Spaceballs (1987)

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Mel Brooks (written by) &
Thomas Meehan (written by) ...

Release Date:

24 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

May The Farce Be With You

Plot:

Planet Spaceball's President Skroob sends Lord Dark Helmet to steal Planet Druidia's abundant supply of air to replenish their own, and only Lone Starr can stop them.

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Princess | King | President | Space

Cast

Mel Brooks	...	President Skroob / Yogurt
John Candy	...	Barf
Rick Moranis	...	Dark Helmet
Bill Pullman	...	Lone Starr
Daphne Zuniga	...	Princess Vespa
Dick Van Patten	...	King Roland
George Wyner	...	Colonel Sandurz
Michael Winslow	...	Radar Technician
Joan Rivers	...	Dot Matrix (voice)
Lorene Yarnell	...	Dot Matrix
John Hurt	...	Himself
Sal Viscuso	...	Radio Operator
Ronny Graham	...	Minister
Jim J. Bullock	...	Prince Valium
Leslie Bevis	...	Commanderette Zircon

Also Known As:

Planet Moron (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:12 (2000) (re-rating) (uncut) | Portugal:M/6 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG (#28661) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Canada:14A | Iceland:L | Ireland:PG | Norway:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2000) (uncut) | UK:PG (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) (cut) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Brooksfilms

Trivia:

Mel Brooks had a rather nasty allergy to the Yogurt make-up, necessitating the shooting of all of Yogurt's scenes out of sequence.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Princess Vespa is threatened with plastic surgery, the nurse zips up her shirt, but in the subsequent shot, her shirt is still unzipped.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Radio Operator: Colonel Sandurz!
Colonel Sandurz: What is it, Sergeant Ricco?
Radio Operator: You told me to let you know the moment Planet Druidia was in sight, sir.
Colonel Sandurz: So?
Radio Operator: Planet Druidia's in sight, sir.
Colonel Sandurz: You're really a Spaceball. You know that, don't you?
Radio Operator: Thanks, sir.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: The Springfield Connection (#6.23)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Heartstrings

"Lord Dark Helmet! So we meet again for the first time for the last time!"

Brisk parody of "Star Wars" and other great science fiction films pits Bill Pullman and his man-dog/dog-man partner John Candy against Rick Moranis and Mel Brooks as they try to rescue Princess Daphne Zuniga from the clutches of the evil Space-Balls.

The cast are clearly enjoying themselves and there's a gag almost every minute, mostly notably the Star Wars gags. Some of the best are -

1) Pizza the Hutt

2) The 'Alien' Diner scene with John Hurt ("Oh no... not again!")

3) Yogurt the Yoda clone (also Mel Brooks; "Please, I'm just plain Yogurt.")

4) Dot's "Virgin Alarm" ("Designed to go off before you do.")

5) A pot shot at "Lawrence of Arabia"

6) The 'combing the desert' sequence

7) Rick Moranis 'playing with his toys'

8) The Statue of Liberty Transformer

9) The Planet of the Apes sequence

10) The light saber schwartz duel

11) The guard instructing Bill Pullman on how to properly do the Vulcan nerve pinch.

12) Accidentally capturing the stunt doubles.

13) The quote unquote "sexual tension" between Bill and Daphne.

And many more. Keep an eye out for this one.

"Where're you from?" - Daphne Zuniga

"I don't know. Somewhere in the Ford Galaxy." - Bill Pullman