Spaceballs (1987)

A rogue star pilot and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a Princess and save the galaxy from a ruthless race of beings known as Spaceballs.

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan

Stars:

Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis

1 win.

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

After squandering the fresh air in the distant planet Spaceball, the good-for-nothing President Skroob orders the arch-villain henchman, Dark Helmet, to abduct the adjacent planet Druidia's Princess Vespa to strong-arm her father, King Roland, to provide them with the code to the planet's atmosphere. Under those circumstances, the seasoned mercenary, Lone Starr, and his trusty half-human, half canine sidekick, Barf, will attempt to save the princess in distress, while at the same time, the ruthless loan shark, Pizza the Hut is after them. But in the end, only he who can harness the mystical and mighty force known only as "The Schwartz", will be able to save the day.

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Plot Keywords:

parody | star wars spoof | sci fi spoof | winnebago | rescue | 

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Taglines:

May The Farce Be With You.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 June 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planet Moron

Filming Locations:

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,600,000, 28 June 1987

Gross USA:

$38,119,483

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

The castle on Druidia is King Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. It has been modified by matte painting with additional ramps. Neuschwanstein Castle has been featured in many motion pictures, and it is the original inspiration for the castle at Disneyland.

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Goofs

When Yogurt shows Lone Starr his Schwartz ring, when the shot zooms in to a closeup of the ring, you can see the "S" on the ring has a different appearance than the earlier shot.

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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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Alternate Versions

The British version also excluded a brief scene where President Scroob is taking a pee. Spaceball Commanderett Zircon contacts the President during the act on what is referred to as an 'unlisted wall'. Also shown is a roll of Spaceballs the Toilet Paper. The 'unlisted wall' scene, cut from the original British release, is included in the version shown on the BBC. The F-word is still ommitted from this version.

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Connections

Referenced in The Jack and Triumph Show: Triumph Comes Home (2015)

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Soundtracks

Colonel Bogey March
Performed by Kenneth Alford
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Mel Brooks at His Shameless, Unrestrained Best

A classic remnant from the tail end of Mel Brooks's manic, pun-drenched peak. It may not be as smart as The Producers or as complete as Blazing Saddles, but it's every bit as funny as anything he's ever made and that's saying something. Its light-handed approach to storytelling, where the jokes come first and the plot developments are a distant second, is actually very similar to 1981's History of the World, Part I - which should be no surprise, as they're back-to-back in his sequential catalog. Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman and John Candy really come to life in their roles as not-so-subtle parodies of Darth Vader, Han Solo and Chewbacca, respectively, with Moranis in particular somehow getting deep laughs out of lines so cheesy a Taco Bell nacho would flinch. As dumb comedies go it's a heavyweight champion, so infinitely quotable that my buddies and I had to enforce a strict "one Spaceballs reference per day" policy back in school to keep things from getting out of hand. Absurdly stupid fun.