Spaceballs: Review By Dan

Ah, Spaceballs.... One liner heaven. There are few movies out there that can give me belly laughs each and every time, but Spaceballs is definitely one of them. All of these so called "spoofs" of today need to stop and look at how a 'proper' spoof was made. 'Young Frankenstein', 'Blazing Saddles', 'History of the World Part I', 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights'. Basically anything with Mel Brooks' name was true comedic gold. While some recent comedies fare well (The Hangover was better then many comedies that have come out over the years, due to it being as random as it was), they still pale in comparison, and I don't know anybody that could honestly tell me they hold a candle to Brook's spoofs. The only real competition Brooks had, in my opinion, was Monty Python (also great and timeless).

Spaceballs is an obvious rip on Star Wars, although it has other science fiction movies/shows it parodies as well, such as Star Trek and Alien (and a small bit of Planet of the Apes and Rambo). We follow our protagonist Lone Starr (Bill Pullman), and his sidekick Barf (the late, great John Candy), as they travel the universe in a Winnebago (yes, literally lol). Owing a huge debt to Pizza the Hut (Dom DeLuise), they take a dangerous mission from the king of planet Druidia (a rip on Jewish people) to bring back his wayward princess daughter Vespa who has just fled her arranged marriage to Prince Valium. This leads them into a confrontation with Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis, in his greatest, funniest role he ever did), and Spaceball One (an obnoxiously long battleship, and its first pan of its length is a great rip of the camera techniques employed to show off the Star Destroyers from Star Wars).

What makes this spoof stand out among others is its actual witty dialogue. You rarely see stupid things thrown at people (Anna Faris with the Scary Movies. That got old the first time around, let alone 3 more), and it featured some of the best comedic talent of its time (DeLuise, Candy, Moranis, Brooks himself), who all had perfect deadpan delivery of their one liners. And besides spoofing other Sci-Fi movies, they also joked on everyday things such as the brand Mr. Coffee (the coffee maker) with Mr. Radar, and when a radar was jammed, it was literally covered in jam.

The other thing that was great about Spaceballs was that there was never any downtime or cringe-worthy scenes where the jokes fell flat. I can't think of a single one-liner in that movie that didn't get a laugh out of me. So many 'comedies' today try to play around with being half serious/half humorous, and it ends up being an epic fail.

Growing up on Star Wars and Star Trek (I was a nerd for both), this will always probably be my favorite comedy. Between making fun of the transporter system from Trek ("Oh yes, sir, Snotty beamed me twice last night, it was wonderful"), or lightsabers from Star Wars (Schwartz rings that produce laser swords. "I see your Schwartz is as big as mine"), Spaceballs played to all the things I adored in science fiction to hilarious effect. It still surprises me that the movie wasn't more critically praised (65% on Rottentomatoes.com), but I suppose when it came out, there were other, lesser known parodies of Star Wars, and that was why it didn't appeal as much to critics. It's still 100% in my book.

Thanks for reading (shorter review, I know, but it's an older, well known movie. I more or less just wanted to praise it). (All words, ideas are mine. Any similarities to other reviews is complete coincidence).

And on that note, let me leave you with some of the best lines/scenes of the movie :P

Dark Helmet: Careful you idiot! I said across her nose, not up it!

Laser Gunner: Sorry sir! I'm doing my best!

Dark Helmet: Who made that man a gunner?

Major *sshole: I did sir. He's my cousin.

Dark Helmet: Who is he?

Colonel Sandurz: He's an *sshole sir.

Dark Helmet: I know that! What's his name?

Colonel Sandurz: That is his name sir. *sshole, Major *sshole!

Dark Helmet: And his cousin?

Colonel Sandurz: He's an *sshole too sir. Gunner's mate First Class Philip *sshole!

Dark Helmet: How many asholes do we have on this ship, anyway?

[Entire bridge crew stands up and raises a hand]

Entire Bridge Crew: Yo!

Dark Helmet: I knew it. I'm surrounded by *ssholes!

[Dark Helmet pulls his face shield down]

Dark Helmet: Keep firing, *ssholes!

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Dark Helmet: So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.

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Dark Helmet: Come back you fat bearded bitch!

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Col. Sandurz: Lord Helmet!

Dark Helmet: What?!

Col. Sandurz: You're needed on the bridge, sir.

Dark Helmet: Knock on my door! Knock next time!

Col. Sandurz: Yes, sir.

Dark Helmet: Did you see anything?!

Col. Sandurz: No, sir! I didn't see you playing with your dolls again!

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Dark Helmet: I bet she gives great helmet...

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Dark Helmet: Prepare to attack! On the count of three. One... two...

[Eagle 5 suddenly blasts out of sight]

Dark Helmet: WAIT! What happened? Where are they?

Colonel Sandurz: I don't know sir! They must have hyperjets on that thing.

Dark Helmet: AND WHAT HAVE WE GOT ON THIS THING, A *CUISINART*?

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Col. Sandurz: Prepare, ship! For ludicrous speed!