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As news of the sequel was revealed, we decided to have two takes on Spaceballs. Hawk wanted to review it, Boba Phil was also planning a viewing, so we smashed both their reviews together. They haven’t read each other’s reviews until now…
Hawkzino’s Review of Spaceballs
Following Mel Brooks’ surprise announcement of Spaceballs 2 (The Schwartz Awakens? The Last Rabbi? The Rise of Starr-Vespa? Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2?), I thought I would revisit the original and see how it was holding up.
Spaceballs was released in December 1987 in the UK. I watched it at the cinema, quoted it with my friends, but have only seen it once or twice since. I liked it, but I didn’t feel like I needed to revisit it very often.
That changed following last week’s announcement. I found myself more excited than I had been for any recent Star Wars release. It’s partly nostalgia, no doubt, and partly because I respect the fact that Mel Brooks is nearly 100 years old and still trucking, although I doubt he’ll be too actively involved in the sequel.
Mostly, I saw it as a great opportunity to absolutely skewer Disney Wars. It’s such fertile ground. Just imagine what they could achieve if they get it right. They probably won’t, but one can dream.
The Original Star Wars Spoof
It’s weird watching Spaceballs after all this time. It’s important to remember that it was released only four years after Return of the Jedi. Since then, we’ve accumulated another 40 years of obsessive Star Wars fandom, fuelled by the rise of the internet.
We are all Star Wars experts now. We live in a world where every frame of the original movies has been analysed, copied, memed, and spoofed multiple times. Someone even made an action figure out of the shadow on Emperor Palpatine’s hood from Return of the Jedi.
Seen through that geeky lens, Spaceballs’ attempts at parody seem rather basic and light touch in comparison. It doesn’t always stick to the source material and doesn’t mind taking a few left turns and doing its own thing.
Case in point: Spaceballs has no Luke Skywalker equivalent. Bill Pullman’s Lone Starr is an amalgam of Luke and Han Solo, but mostly Han. R2D2 is nowhere to be seen. Princess Vespa’s backstory is completely different and seems out of place, like someone grafted The Princess Bride onto Star Wars.
Not Just Star Wars
The movie occasionally detours into spoofing other science fiction properties, most notably Star Trek (“Snotty, beam me down”), Planet of the Apes, and Alien. They even got John Hurt to act out another chest-bursting scene, but these moments are Easter Eggs rather than part of the plot.
But what can I tell you? It works. Spaceballs is a light-hearted romp that ticks along at a good pace, doesn’t outstay its welcome, and is frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious.
It also doesn’t have a mean-spirited bone in its body, which is probably why George Lucas not only gave it his blessing but had Industrial Light and Magic help out with the effects. The escape pod launch is an unused shot from Star Wars. Lucas even allowed the Millennium Falcon to cameo in the diner scene.
The Plot
If you didn’t know, the plot of Spaceballs is as follows: Princess Vespa’s father forces her to marry the only Prince left in the Universe (Prince Valium, who keeps falling asleep). She jilts him at the altar and flees planet Druidia with her droid, Dot Matrix. Dot is a female C3PO and is equipped with an alarm that sounds if the Princess’s virginity is under threat.
Space rogue Lone Starr and his faithful sidekick, Barf (part man, part dog, all John Candy), accept a bounty from Vespa’s father to bring her back so he can pay off a debt he owes to gangster Pizza the Hutt. Also on Vespa’s trail is the evil Dark Helmet in his ship, Spaceball 1. Dark Helmet’s planet is running out of oxygen, so he plans to kidnap Vespa and ransom her in exchange for the codes to Druidia’s planetary shield, so they can harvest its oxygen supply.
From The Sublime To The Ludicrous
Spaceballs is at its strongest when directly lampooning Star Wars. The opening crawl. The shot of Spaceball 1 moving past the camera that seems to go on forever. Ludicrous speed (because light speed is too slow). The merchandising digs at George Lucas. Rick Moranis’ Dark Helmet. Pizza the Hutt. A visual gag involving Princess Vespa’s headphones. I could go on.
But Spaceballs is just as adept at absurdist humour that has nothing to do with Star Wars: Jamming the radar (literally), combing the desert (again, literally), Mr Coffee. The best gag of all is where Dark Helmet and his sidekick, Colonel Sanders, locate the fugitives by playing the VHS of Spaceballs.
It breaks the fourth wall multiple times. Stunt doubles get arrested, and the camera crew become victims during Dark Helmet and Lone Starr’s final showdown. Spaceball 1 transforms into a giant maid and sucks Druidia’s oxygen out with a huge hoover. They throw every childish, puerile joke they can think of at the screen for a cheap laugh and pretty much get away with it every time.
It is, quite simply, mad, and far better than I ever gave it credit for. Whether you agree will obviously depend on your tolerance for such nonsense, and maybe even your mood on the day. It won’t be for everyone because it is, at least in part, immature, corny, lowest common denominator type humour.
But it works for me. The performances are great, and I particularly love how Vespa’s wedding dress gets more torn and revealing as the movie progresses.
I have no idea what to expect for Spaceballs 2, but after watching the original again, I’m glad it’s coming. May the Schwartz be with you.
Boba Phil’s Review of Spaceballs
Yeah, it’s still pretty funny.
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