''Spaceballs'' is a 1987 American space opera

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

film co-written, produced and directed by

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

. It is primarily a parody of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, but also parodies other sci-fi films and popular franchises including ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'', ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'', '' The Wizard of Oz'', '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...

'', and ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, ...

''. The film stars Bill Pullman, John Candy and Rick Moranis, with the supporting cast including Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, George Wyner,

Lorene Yarnell Shields and Yarnell were an American mime team, formed in 1972, consisting of Robert Shields (born March 26, 1951) and Lorene Yarnell (March 21, 1944 – July 29, 2010). Robert Shields Shields was born in Los Angeles and graduated from G ...

, and the voice of

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

. In addition to Brooks playing a dual role, the film also features Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise and

Rudy De Luca Rudy De Luca is an American screenwriter and actor best known for his work with filmmaker Mel Brooks. In April 1972 he opened The Comedy Store with Sammy Shore. Filmography As writer *''The Carol Burnett Show'' (1967) (TV) *'' The Tim Conway S ...

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s. In ''Spaceballs'', heroic mercenary Lone Starr (Pullman) and his alien sidekick Barf (Candy) rescue Princess Vespa (Zuniga) of Druidia and her droid, Dot Matrix (Yarnell, voiced by Rivers), from being captured by the Spaceballs, led by President Skroob (Brooks), who want to use Vespa as ransom to obtain Druidia's air for their own planet. However, the heroes get stranded on a desert moon, where they encounter the wise Yogurt (also Brooks), who teaches Starr about the metaphysical power known as "the Schwartz". Meanwhile, Spaceball commanders Dark Helmet (Moranis) and Colonel Sandurz (Wyner) lead the search for them, but are hindered by their own incompetence. The film was released by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

on June 24, 1987. Despite initially getting a mixed reception from critics and audiences, it has since become a cult classic, and is one of Brooks's most popular and well-known films.

Plot

Planet Spaceball, led by the incompetent President Skroob, has squandered all of its fresh air. Skroob schemes to force King Roland of the neighboring planet Druidia to give them the code to the shield that protects Druidia, allowing them to steal all their air, by kidnapping his daughter Princess Vespa on the day of her arranged marriage to the

narcoleptic Narcolepsy is a long-term neurological disorder that involves a decreased ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles. Symptoms often include periods of excessive daytime sleepiness and brief involuntary sleep episodes. About 70% of those affect ...

Prince Valium. Skroob sends the villainous Dark Helmet to complete this task with ''Spaceball One'', an impossibly huge ship commanded by Colonel Sandurz. Before they can arrive, Vespa abandons her wedding and flees the planet in her Mercedes spaceship with her droid of honor, Dot Matrix. Roland contacts mercenary Lone Starr and his "mawg" (half man, half dog) companion Barf, offering a lucrative reward to retrieve Vespa before she is captured. Lone Starr readily accepts, as he is in major debt to gangster Pizza the Hutt. In their Winnebago spaceship, "''Eagle 5''" , Lone Starr and Barf are able to reach Vespa before ''Spaceball One'', rescue both her and Dot, then escape. ''Spaceball One'' tries to follow at light-speed, but Helmet orders the ship to "ludicrous speed", causing it to overshoot the escapees by a large distance. Out of fuel, Lone Starr is forced to crash-land on the nearby "desert moon of Vega". The group travels on foot in order to evade the Spaceballs, but they eventually pass out under the blazing sun. They are found by the Dinks, a group of diminutive sparkly brown-clad aliens, and are taken to a cave occupied by the sage Yogurt, who introduces the group and the audience to the film's merchandising campaign. Yogurt later teaches Lone Starr about the metaphysical power known as "the Schwartz", and gives him a ring which can be used to control the "Upside" of the Schwartz. During this time, Lone Starr and Vespa develop romantic feelings for each other, but Vespa insists she can only marry a prince. Helmet and Sandurz break the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

by using a VHS copy of ''Spaceballs'' to discover Vespa's location, and Helmet orders ''Spaceball One'' to go to the moon of Vega. When Helmet discovers Yogurt's lair, he lures Vespa out by pretending to be Roland and captures both her and Dot, taking them back to planet Spaceball. He then threatens to reverse Vespa's nose job, forcing Roland to reveal the code to Druidia's shield. Skroob, Helmet and Sandurz take "''Spaceball One''" to Druidia, while Lone Starr and Barf rescue Vespa and Dot from the Spaceballs prison complex. When they arrive at Druidia, ''Spaceball One'' transforms into ''Mega Maid'', a

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...

