of the Monsters face a kaiju equal in size or strength to himself, but rather, an ambitious neighborhood dog named Toby, who has bitten Godzilla’s ankle and is holding on for dear life. Toby has literally bitten off more than he could chew, but this juxtaposition is exactly what makes The Far Side so funny.

6 There It Goes Again

Movie Referenced: Jaws

Few movies gripped beach-goers and film audiences alike as much as Jaws did. As everyone knows, the titular beast was accompanied in his scenes by an iconic score that only heightened the viewer’s anxiety. However, Larson perfectly flips things up with a simple idea. Here, The Far Side has the non-diegetic score become diegetic and a couple of fishermen reveal they can actually hear the creeping ‘dun dun’ music. Only they remain ignorant as the shark prepares to take a bite. It’s a simple idea but one that brilliantly shows off The Far Side’s clever and innovative spirit.

5 Monster Investigation

Movie Referenced: King Kong

The Far Side would frequently get humor out of detectives who were woefully ill-equipped to do their job. In this case, a detective is on the scene with the police as chaos has torn through the city. The only clue is a giant handkerchief and while the sleuth correctly deduces that it was a giant monster that did this, he’s completely ignorant of the monogrammed ‘K.K’ on the evidence (fingering King Kong as the culprit). It’s a humorous spin on King Kong’s infamous ending and an utterly absurd scenario all rolled into one incredibly funny punchline.

4 Phone Booth Change

Movie Referenced: Superman

While Superman doesn’t need to pop into phone booths anymore for a quick change into his iconic outfit, this Far Side strip uses the idea to show a more human moment with the Man of Steel. Here, Clark Kent is in the middle of a costume change in a phone booth, but he’s taken a moment to look in the phone’s coin slot for any free change. It wasn’t uncommon for people to snag a free quarter and hey, who’s to say Superman wouldn’t be tempted by an extra quarter or two before going off to save the day?

3 Special Agent Gumby

Movie Referenced: The James Bond Franchise

This is a rare Far Side strip that hilariously blends two pop culture properties into one amazing joke. Much like how James Bond often gets captured and interrogated by the bad guys, a secret agent is put on a rack to be tortured. Unfortunately for the villains, the special agent in question is actually Gumby, the pliable character made from clay who is completely unable to be hurt by being stretched. Blending spy fiction with children’s cartoons isn’t a normal sight, but for Gary Larson, it’s just another day in the twisted land of The Far Side.

2 Jurassic Parking

Movie Referenced: Jurassic Park

Sometimes, simple wordplay can make for the best Far Side strips. Everyone knows about the wonder and excitement of Jurassic Park. But Larson switches things up and tacks on an ‘ing’ at the end of the movie title to create 'Jurassic Parking'. The end result? A crowded parking lot where dinosaurs like a stegosaurus and T. rex roam free. It’s a simple pun, but one that works really well. Parking lots are already a nightmare and, in the Far Side, the only thing worst is having to navigate around a large, prehistoric beast.

1 Don’t Play with Food (Alien)

Movie Referenced: Alien

One of the most direct and hilarious action movie parodies Larson ever put into The Far Side involves the classic movie monster, the Xenomorphs. Here, the titular aliens from Alien are sitting down to dinner with the fully-grown aliens at the ‘adult’ table, while a group of chestbursters are at the ‘kids’ table. True to life, one of the youngsters tattles to the adults when another chestburster plays with his food by bursting out of their turkey. It’s a hilarious and, thankfully, much less gruesome parody of one of the Alien franchise’s most infamous moments.