- There are films that break the "fourth wall" that separates actors from audience, and then there are films that completely ignore it. Mel Brooks' Spaceballs falls squarely into the latter camp. Thus, when the dastardly Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) is unable to locate his adversaries, he reviews the VHS copy of his own movie. The wizened sage Yogurt (Brooks) reveals that his true purpose in life is "Merchandising, merchandising! Where the real money from the movie is made." If you watch closely enough, you'll notice background props like Spaceballs: The Sheet, Spaceballs: The Shaving Cream, and yes, even Spaceballs: The Toilet Paper. Stunt doubles get captured in place of the actors, a cameraman gets attacked in a fight scene, and the examples go on and on.
- The preceding account should provide evidence enough that Spaceballs can be clever and amusing, but does it work as a science fiction spoof? Well, yes and no. The film contains a few truly inspired riffs on sci-fi classics, including Dom DeLuise's cameo as a gangster named "Pizza the Hutt," a behemoth spacecraft that can achieve "ludicrous speed," and a perfect rendition of the chest-bursting scene from Alien (complete with John Hurt!) as it might have been directed by Chuck Jones. Unlike Brooks' masterpiece, Young Frankenstein, however, it's not obvious that Spaceballs has much affection for the genre it lampoons. Instead, the film often channels the experience of what I imagine it would be like to sit next to Mel Brooks while watching science fiction. "I don't know about this beaming stuff," President Skroob, another Brooks character, complains. "What are you preparing? You're always preparing!" Dark Helmet whines. One guesses that Brooks only moved on to sci-fi because he had already treated monster movies, suspense films, and westerns.
- Fortunately, Spaceballs is funny enough that it can be enjoyed as a comedy even when it falls short as a parody. A large part of the film's success should be attributed to its absolutely outstanding ensemble cast. Rick Moranis' 97-pound weakling dark lord and John Candy's loyal half-man, half-dog ("I'm my own best friend"), in particular, are constantly amusing. While rarely as hilarious, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, and the voice of Joan Rivers resemble their Star Wars counterparts closely enough to be effective. The other essential ingredient, of course, is Brooks' writing, which delivers one-liners with all the subtlety of a flak gun and never fears to delve into the absurd. A serious fan of science fiction might have created a more focused, detailed satire, but I bet they wouldn't have ended their film with the denizens of a three-ring circus escaping out of the head of an enormous robotic maid.
- My favorite line: "Even in the future, nothing works!"