-like colossal robot maid with a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum is activated and begins sucking the air off the planet. When the vacuum bag is almost full, Lone Starr uses the Schwartz to reverse the vacuum, blowing the air back onto the planet. The group then enters ''Mega Maid'' and attempts to destroy it. Lone Starr and Helmet fight using

lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the '' Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the ori ...

-like weapons created by their Schwartz-rings, until the former loses his ring. Yogurt speaks to Lone Starr, telling him that the ring was a Cracker Jack box prize and that the real Schwartz is inside him. Lone Starr defeats Helmet, causing him to inadvertently strike the self-destruct button. Lone Starr and his friends escape the ship, while Skroob, Helmet, and Sandurz fail to reach any escape pods in time, trapping them in the robot's head as the ship explodes. They subsequently crash-land on a nearby planet, much to the chagrin of its ''

''-like population. With Lone Starr's debt to Pizza nullified by the gangster's untimely death, he returns Vespa to Roland and leaves, taking only enough money to cover his expenses. After a lunch break at a diner and a strange incident involving an alien and an astronaut similar to the events in ''

'', Lone Starr finds a final message from Yogurt, informing him that the medallion necklace Lone Starr has been wearing reveals that he is a prince, and thus eligible to marry Vespa. He reaches Druidia in time to stop her wedding to Valium, announces his royal lineage, then marries Vespa. The film ends with Eagle 5 flying off into the stars, leaving its glowing trails of exhaust revealing a message:" MAY THE SCHWARTZ BE WITH YOU" ..

Cast

* Bill Pullman as Lone Starr, mercenary who travels the galaxy in his flying 1986 Winnebago Chieftain 33, ''Eagle 5''. He is a parody of Luke Skywalker and

Han Solo Han Solo is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film '' Star Wars'' portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in '' The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) an ...

. * John Candy as Barf, Lone Starr's "mawg" (half-man, half-dog) sidekick. He is a parody of Chewbacca. * Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, the spoiled princess of Planet Druidia. She is a parody of Princess Leia. *

as the voice of Dot Matrix, Princess Vespa's droid of honor and guardian. She is a parody of C-3PO. **

provided Dot Matrix's on-screen physical performance. * Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet, the Spaceballs' short-statured, bratty, and often childish chief enforcer, who can wield the "downside" of the Schwartz. He is a parody of Darth Vader. *

as: ** Yogurt, the wise and powerful keeper of the Schwartz. He is a parody of Yoda. ** President Skroob, the incompetent leader of Planet Spaceball. He is a parody of Emperor Palpatine, with his name “Skroob” being an anagram of "Brooks". * George Wyner as Colonel Sandurz, the commander of ''Spaceball One''. He is a parody of

Grand Moff Tarkin Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise, introduced as the main antagonist of the original 1977 ''Star Wars'' film (played by Peter Cushing). In the film, Tarkin is depicted as a high-ranking officer o ...

and his name is a reference to Colonel Sanders. * Dick Van Patten as King Roland, the ruler of Planet Druidia and Princess Vespa's father. *

Michael Winslow Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven ''P ...

as a radar technician on ''Spaceball One'' who can re-enact the radar's sounds. * Ronny Graham as the minister. *

Jim J. Bullock James Jackson Bullock (born February 9, 1955) is an American actor and comedian of stage, television, and motion pictures. He starred in the sitcom ''Too Close for Comfort''. Early life Bullock was born in Casper, Wyoming, and raised in Odessa, ...

as Prince Valium, a

prince. * Leslie Bevis as Commanderette Zircon. * Sandy Helberg as Dr. Irving Schlotkin. * Brenda Strong as Nurse Gretchen, Dr. Schlotkin's assistant. * Dom DeLuise as the voice of Pizza the Hutt: A Hutt crime lord made out of pizza. He is a parody of Jabba the Hutt and his name is a reference to

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and desse ...

. **

Richard Karron Richard Karron (April 11, 1934 – March 1, 2017) was an American actor and voice actor who was noted for his distinctive voice. Richard Karron was born on April 11, 1934, in Bronx, New York, as Richard Karant. He was an actor, known for ''Hist ...

