"...Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb"
The 1987 Mel Brooks film Spaceballs is one of my all-time favorite comedies and one that I reference and quote pretty frequently. So, before '80's Month' was over, I felt I needed to get this one in.
The movie is a parody of nearly all things outer space/sci-fi related; from Star Wars to Star Trek to Alien and Planet of the Apes, and references to Transformers and Flash Gordon.
The basic plot involves Planet Spaceball running low on breathable air and the Princess of the oxygen-rich planet of Druidia being kidnapped by Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis). The plan is to hold the Princess hostage until the King of Druidia (played by Dick Van Patten) gives the Spaceballs the code to his planets airlock and surrenders all the fresh air. In the hopes of getting his daughter back the King hires Lone Starr (played by Bill Pullman) and his mawg sidekick Barf (played by John Candy) to rescue her for which they will be paid a handsome sum of 1,000,000 'Space Bucks'.
The movie is full of fun character and wall to wall jokes. Mel Brooks, who plays both the President of Planet Spaceball as well as character Yogurt, gets a lot of laughs. Bill Pullman and John Candy play off each other pretty well, and I like Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa. But, the standout performance in the film is the of Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet. Every moment of screentime with this character is hilarious, and some of the exchanges between Dark Helmet and his second in command Colonel Sandurz (played by George Wyner) are the best parts of the movie.
Overall, if you like Mel Brooks comedies, or even comedies in general, then this one is worth a watch. I've seen it more times than I can remember and I still get a good laugh out of it.
I give it a 5 out of 5.
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