Spaceballs (1987)

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.

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan,

Stars:

Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Jansson	...	Dot Matrix (as Lorene Yarnell)
John Hurt	...	John Hurt
Sal Viscuso	...	Radio Operator
Ronny Graham	...	Minister
Jim J. Bullock	...	Prince Valium (as JM J. Bullock)
Leslie Bevis	...	Commanderette Zircon

Storyline

King Roland of the planet Druidia is trying to marry his daughter Princess Vespa to Prince Valium, but Vespa is kidnapped by the evil race of the Spaceballs. The Spaceballs ask Roland a tremendous ransom: all the air of Druidia (you see, the air of Spaceball had serious pollution problems...). The King decides to offer a generous amount of money to a space rogue, Lone Starr, to persuade him to save Vespa. What follows is the parody of a _LOT_ of famous SF movies.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | princess | king | president | wedding | 

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Taglines:

Once upon a time warp in deep space, the struggle between the nice & the rotten goes on...

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 June 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planet Moron

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,700,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$38,119,483 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brooksfilms, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic constructed the puppet of the chest-burster for the film. The main effects unit for the film was Apogee, Inc. This was the company headed by John Dykstra that split off from ILM in 1978 when Lucasfilm moved to Marin County. Thus, Spaceballs marked the first time since Star Wars that the two units shared work on a single project.

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Goofs

When Roland solicits help from Lone Starr, they talk like they know each other (after all, Roland hails him by name), yet Lone Starr and Barf act surprised that they have picked up a Druish princess.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

In the style of the "Star Wars" movies, there are no opening credits, only the title followed by a crawl.

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Connections

References Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Spaceballs"
Written by Jeffrey Pescetto (as Jeff Pescetto), Clyde Lieberman and Mel Brooks
Performed by The Spinners
Produced by Jellybean Benítez (as Jellybean)

User Reviews

Mel Brooks is a genius!

Spaceballs is one of my favorite comedies of all time, it's actually one of those few movies that I know every single line too. I know that seems a bit sad, but this film has so many memorable lines that it came so natural. I've watched this movie since I was a little girl and the strange thing is that every time I watch it, it just seems to get funnier and funnier. I don't understand how a person could not laugh with this film, it just has perfect humor that I'm sure could make the emotionally stunted person laugh. How could you not laugh at Rick Morannis as Lord Helmet? He was beyond a perfect choice for Helmet, he was the complete opposite of what Darth Vadar was, and he didn't have a problem making fun of himself. In fact, the whole cast looked like they had the ultimate blast making this film, everyone clicked so well. The story is one of Mel's finest parades, of course, this one is of Star Wars or pretty much any space film.

Lord Helmet and President Skroob wish to steal all of Planet Druidia's fresh air and transfer it onto their own, but they must get the combination to the air shield that is protecting it. King Roland's daughter, Princess Vespa, runs away from her wedding, since King Roland is the king of Druidia, Lord Helmet kidnaps her to get the combination. King Roland asks space rebel, Lone Starr and his faithful side kick Mog(half-man half-dog) Barf, to save the princess. But things quickly turn bad when Helmet does get the combination and now Lone Starr must use the "schwartz" and defeat Lord Helmet and Skroob before they suck all the air from Druidia.

Spaceballs is seriously just a great comedy, I guarantee you that you will have a good laugh by watching this film. Every scene is just so funny, my favorite is always the one with Lord Helmet playing with his dolls and Corinel Sanders walks in on him, you'll just have to see what I mean, but it's the funniest scene in my opinion. But there isn't one scene that isn't funny. If you are a fan of Mel Brooks, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't love this film, it's my second favorite just behind Young Frankenstein, but that was a tough choice. I highly recommend Spaceballs for anyone, please see this film, you won't regret it.

10/10