Spaceballs

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. It's the 1980's and the Star Wars trilogy is a mega success as was Michael Jackson. With a movie franchise that successful and a pop artist that successful you must parody the two. Enter Mel Brooks and Weird Al Yankovich, but this review isn't about the song "Eat it."

Spaceballs was truly funny. In fact, it is a parody that other parodies should model themselves after. Many parodies overdo it and exaggerate things so much that it's not funny but just awkward. Spaceballs had a nice mix of slapstick humor and funny characters. The casting was supreme with Rick Moranis playing Dark Helmet, John Candy playing Barf, and even Mel Brooks as Yogurt. This was a spoof that George Lucas had to laugh at.

Spaceballs strikes me as how a parody should be made. It's not overbearing, the jokes are spot on, the pastiche references are quite memorable, as most of the quotes from this film. With a seemingly ridiculous plot because of its burlesque nature, it doesn't interfere with the comedic purposes, so plot and humour go wonderfully hand in hand. Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet (sometimes the simplest humour is where it's at) is incredibly funny as well as John Candy as Barf (the names alone makes one giggle). The great Mel Brooks makes his grand appearance too and he acts accordingly as expected, the man is a comedy genious and proves it movie after movie and graces us with his hilarious participations.

Undoubtedly the laugh star in this is Rick Moranis, I mean the mightiest villain of all time is absolutely the opposite of what you would expect and that makes it an excellent situation for comedy which was perfectly executed. Every little detail counts for comedy, you'll notice many nuances and obscure references to other films once you have watched it a couple of times, and believe me it gets better after each viewing, Spaceballs absolutely deserves it.

The duel scene between Dark Helmet and Lone Starr and the spoof on the classic "I am your father!" moment is comedy gold. And of course one of the things I absolutely treasure about Mel Brooks' films is their exhilarating self-awareness, that always gets me; the more absurd they make it, the better! The example of this film is when Colonel Sandurz is browsing through some VHS tapes and puts the tape of Spaceballs, the very same film which they are making at the moment, and then they watch themselves on the screen, that is just ridiculously funny.

Spaceballs is a classic in my book, watch it and make it on your own.

This movie can be absolutely hilarious, if you are in the right mood for it. If you didn't liked this movie, then you probably weren't in the right mood, because there is no way you can dislike and find this movie unfunny.

Most fun thing about the movie is Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet who is the complete opposite in every way of the ultimate bad guy from the entire universe; Darth Vader, especially in size. Like almost every other Mel Brook's movie this movie has some extreme hits and some extreme misses, by seriously it all is just a matter of taste. What might seem funny for some is unfunny to others and vice versa.

The acting is over the top and quite bad actually especially Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga. Thank goodness that the sidekicks are the better and funnier characters in this movie, characters with poetic names such as Barf, Colonel Sandurz, Major Asshole, Yogurt and Pizza the Hutt.

The movie suffers from some horrible eighties songs, the curse of almost every eighties movies these days, other than that, there isn't much negative to say about his movie even though it is far from Brook's best.

7/10

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Released in 1987, Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs" parodies the Star Wars flicks and includes jokes based on Star Trek, "Lawrence of Arabia," "Alien" and "Planet of the Apes."

Some people hate this film, but it works for what it is: a totally goofy spoof. It's consistently amusing with several laugh-out-loud bits and memorable lines.

The cast is notable, highlighted by John Candy as Barf, Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet, Brooks as Yogurt, and Joan Rivers' voice as Dot Matrix. The rest are good too (Bill Pullman as Lone Starr, George Wyner as Colonel Sandurz, etc.).

The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes.

GRADE: B

SPACEBALLS was a childhood favourite of mine and I'm pleased to see that it still holds up today for audiences. It's a loving spoof of the whole STAR WARS franchise with Mel Brooks on top form as he mercilessly ribs George Lucas for his addition to merchandising, ridiculous costumes, plot elements, and the like. That SPACEBALLS also tells its own entertaining story that holds up as a stand-alone adventure is testament to its effectiveness. Strong production values and fun effects only add to the experience.

The cast is a superior one with the highlights including Joan Rivers as 'Dot Matrix' and the lovably goofy John Candy playing a half-man, half-dog. Rick Moranis really shines though in his best role as 'Dark Helmet' and many of his scenes are the funniest the film has to offer; also watch out for Mel Brooks's scene-stealing 'Yogurt'. The laughs come thick and fast and not all of them are funny, but when the film hits it really hits; the scenes involving instant video cassettes and breaking the fourth wall are the funniest. My overall highlight though has to be John Hurt's cameo, which is the icing on an already splendid cake.