Spaceballs Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

 Title: Spaceballs
Year: 1987
Director: Mel Brooks
Country: US
Language: English

Before Star Wars became a parody unto itself (although J.J Abrams appears to do well in  making us forget about Lucas' blunders) Mel Brooks stepped up to plate as he has done many times throughout his career. My favorite film of his, Blazing Saddles, made fun of Westerns too manly to show a scene full of men farting after a bean-filled dinner. The man rarely misses a beat; making us laugh hysterically throughout the run-time. Can the same be said for Spaceballs? 

Planet Spaceballs' President Skroob (Mel Brooks) sends Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to steal planet Druidia's abundant supply of air to replenish their own, and only Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) can stop them.

Spaceballs' original theatrical run began during the 10th Anniversary of A New Hope and, while that certainly is practical, it's a shame Mel Brooks didn't think of making the film sooner when Star Wars was much more relevant. Though the film made a decent amount of cash & did fairly well with the critics I can't help but think it could have made a much bigger impact if released during the late 70's. In contrast, 1980's Airplane is only five years removed from the 1975 disaster film Airport  and thus made significantly more than Spaceballs at the box office

Mel Brook's sci-fi comedy is everything you'd expect out of a Brooks' affair; great visual gags, wacky characters and fourth wall breaking jokes. I particularly love when Dark Helmet watches Spaceballs: The Movie in order to find out about our heroes plans. The scene in which Yogurt (a parody of Yoda) demonstrates the power of merchandise is all too relevant in our commercialized studio system, ii shows the main reason why Star Wars has remained so successful. 

Admittedly some scenes drag on too long and/or are not as well written as you'd hope. There are many great gags, but overall the film appears to be lacking an essential item that would deem it "great". I suppose the comedy isn't really constructive or thought provoking, it's low brow and often juvenile. The comedy doesn't say anything that anybody else couldn't think of or hasn't thought of. That being said, I did laugh quite a bit. 3/5