SpaceballsWhen the fate of the galaxy is on the line, not even the proverbial fourth wall is safe. Directed by Mel Brooks, Spaceballs is a sci-fi spoof of Star Wars, loaded with references to the popular space opera throughout. When the spoiled Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) of planet Druidia becomes a runaway bride, her father, King Roland (Dick Van Patten), commissions the galactic wanderer, Lone Starr (Bill Pullman), to rescue her from the clutches of the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). In his giant space fortress, Dark Helmet holds her hostage at the behest of the ineffectual leader of Planet Spaceball, President Skroob (Mel Brooks), as leverage to plunder Druidia's oxygen supply. Everybody got that?
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In keeping with Mel Brooks's métier, Spaceballs is a spectacular roast of the sacred cows that have made Star Wars a fixture in the cinematic firmament, without ever doing so at its expense. When it pokes fun at Star Wars, it comes from affection for the story about an underdog becoming a galactic hero. Lone Starr shares more superficial characteristics with Han Solo, but his "hero's journey" from a rogue of the galactic highways into a princely practitioner of the "Schwartz" (the equivalent of the Force in Spaceballs) also resembles Luke Skywalker's. Lone Starr begins as a drunken and despondent gambler, indebted to the slimy (yet tasty) Pizza the Hutt (Dom DeLuise), travelling the universe with his loyal buddy, Barf (Tom Candy)--a half-man, half-dog hybrid lifeform called a "mog", who he describes as his "own best friend". The duo putter about the stars in a barely spaceworthy Winnebago, and Lone Starr isn't too proud to put the financial squeeze on King Roland when he intercepts his distress call to save Princess Vespa. Lone Starr rescues with the imperiled "Druish Princess" and her droid companion, Dot Matrix (voiced by Joan Rivers, performed by Lorene Yarnell)--who protects her virtue with a built-in "virgin alarm"--by literally jamming Dark Helmet's radar. But the princess is hardly appreciative, and expects the comforts to which she has become accustomed in her affluent life of privilege, even during her escape. Lone Starr and Princess Vespa often butt heads, but when they first lock eyes on each other, there is clear sexual tension. He gradually starts acting more heroic and protective because of his attraction to the princess, and she deigns to get her hands dirty in the middle of a firefight--it turns out she's pretty handy with a laser rifle when her hair is in peril. Lone Starr discovers his aptitude for the Schwartz from a reclusive guru named Yogurt (also Mel Brooks) after the party is stranded on a desert planet--putting him on equal footing with the giant-headed Dark Helmet.
The plot of Spaceballs is nothing unusual for a science fiction adventure, and is really there to tie the bevy of puns, sight gags, and self-aware humor together. What has elevated Spaceballs to the level of a cult classic is its rare combination of homage to the mega-franchise and its deft wit and outlandish humor. (Spaceballs was--among films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail--a cult film among my generation before we even knew what that meant.) Audiences who have seen it can quote lines, and will almost always get a response by fans with another line from the movie. (I challenge you to try this with a group of strangers who grew up in the Eighties, and not have anyone lob back another nugget of comedy gold from it in less than five seconds.) Spaceballs deliberately includes set and costume design designed to resemble a cut-rate knock-off of Star Wars--though not as bad as Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (a.k.a. "Turkish Star Wars"). The representatives of Planet Spaceball resemble the villainous empire from Star Wars; while the storm troopers wore helmets resembling exaggerated neanderthal skulls, the inept (and sometimes cross-eyed) Spaceballs wear rounded white helmets that resemble ping-pong balls--recalling their oxygen-barren home world, adorned with a mess of spherical-shaped buildings. Dark Helmet and his chicken-hearted subordinate--comically named Colonel Sandurz (George Wyner)--operate out of a giant space fortress outfitted with unnecessary and unreliable technology, including a giant percolator and its neighbor, "Mr. Radar". The transforming megaship even has a self-destruct mechanism--guarded by two dopes overly vulnerable to a "Vulcan neck pinch"; although like everything in the future, the override is "out of order". Visual humor is one of the film's comedy pillars, including sight gags like Barf's creative redirection of the Spaceballs' laser shots with a set of pipes ripped from a wall, or the desert planet where Dark Helmet orders his troops to literally "comb the desert", and their frustrated responses. Spaceballs even pokes fun at other science fiction classics, like Planet of the Apes and Alien; John Hurt's reprisal of his role adds an extra punch to one such scene. The most telling sign that Spaceballs has become a comedy cult classic is how even just referencing a few of these scenes is likely to evoke a knowing smile among the enlightened. And for those who haven't seen it yet, go and check it out; it was already on video cassette before the movie was even finished!
Recommended for: Fans of the Star Wars series willing to embrace a comic reinterpretation of the franchise, as well as fans of Mel Brooks's clever and irreverent brand of comedy. Spaceballs has some more explicit language and innuendo than its source material, but its light tone and consistent humor makes it suitable for most audiences.
The plot of Spaceballs is nothing unusual for a science fiction adventure, and is really there to tie the bevy of puns, sight gags, and self-aware humor together. What has elevated Spaceballs to the level of a cult classic is its rare combination of homage to the mega-franchise and its deft wit and outlandish humor. (Spaceballs was--among films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail--a cult film among my generation before we even knew what that meant.) Audiences who have seen it can quote lines, and will almost always get a response by fans with another line from the movie. (I challenge you to try this with a group of strangers who grew up in the Eighties, and not have anyone lob back another nugget of comedy gold from it in less than five seconds.) Spaceballs deliberately includes set and costume design designed to resemble a cut-rate knock-off of Star Wars--though not as bad as Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (a.k.a. "Turkish Star Wars"). The representatives of Planet Spaceball resemble the villainous empire from Star Wars; while the storm troopers wore helmets resembling exaggerated neanderthal skulls, the inept (and sometimes cross-eyed) Spaceballs wear rounded white helmets that resemble ping-pong balls--recalling their oxygen-barren home world, adorned with a mess of spherical-shaped buildings. Dark Helmet and his chicken-hearted subordinate--comically named Colonel Sandurz (George Wyner)--operate out of a giant space fortress outfitted with unnecessary and unreliable technology, including a giant percolator and its neighbor, "Mr. Radar". The transforming megaship even has a self-destruct mechanism--guarded by two dopes overly vulnerable to a "Vulcan neck pinch"; although like everything in the future, the override is "out of order". Visual humor is one of the film's comedy pillars, including sight gags like Barf's creative redirection of the Spaceballs' laser shots with a set of pipes ripped from a wall, or the desert planet where Dark Helmet orders his troops to literally "comb the desert", and their frustrated responses. Spaceballs even pokes fun at other science fiction classics, like Planet of the Apes and Alien; John Hurt's reprisal of his role adds an extra punch to one such scene. The most telling sign that Spaceballs has become a comedy cult classic is how even just referencing a few of these scenes is likely to evoke a knowing smile among the enlightened. And for those who haven't seen it yet, go and check it out; it was already on video cassette before the movie was even finished!
Recommended for: Fans of the Star Wars series willing to embrace a comic reinterpretation of the franchise, as well as fans of Mel Brooks's clever and irreverent brand of comedy. Spaceballs has some more explicit language and innuendo than its source material, but its light tone and consistent humor makes it suitable for most audiences.