(original takes) and Rick Lazzarini (reshoots and final takes) portrayed Pizza's on-screen presence. Lazzarini originally spoke the lines of Pizza; DeLuise later dubbed his own voice over those lines. *

as Vinnie: Pizza's robotic subordinate. He is a parody of the 80's TV personality Max Headroom. * Rhonda Shear as a waitress. * Jeff MacGregor as Snotty, based on Scotty from ''Star Trek''. MacGregor's role is uncredited. John Hurt makes a

credited as himself, parodying his character Gilbert Kane's death in the film ''

'' (1979). Various actors and comedians appear in unnamed roles, with Sal Viscuso, Michael Pniewski, Stephen Tobolowsky, Robert Prescott, Tom Dreesen, Rick Ducommun, Rob Paulsen,

Tommy Swerdlow Tommy Swerdlow (born 1962) is an American actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in such films as ''Howard the Duck'' (1986) and ''Spaceballs'' (1987) and co-wrote the screenplays of ''Cool Runnings'' (1993), ''Little Giants'' (1994) and ''Snow D ...

, and Tim Russ all appearing as soldiers of Dark Helmet. Additional unnamed appearances include Dey Young as a waitress, Jack Riley as a newsman,

Ken Olfson Ken Olfson (April 2, 1937 – December 31, 1997) was an American film, theater and television actor in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Olfson was born on April 2, 1937 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He began acting at the age of 10 and was active ...

as the head usher, and

Bryan O'Byrne Bryan Jay O'Byrne (February 6, 1931 – December 4, 2009) was an American film and television character actor and acting coach. His credits include numerous television shows, films and many television commercials. Biography Early life O'Byrne ...

as an organist. Denise and Dian Gallup appear as Charlene and Marlene.

Ed Gale Ed Gale (born August 23, 1963) is an American actor and stunt performer who has been working in films and television series since the 1980s. Early life Gale was born with dwarfism. He was born in Plainwell, Michigan, and graduated from Battle Cre ...

, Felix Silla, Tony Cox, Antonio Hoyos, Arturo Gil, and John Kennedy Hayden appear as the Dinks (based on the Jawas).

Production

When Brooks developed ''Spaceballs'', he wanted his parody to be as close to the original as possible. Even though the Yogurt character (Mel Brooks) mentions merchandising in the film, Brooks's deal with George Lucas on parodying '' Star Wars'' was that no ''Spaceballs'' action figures be made. According to Brooks, " ucassaid, 'Your ction figuresare going to look like mine.' I said OK." However, this agreement inspired Mel Brooks to write Yogurt's "Merchandising" scene. Brooks also had Lucas's company handle the post-production, saying, "I was playing ball with the people who could have said no." Lucas later sent Brooks a note saying how much he loved the film, including its story structure, and that he "was afraid ewould bust something from laughing". Pullman got the part of Lone Starr when Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft saw him in a play—he had never seen ''Star Wars'' prior to filming. Brooks had been unsuccessfully trying to sign on big-name actors such as Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks for the film. Pullman said,

I think elwas hurt that they didn't take him up on it ... but then it attract dtwo of the big comics at that time: John Candy and Rick Moranis. Once that was secured, then he said, "Heck, I'll get somebody nobody knows!" And I got a chance to do it.

Zuniga initially found Brooks's film parodies "too crass and not too funny", but after working with Brooks, she said, "I have this image of Mel as totally wacko and out to lunch. And he is. But he's also really perceptive, real sensitive in ways that make actors respond."

Music

An official soundtrack was released on Atlantic Records on LP, CD, and cassette, featuring many of the songs heard in the film, as well as three score cues by frequent Brooks collaborator John Morris. The track list is as follows: # "Spaceballs Main Title Theme" – John Morris # "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" – Jeffrey Osborne and Kim Carnes; the song was made into a hit in 1990 by Sally Moore (U.S. AC #42). # "Heartstrings" –

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

# "Spaceballs Love Theme" (Instrumental) – John Morris # "The Winnebago Crashes"/"The Spaceballs Build Mega-Maid" – John Morris # "Spaceballs" – The Spinners # "Hot Together" – The Pointer Sisters # "Good Enough" –

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

# "Wanna Be Loved By You" – Ladyfire "Raise Your Hands" by

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

is also used prominently in the film. In the film the Dinks (based on Jawas) perform the 1914 marching song, " Colonel Bogey March", though they sing, “Dink dink, dink dink dink dink dink dink...Dink dink“ rather than whistle, parodying the scene from '' The Bridge on the River Kwai''. In 2006, La-La Land Records released ''Spaceballs - The 19th Anniversary Edition'' CD of the film's score, with bonus tracks of alternate takes and tracks not used in the film.

