Spaceballs (1987) – A Mel Brooks send-up of the “Star Wars” movies! Led by Black Helmet, the forces of planet Spaceballs try to steal all the breathable air from their rivals on Druidia. Leading the fight against them is a swashbuckling pilot for hire and his hairy sidekick. All they have to do is rescue the princess, overcome the huge Spaceball armada and learn the ways of the Schwartz.
Directed by Mel Brooks
Starring Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, George Wyner
Why I Liked It – Classic off-beat and off-color humor from the master himself.
Here’s another movie that I missed somehow over the years. Despite my love of Mel Brooks’ work, “Spaceballs” has never made it to a screen in front of my face. Over a long holiday weekend, I fixed that. And was fully rewarded for my effort. Even better, it breaks my two week streak of really terrible science fiction movies! I’m not sure how I ended up with these three movies in a row, but it is what it is.
Brooks takes on one of the most iconic movie series of the second half of the 20th century. George Lucas gave his full support, and Brooks takes all the slack he’s given. Lone Star (Pullman, an unknown at this point in his career) and his half man/half dog sidekick Barf (Candy) stumble into the middle of a war between the planets Spaceball and Druidia. Meanwhile, the evil Dark Helmet (Moranis) hopes to kidnap Princess Vespa (Zuniga) and hold her ransom for all the breathable air on Druidia. As with any of Brooks’ movies, the story goes “over the top” and screams off into outer space. It’s easy to say there’s nothing subtle here, but there are jokes that will slide by if you’re not careful. As an example, keep you eyes open for the Millennium Falcon parked outside a space diner in one scene. This is no quick, surface parody of the movies. Brooks knows the story, the characters and the canon parts of the story. All of them will take full blasts from his creative weapons.
Of particular note is Brooks himself in the role of “Yogurt”, Lone Star’s short green mentor in the ways of the Schwartz. As always, Brooks is brilliant. Not to be outdone, and arguably the most iconic role in the movie, is Dark Helmet, played by Rick Moranis. This arch-villain never seems quite comfortable in his ridiculously large headpiece or in command of his inept ping-pong ball helmeted minions. Fans of the Lucas films will spend their viewing time at some level of amusement/outrage as all of their favorite characters get parodied on the screen. The level of detail will require multiple viewings to catch every little piece of insanity lodged in the film.
The toughest part of writing this movie is deciding whether this belongs in the top tier of Mel Brooks movies. For me, that list is “The Producers”, “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein”. I’ve never seen “The Twelve Chairs” or “Life Stinks”. That leaves “Silent Movie”, “High Anxiety”, and “History of the World Part I” as the “second tier” of his movies. That’s a pretty impressive resume. In the end, I would put it in the second tier. It lacks the polish that we see in the top three movies, and that gives it that slight shortcoming that keeps it out of the top category.
Under any circumstances, it’s a fun ride through some modern movie classics.
You can stream “Spaceballs” on Google Play, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime, Roku, Hulu, Sling TV, YouTube, and HBO Max.
Rating – **** Recommended
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