Spaceballs


Spaceballs is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It primarily parodies the original Star Wars trilogy, but also other popular franchises such as Star Trek, Alien, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and Transformers. The film stars Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis and Daphne Zuniga, with the supporting cast including Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, Lorene Yarnell, and the voice of Joan Rivers. In addition to Brooks playing a dual role, the film features Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise and Rudy De Luca in cameo appearances.
In Spaceballs, heroic mercenary Lone Starr and his alien sidekick Barf rescue Princess Vespa of the planet Druidia and her droid, Dot Matrix, from being captured by the Spaceballs, led by President Skroob, who wants to use Vespa as ransom to obtain Druidia's air for their own planet. However, the heroes get stranded on a desert moon, where they encounter the wise Yogurt, who teaches Starr about the metaphysical power known as "the Schwartz". Meanwhile, Spaceball commanders Dark Helmet and Colonel Sandurz lead the search for them, but are hindered by their own incompetence.
The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on June 24, 1987. It received mixed reviews upon release, but has since attained a cult following. A sequel is scheduled to be released theatrically by MGM in 2027; it is directed by Josh Greenbaum and co-written by Josh Gad and Brooks, and will star Lewis Pullman, Keke Palmer, and Gad, with Brooks, Bill Pullman, Moranis, and Zuniga reprising their roles.

Plot

In a galaxy "very, very, very, very far away", the ruthless Spaceballs, led by President Skroob, have squandered their planet's atmosphere. Desperate for oxygen, Skroob hatches a plan to steal it from the neighboring planet Druidia by obtaining the code to its air shield, destroying Druidia in the process.
On Druidia, the spoiled Princess Vespa flees an arranged marriage to the narcoleptic Prince Valium, having already rejected all other suitors in her search for true love. Meanwhile, mercenary Lone Starr and his half-man, half-dog companion Barf are contacted by crime boss Pizza the Hutt, who demands repayment of a one-million space buck debt. King Roland of Druidia offers Starr the same amount to rescue Vespa and her droid servant, Dot Matrix.
Aboard their Winnebago RV spaceship Eagle 5, Starr and Barf rescue the pair just before they are captured by the Spaceball ship Spaceball One, commanded by Colonel Sandurz and Skroob's enforcer, Dark Helmet, who wields the mystical power of the Schwartz. However, Eagle 5 runs out of fuel, forcing Starr to crash-land on the desert moon of Vega.
The four wander through the scorching landscape, with Starr and Vespa exchanging barbed remarks and mutual attraction. They cannot act on their feelings, however, as Vespa is duty-bound to marry a prince. They collapse from the heat, but are rescued by the Dink-Dinks, a group of robed, diminutive aliens, and taken to the hidden temple of Yogurt, a wise sage who breaks the fourth wall to shamelessly advertise Spaceballs merchandise. Yogurt guides Starr in using the Schwartz, using a ring to channel its power. He also deciphers Starr's medallion—found with him as an abandoned baby—but withholds its meaning.
Unable to locate Vespa, Helmet and Sandurz watch a VHS copy of Spaceballs and skip forward in the film to find her. On the moon, Helmet uses the Schwartz to impersonate King Roland, tricking Vespa into revealing herself. She and Dot are captured and taken to Spaceball One; Starr and Barf give chase.
Helmet extorts the shield code from Roland by threatening to reverse Vespa's plastic surgery and restore her large nose. Starr and Barf infiltrate the Planet Spaceball prison, rescue the captives, and escape in Eagle 5. With the shield code in hand, Spaceball One transforms into "Mega-Maid", a giant robot maid, and begins vacuuming Druidia's atmosphere.
Using the Schwartz, Starr reverses the vacuum from "suck" to "blow", saving the planet. He pilots Eagle 5 into Mega-Maid's head, finds the self-destruct button, and battles Helmet in a Schwartz duel using ring-projected lightsaber-like beams. Helmet steals Starr's ring and drops it down a grate, but Starr hears a telepathic message from Yogurt telling him: "The Schwartz is in you." Starr wields the Schwartz to reflect Helmet's energy blast with a mirror, sending him flying into the self-destruct button. As Eagle 5 escapes, Mega-Maid explodes. Skroob, Helmet, and Sandurz are left behind when all the escape pods are taken. They crash-land in the remains of Mega-Maid on a nearby planet populated by intelligent apes, who are horrified to witness their arrival.
On Druidia, Starr and Barf learn that Pizza the Hutt locked himself into a limousine and ate himself to death, clearing their debt. They return Vespa to her father, but decline payment for rescuing her. Starr leaves, reluctantly accepting that Vespa must marry a prince.
After leaving a space diner, Starr and Barf discover a final message from Yogurt hidden in a fortune cookie: The medallion proves Starr is a prince. They return to Druidia just in time to stop Vespa's wedding to Valium. Starr reveals his royal lineage and he and Vespa are joyously married.

Cast

  • Bill Pullman as Lone Starr, a mercenary who travels the galaxy in his flying 1986 Winnebago Chieftain 33, Eagle 5. He is a hybrid parody of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
  • John Candy as Barf, a "Mawg" and Lone Starr's partner. He is a parody of Chewbacca.
  • Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, the spoiled princess of Planet Druidia. She is a parody of Princess Leia.
  • Rick Moranis as Lord Dark Helmet, the short-statured, bratty, and childish assistant leader of Planet Spaceball and the Spaceballs' chief enforcer, who can wield the "down-side" of the Schwartz. He is a parody of Darth Vader.
  • Joan Rivers as the voice of Dot Matrix, Princess Vespa's droid of honor and guardian. She is a parody of
  • * Lorene Yarnell provided Dot Matrix's on-screen physical performance.
  • Mel Brooks as:
  • * President Skroob, the incompetent leader of Planet Spaceball. His name "Skroob" is an anagram of "Brooks".
  • * Yogurt, the wise and powerful keeper of the "up-side" of the Schwartz. He is a parody of Yoda.
  • George Wyner as Colonel Sandurz, the commander of Spaceball One. He is a parody of Grand Moff Tarkin and his name is a reference to Colonel Sanders.
  • Dick Van Patten as King Roland, the ruler of Planet Druidia and Princess Vespa's father.
  • Michael Winslow as a radar technician on Spaceball One who can re-enact the radar's sounds.
  • Ronny Graham as the minister.
  • Jim J. Bullock as Prince Valium, a narcoleptic prince.
  • Leslie Bevis as Commanderette Zircon, a minion of President Skroob on Planet Spaceball.
  • Sandy Helberg as Dr. Irving Schlotkin, a plastic surgeon.
  • Dom DeLuise as the voice of Pizza the Hutt, a crime boss described as being half-man and half-pizza. He is a parody of Jabba the Hutt and his name is a reference to Pizza Hut.
  • * Richard Karron and Rick Lazzarini portrayed Pizza's on-screen presence. Lazzarini spoke Pizza's lines for the character's on-camera scenes with DeLuise's voice dubbed in later.
  • Rudy De Luca as Vinnie, Pizza's robotic subordinate. He is a parody of the 1980s television personality Max Headroom.
  • Rhonda Shear as a woman in the diner.
  • Jeff MacGregor as Snotty, a minion of President Skroob on Planet Spaceball based on Scotty from Star Trek.
Various actors and comedians appear in unnamed roles, with Sal Viscuso, Michael Pniewski, Stephen Tobolowsky, Robert Prescott, Tom Dreesen, Rick Ducommun, Rob Paulsen, Tommy Swerdlow, and Tim Russ all appearing as soldiers of Dark Helmet. Additional unnamed appearances include Dey Young as a waitress, Jack Riley as a newsman covering the news about Pizza the Hutt's death, Ken Olfson as the head usher, and Bryan O'Byrne as an organist. Brenda Strong appears as Gretchen, Dr. Schlotkin's nurse, alongside Johnny Silver as Arnold, Dr. Schlotkin's caddy. Denise and Dian Gallup appear as Charlene and Marlene, two twin girls in Spaceball City who President Skroob keeps mixing up the names for. Ed Gale, Felix Silla, Tony Cox, Antonio Hoyos, Arturo Gil, and John Kennedy Hayden appear as the Dinks while their uncredited voices are provided by Corey Burton, Phil Hartman, Tress MacNeille, John Paragon, and Rob Paulsen. John Hurt makes a cameo appearance as a parody of his character Gilbert Kane in the film Alien. In the same scene archival recordings of William "Bill" Roberts' performance of "Hello! Ma Baby" as heard in the animated short film One Froggy Evening were used as the Xenomorph bursts out of Kane's chest and suddenly breaks into song and dance.

Production

When Brooks developed Spaceballs, he wanted his parody to be as close to the original as possible. Even though the Yogurt character mentions merchandising in the film, Brooks's deal with George Lucas on parodying Star Wars was that no Spaceballs action figures be made. According to Brooks, " said, 'Your are going to look like mine.' I said okay." However, this agreement inspired Brooks to write Yogurt's "Merchandising" scene and include multiple Spaceballs-branded products at other points in the film, such as placemats and toilet paper. No mass produced Spaceballs merchandise was ever created.
Brooks had Lucas's company handle some post-production, saying, "I was playing ball with the people who could have said no." Lucas later sent Brooks a note saying how much he loved the film, including its story structure, and that he "was afraid would bust something from laughing". According to Rick Moranis, "In the original script, the description of was that the whole costume was one gigantic helmet. Then it got scaled back to just an exaggerated version of the Darth Vader helmet."
The bulk of the film's visual effects were executed by Apogee Inc., which was founded by former Industrial Light & Magic employee John Dykstra.
Pullman got the part of Lone Starr when Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft saw him in a play. Brooks had been unsuccessfully trying to sign on big-name actors such as Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks for the film. Pullman said,
Zuniga initially found Brooks' film parodies "too crass and not too funny" but, after working with Brooks, she said: "I have this image of Mel as totally wacko and out to lunch. And he is. But he's also really perceptive, real sensitive in ways that make actors respond."