Reception

Box office

The film had an estimated $22.7 million budget, and ultimately grossed $38,119,483 during its run in the United States, taking in $6,613,837 on its opening weekend, finishing behind '' Dragnet''.

Critical reception

The film has received mixed reviews from critics.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports that, as of 2022, 56% of critics have given positive reviews based on 45 reviews with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads; "There's fine spoofery and amusing characters in Spaceballs, though it's a far cry from Mel Brooks's peak era." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 46%, based on 14 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale. Around the time of the film's release Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, and remarked "I enjoyed a lot of the movie, but I kept thinking I was at a revival… it should have been made several years ago, before our appetite for ''Star Wars'' satires had been completely exhausted." '' Variety'' also said around the time of the film's release that it was a misguided parody and not very funny. The film won Worst Picture at the 1987 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.

Home media

''Spaceballs'' was first made available on VHS and LaserDisc in February 1988; they were re-released in the late 1990s. The VHS edition was issued twice; the latter edition was presented in widescreen. Meanwhile, the laserdisc also gained a

commentary track An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

with Brooks; this was transferred over to the DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

releases. The film was first released on DVD on April 25, 2000. This version also contained "the making of..." documentary and a collectible "making-of" booklet. The film was then released in the "Collectors Edition" on May 3, 2005. This edition contained more extras including the documentary and the video conversation about the making of the film with Brooks and Thomas Meehan. On August 7, 2012, the "25th Anniversary Edition" was released on Blu-ray containing many of the same bonus features as the 2005 DVD release with the addition of a new featurette. An Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of the film was released on April 12, 2021 by

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films ...

, with all of the special features from previous home video releases included.

In other media

* A novelization for the film was released on June 1, 1987. * ''Spaceballs'' was developed into an animated television show which debuted in September 2008 as '' Spaceballs: The Animated Series'' on G4 (US) and Super Channel (Canada). * Moranis claimed in a 2013 interview that he and Brooks had discussed a potential sequel, with Moranis pitching the title ''Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II''. However, he and Brooks were unable to structure a deal that would allow the project to move forward. In February 2015, Brooks said that he would like to make a sequel to be released after the next ''Star Wars'' film and hopes that Moranis would reprise his role. This proposed film, Brooks said, may be called ''Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money''. However, in February 2020, Bill Pullman said during an interview with ''Daily Blast Live'', "It's up to Mel. Ask him if he has too much money and that's why he doesn't do it." * In the episode '' Robot Chicken: Star Wars'' of the American adult sketch comedy television series '' Robot Chicken'' the segment ''George Lucas At The Convention'' features a ''Star Wars'' fan wearing a Barf costume from ''Spaceballs''. * Moranis vocally reprised his role as Dark Helmet in the episode "Spaceballs" of the American sitcom '' The Goldbergs''.

Impact

''Spaceballs'' has made an impact on popular culture and been used as a referent and inspiration in other properties. Tesla Motors has used Spaceballs' starship speeds (Light Speed, Ridiculous Speed, Ludicrous Speed, Plaid Speed) as inspiration for naming their acceleration modes. In homage to ''Spaceballs'', Tesla has ''Ludicrous Mode'' for acceleration beyond its Insane Mode, and ''Plaid Mode'', overtop Ludicrous. As part of its merchandising,

The Boring Company The Boring Company (TBC) is an American infrastructure and tunnel construction services company founded by Elon Musk. Its ongoing and proposed projects are designed for intra-city ("loop") transit systems. After six years TBC has completed one ...

sold 20,000 "flamethrowers" in 2018 inspired by the Spaceballs merchandising scene. A clip from the film alongside clips other star wars parody works were used in a "special look" internet video used to promote Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in order to show Star Wars

cultural impact of Star Wars George Lucas's science fiction multi-film '' Star Wars'' saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture. ''Star Wars'' references are deeply embedded in popular culture; references to the main characters and themes of ''Star Wars'' ...

Props

A -scale model of the Winnebago, ''Eagle 5'', was auctioned on December 11, 2018. The model was created by film special effects designer

Grant McCune Grant McCune (March 27, 1943 – December 27, 2010) was an American special effects designer whose entry into Hollywood was the uncredited creation of the great white shark in the 1975 film '' Jaws''. His efforts there led to work on a series ...

, who also created models for '' Star Wars'' and ''

''. The model makes an appearance early in the film with the introduction of Barf and Lone Starr. The model, along with other special effects artifacts from then-current films such as ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or '' She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

'' and '' Jaws: The Revenge'', was displayed at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry in the summer of 1988.

References

External links

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