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 Schwartz 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 Druidia planet being surrounded by a planet-enclosing shield was later re-used for Rogue One (2016), which, in that film, the planet Scarif is protected by a planet-enclosing shield. Rogue One (2016) is a spin-off of the Star Wars movies, which this film parodies.

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Goofs

When Yogurt examines Lone Starr's medallion, he holds it in all five fingers. But in the close-up, he's only touching it with his index finger and thumb.

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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

In a CBS airing (and likely all US airings), every instance of the word "asshole" in the famous "how many assholes have we got on this ship?" scene is replaced by "moron".

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #26.149 (2010)

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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

"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