Now after satirizing the western genre with his movie, 'Blazing Saddles', then continuing this trend with the horror-comedy, 'Young Frankenstein', what do you think Mel Brooks does next? Yes. That's correct. He directs this film starring himself, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, and Joan Rivers. It was made in 1987, and lasts for 96 minutes. Nuff said.
Spaceballs
Spaceballs
THE STORY:
Alright. So let me get this straight. A long-long time ago,
in a galaxy far-far away, there once lived a very bad man called Dark Helmet
(Rick Moranis). Now because this silly sod desperately needed to replenish his
kingdoms natural resources, he sets a plan in motion to kidnap the runaway
bride -- Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) -- so that he could use her as a bargaining
tool to steal the air from her home planet, Druidia.
However, before this imperialist 'Spaceball' was able to
accomplish this daring deed, two Winnebago w*nkers -- Lone Starr and Barf (Bill
Pullman and John Candy) -- intercept his ploy -- saving Vespa, plus her robotic
aide, Dot Matrix (Jansson / Rivers) -- just so they can cash in on her
fathers reward, and then pay off the debt they owe to the crime boss, Pizza the Hut (Dom
DeLuise).
OK. You got that? Good. I won't be saying that again in a
hurry. No matter what the head honcho of Spaceball-1 -- President Skroob (Mel
Brooks) -- says. Furthermore, I couldn't give a toss that Lone Starr, Barf,
Vespa, or Dot Matrix, runout gas on the way home either. I'm pretty damn sure
they can find some help on that barren planet they land on.
Yeah! You know; someone like that wise yet small dwarf, Yogurt
(Mel again), for instance. Surely he could point them in the right direction
whilst he's selling them a piece of movie merchandising; or showing Lone Star
how to use the secret power of the 'Schwartz'.
That's it. I've said enough. I'm not going to say another
word except that what next transpires all begins when Vespa gets kidnapped by
some silly sod in a dark helmet. As w*nkers show some pluck - plans really do suck
- Spaceballs run a muck - and at the end of the day a princess finds out that her
prince is a bit of a schmuck.
THE REVIEW:
Now if you're
ever thinking about satirizing a movie on YouTube -- or some other type of
video based platform -- I urge you to pick up 'Spaceballs' first, OK? As not
only is this film very funny to watch. But it also shows you the very simple
rules of spoofing a slice of cinema.
Here, check out this five point guide to see what I mean by
this:
- (Step One) Know Your Playground: Now as any good comedian will know, you have to have a thorough knowledge of the area you are poking fun out of -- back to front -- or else the subject matter in question will have less validity in retrospect. I.E. It will feel too false.
- (Step Two) The Story Must Be Simple To Follow: By in large a tale needs to be fairly light in content so that the comedy can be overlaid upon it. That way it's easier for you to integrate the comedy and the story together, thus making the overall project more uniform in nature. I.E. Less jumbled.
- (Step Three) Your Actors Need To Be Naturally Funny: Do I have to explain this point? Nah. Didn't think so. I.E. Scary Movie 2.
- (Step Four) Keep Things Clean: Comedy always needs to have a clear and bold surface for the pretext to interact with, or otherwise the gags may be lost within a quagmire of artsy fartsy mish-mash of visual effects and camera positioning. I.E. What the f*ck is going on?
- (Step Five) You Can't Please Them All: Don't presume that all your jokes will be a 'laugh riot' to everyone who sees or hears them. Sometimes certain people won't 'get' the brunt of a gaff -- which is fine -- just as long as the jokes aren't too 'in' -- if you get my gist.
OK, so with that lesson out of the way with, let's have some
filmic facts now, shall we? (1) 'Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer' released this $22.7
million dollar production on the 24th
of June, 1987 , and recouped $38.1 million dollars back at the
box-office. (2) I kid you not; it took the writer / director / co-star, Mel
Brooks, approximately six months to compose the screenplay for this film. (3) Without a shadow of a doubt this comedy is jam-packed
full of references. These include: a Kentucky Fried Chicken reference, several
Star Wars references, a Ford Motorcars reference, numerous behind the scenes
staff-member references, a Kafka reference, plus many-many more I don't want to
mention. (4) If you look at the name 'Skroob' very closely -- as in 'President
Skroob' -- you'll be able to figure out that it's an anagram of the surname of
the actor who plays him in this film -- 'Brooks'. (5) During
pre-production, Mel Brooks sent the script to George Lucas, just to make sure
he wasn't offended by its content. But he wasn't. Not in the slightest. In
fact, he liked it so much, his company, 'Industrial Light and Magic', provided
the puppets and the special effects for this project. (6) Even after all of the
trouble they had to go through to construct John Candy's 'Barf' costume; it
still took three people to operate it. John the tail, and two assistant's the
ears. (7) According to 'Spaceballs: The
Book' -- written by the novelist, R.L. Stine -- the names of the Dinks are:
Finky Dink, Blinky Dink, Rinky Dink, Stinky Dink, Pinky Dink, and Winky
Dink. (8) Whilst Lorene Yarnell Jansson wore the 'Dot Matrix' body
armour, of course it was Joan River 's
who provided her voice. Also, on a side note, Dom
DeLuise provided the voice for 'Pizza the Hutt' too. (9) Although you saw
Yogurt promote them in this movie, there was never any official 'Spaceballs' merchandising
ever made. This was largely due to a 'fair-use' agreement devised
between Mel Brooks and George Lucas.
Now if you haven't guessed by now, dear reader; let me just
state for the records that I really do love 'Spaceballs' the movie. To me, its
one of those feel good film's I always watch whenever I need a quick 'pick me
up' of the silly variety. The jokes are funny -- Got that? The actors are great
-- especially Mel Brooks, John
Candy, and Rick
Moranis. The story told a pretty linier tale -- even if it was on the rather
simple side. And the overall spit and polish of this production enhanced the
whole project -- bar none.
Heck, I have to be honest with you; I can't fault this movie
one little bit. And in my opinion, it is up there with the rest of Mel
Brook's satires. Just check this out to see what I mean...
A class comedy. And defiantly one to watch. Say no more.
THE RATING:A
SPACEBALLS
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
May 15, 2013
Rating: