Spaceballs Movie Review

The force was not with Mel Brooks, whose spoof of the George Lucas franchise seems light years too late. But why ask for the moon when you have such stars as Rick Moranis as the petulant geek Dark Helmet, John Candy as Barf, who is half-dog/half-man (“I'm my own best friend”), Dom DeLuise as the voice of Pizza the Hut, and Brooks, revising his 2,000-Year-Old Man character as the sage Yogurt, whose motto is “May the Schwartz be with you.” Chiding the vast Star Wars merchandising empire is about as biting as the satire gets. Bidding adieu to our heroes (Melrose Place’s Daphne Zuniga as a “Druish Princess,” Bill Pullman as space cowboy Lone Starr), Yogurt states, “God willing, we'll all meet again in Spaceballs II – The Search for More Money.’” As can be expected, the gags span the universe from groaner (“What's the matter, Colonel Samdurz, chicken?”) to brilliant (a surreal bit in which Helmet's evil forces capture our heroes’ stunt doubles by mistake). John Hurt busts a gut reprising his role in Alien.

1987 (PG) 96m/C Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis, John Candy, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, John Hurt, George Wyner, Lorene Yarnell, Sal Viscuso, Stephen Tobolowsky, Michael Winslow; D: Mel Brooks; W: Ronny Graham, Thomas Meehan, Mel Brooks; C: Nick McLean; M: John Morris; V: Joan Rivers, Dom DeLuise. VHS, Beta, LV MGM