Review: Spaceballs

Spaceballs
Starring: Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, John Candy, Daphne Zuniga
Directed by: Mel Brooks
Produced by: Mel Brooks
Written by: Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan, Ronny Graham
Distributed By: MGM, United Artists

Editor’s Note: I cannot believe that I’m actually deranged enough to let Steven publish this, but I can’t really think of anything else to do.

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NOTE: Guess what everyone, I’m back, that’s right, back in black (see font color).  After taking a minor editorially required vacation, I have returned to Bucket Reviews and it’s going to be better than ever.  I have just become aware that none of you realized that I was gone; however, I did look at the site statistics and I concluded after extensive research and calculation, that hits on the site went down almost .00023% since I’ve been gone, which just goes to show how much I’m really missed here on Bucket Reviews. But fear not my faithful fans, for I have returned and will now be able to pour my infinite sea of knowledge into your young and feeble minds.  I think that the success of this site is really placed upon my shoulders, I mean, just look at the numbers! .00023% is a lot—that could be almost 2 people per week—and that’s a lot of viewers over the course of a few hundred years.  Without me this site would be an abominable failure and if this rate of decreasing viewers continued, by the year 90,000,000 there might be as few as 100,000 people going to this site per day.  And that, my friends, would be a terrible loss.  So remember, I have come back to enlighten and guide you towards true understanding of these impeccable pieces of film genius.

My editor (NOT DANNY BALDWIN), has just cruelly informed me that this is actually supposed to be about a movie, and I think I should talk about Spaceballs, a movie he happens to abhor. This is a double plus because I personally think it is one of the best spoofs of all time. Writing this retrospective is going to be quite difficult because I’m stuck in the “inspirational important” mode of writing, and now I have to try to transition to the “boring describing” mode.  But, fear not, since I’m so good at enhancing this site’s content, I shall do my best.

There have been many attempts at quality spoofs over the years, but the vast majority have been abysmal failures due to poor scripts, bad jokes, unsatisfactory direction, and many other fatal factors.  However, the director of Spaceballs, a spoof of the Star Wars series, Mel Brooks, did a phenomenal job, and also played two different roles in the movie.  The entire cast was fabulous, but he, being the creator, is the obvious standout.  Rick Moranis was also terrific as Dark Helmet, the equivalent of Darth Vader, perfectly capturing the mood of each scene he’s in.

Spaceballs not only spoofed Star Wars, however. It offered a warped spoofing of literally hundreds of titles. And the beauty of the script was how it actually fit together, creating a funny and almost intellectually stimulating plot (for three-year-olds).  The problem that usually arises when creating spoofs of movies is either that it is not funny and only ruins the memory of the original movie, or there are simply too many jokes, diverting the viewer’s attention from the movie.  Spaceballs contains no such flaws. On the contrary, I enjoy Star Wars more, now that I have seen the comedic version of it.  Only a truly great film can withstand the power of a truly great spoof.

There have been few spoofs that have ever come close to reaching the level of mastery that Spaceballs has, Airplane! being the only one that comes to mind. I doubt that any will ever be quite as funny, inventive, or ingenious as this film was.

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-Steven Cipriano, Bucket Reviews