Spaceballs

Disclaimer:

It may not sound like much, but this movie is rated: PG

From the 80s.

‘Nuff said.

Finally! I forgot what quality film was! Bless you, Spaceballs, I needed this. Regardless of my feelings about the Jurassic Park franchise as a whole, it was still fun covering it. However, it’s now time to move on to my classic (random) reviews. Case in point, whatever this is.

When I saw the Spaceballs sequel announcement, I knew I had to do this. As someone who loved the original, it was too good of an opportunity for me to pass up. It’s possible I’ll review the sequel when it’s released in two years, but we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully it’s on par with the original’s quality. Given that Mel Brooks primarily writes and directs self-contained parodies of specific genres, this could go either way. Please be good…

Regardless of the quality of the sequel, there’s one thing I know: Spaceballs is awesome. That’s my opinion, but I really think so. It hearkens back to an era in cinematic comedy that both hates and loves the source material. To write comedy like this, you have to love the source material and not take it too seriously. Personally, that’s where a lot of modern cinematic parodies have dropped the ball, but that’s beside the point.

Let’s get lost in a galaxy very, very, very, very far away in Spaceballs.

I’m not going to go into much detail with the plot. If you’ve seen this movie, you’ll know why I made this decision. Simply put: the plot isn’t bad, it’s just simple. An evil race called “Spaceballs” wants to steal all the air from a rival planet, Druidia. Therefore, the goal is “stop that from happening.” Easy enough. Considering this is a comedy, you shouldn’t need to go into much detail. Also, nobody watches this movie for the plot.

That’s not a dig, that’s just the truth. Why would you when the jokes they’re constantly throwing at you make you want to pee your pants laughing? Legit, this is the very first scene of the movie.

I don’t know about you, but that is frickin’ hilarious to me.

It’s clearly a spoof on the opening of A New Hope, but it’s funny even if you haven’t seen it. Also, right away you understand the tone of this movie and how funny it’s going to be. The cherry on top is also the “We Brake For Nobody” bumper sticker. Class. I could just cover my favorite jokes, but then this review would be way too long. To help keep things structured, let’s just go straight into the characters.

Starting with our villains, we have our second in command Colonel Sandurz (played by George Wyner). Yes, they went there.

I’ve always seen him as a “Nutless Grand Moff Tarkin” for lack of a better term. Instead of ordering the guy in the helmet around, he’s clearly subservient to him. He also seems to struggle with both self-confidence and being an authority figure.