La Folle Histoire de l'espace

Leave it to Mel Brooks; no one else could make a space movie with references to "The Wizard of Oz", "The Godfather", Mr. Coffee and flying Winnebagos.

"Spaceballs" is just about the best post-"History of the World Part I" film Mel has made and that's saying something, considering how many great jokes Mel and Company is able to pull off while within PG territory.

Easy enough to guess that this is Mel's take on "Star Wars", complete with his own versions of C-3P0 (Dot Matrix), Princess Leia (Princess Vespa), Chewbacca (Barf the Mawg) and a combination of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker (LoneStarr).

Oh, and let's not forget Dark Helmet! The very embodiment of evil (Mel Brooks-style) who not only wears a black cloak and headpiece but also a stylishly-wide black tie. And when he strikes...it's usually not above the belt.

The gags come fast and furious and, as is usually the case, all the regular faces show up (Graham, DeLuise, Van Patten) and Mel gives it all he's got. Lots of space sagas get equal ribbing (the "Star Wars" trilogy, "Alien", "Planet of the Apes") and there isn't a cliche that Mel fails to notice.

You can't blame Mel Brooks for thinking this genre needed a good skewering. He started it in "History of the World" with his "Jews in Space" coming attraction and continues it here. My only complaint: Mel, why did you have to wait so long??

Eight stars, plus a half star more for Pizza the Hutt; I loved it, especially when the pepperoni started running. Also for President Skroob's (Brooks') comment after being mis-transported ("Why didn't somebody tell me my a** was so big??").

Okay, nine stars. Mel Brooks strikes back!

A classic remnant from the tail end of Mel Brooks's manic, pun-drenched peak. It may not be as smart as The Producers or as complete as Blazing Saddles, but it's every bit as funny as anything he's ever made and that's saying something. Its light-handed approach to storytelling, where the jokes come first and the plot developments are a distant second, is actually very similar to 1981's History of the World, Part I - which should be no surprise, as they're back-to-back in his sequential catalog. Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman and John Candy really come to life in their roles as not-so-subtle parodies of Darth Vader, Han Solo and Chewbacca, respectively, with Moranis in particular somehow getting deep laughs out of lines so cheesy a Taco Bell nacho would flinch. As dumb comedies go it's a heavyweight champion, so infinitely quotable that my buddies and I had to enforce a strict "one Spaceballs reference per day" policy back in school to keep things from getting out of hand. Absurdly stupid fun.

There are some that say Mel Brooks's best satire is Spaceballs. Personally I like The Producers, but I'd never argue with anyone who holds out for this gut splitting comedy which uses both subtle satire and heavy bellylaughs drilled into the viewer with the skill and speed of one writing with light saber pen.

The main object of the satire is the original Star Wars movie, but during the course of the film Brooks took a shot at The Wizard Of Oz, The Bridge On The River Kwai, Lawrence Of Arabia, Planet Of The Apes and Alien and a few others I could name if I thought about it. The man does know his film history.

All is happy on the planet Druidia where King Dick Van Patten is eagerly awaiting the wedding of his daughter Princess Daphne Zuniga to her intended bridegroom, the eager Prince Valium played by Jim J. Bullock. But evil forces in the galaxy are afoot, the planet Spaceballs has a permanently polluted atmosphere and its President Skroob and his aides Colonel Sanders and Dark Helmet played respectively by Mel Brooks, George Wyner, and Rick Moranis have hatched a scheme to kidnap the princess and suck the atmosphere out of Druidia and take it back to Spaceballs.

They look like they just might succeed, but a Han Solo like character Lonestar (Bill Pullman)and his faithful half man, half dog companion John Candy pull off a rescue, but they are hunted people now throughout the galaxy. All seems lost, but fate has directed them to a desert like planet where they meet up with Yoda who acquaints them with the most potent force in the universe, the all powerful Schwartz.

The gags come so fast and furious that if you pop a kernel of popcorn in your mouth you could miss a gem. The performances are letter perfect and Brooks gives everyone in the cast his own bit or two. I forgot to mention Joan Rivers who is the voice of a C3PO character called Dot Matrix, companion to Zuniga the Druish princess complete with virgin alarm. And watch out if you mess with Zuniga's hair.

If I had to name a favorite it would be Rick Moranis playing Dark Helmet. When the helmet is down it's a James Earl Jones like voice that emerges, deep and sinister. When the helmet comes up all you see is Rick Moranis and it looks like it wasn't just the kids that got shrunk.

Spaceballs is a film that can be enjoyed by folks who love good comedy and for science fiction fans who don't take themselves too seriously. For someone like Mel Brooks to please both those crowds is really something.

"Spaceballs" is one of my favorite Mel Brooks comedies. Brooks has made some of the funniest movies of our time ("The Producers", "Brazing Saddles", "High Anxiety", etc.) and I think "Spaceballs" is up there in the same league. This film spoofs the "Star Wars" movies in general, but there's also references to "Star Trek", "Alien", and "Planet of the Apes" just to name a few. The actors are all very funny, with Brooks in two roles: President Skroob and Yogurt (his version of Yoda); the late John Candy as Barf the mawg (half man, half dog); Rick Moranis as the Darth Vader clone Dark Helmet; Bill Pullman as Lone Starr, the Luke Skywalker takeoff; Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, similar to Princess Leia; and Dot Matrix, the robot with the voice of Joan Rivers who's obviously in the C-3P0 role. There's plenty of silly gags throughout "Spaceballs", and I laughed most of the time. Very funny, entertaining sci-fi comedy from one of the great comedic filmmakers of all time.

***1/2 (out of four)

Brisk parody of "Star Wars" and other great science fiction films pits Bill Pullman and his man-dog/dog-man partner John Candy against Rick Moranis and Mel Brooks as they try to rescue Princess Daphne Zuniga from the clutches of the evil Space-Balls.

The cast are clearly enjoying themselves and there's a gag almost every minute, mostly notably the Star Wars gags. Some of the best are -

1) Pizza the Hutt

2) The 'Alien' Diner scene with John Hurt ("Oh no... not again!")

3) Yogurt the Yoda clone (also Mel Brooks; "Please, I'm just plain Yogurt.")

4) Dot's "Virgin Alarm" ("Designed to go off before you do.")

5) A pot shot at "Lawrence of Arabia"

6) The 'combing the desert' sequence

7) Rick Moranis 'playing with his toys'

8) The Statue of Liberty Transformer

9) The Planet of the Apes sequence

10) The light saber schwartz duel

11) The guard instructing Bill Pullman on how to properly do the Vulcan nerve pinch.

12) Accidentally capturing the stunt doubles.

13) The quote unquote "sexual tension" between Bill and Daphne.

And many more. Keep an eye out for this one.

"Where're you from?" - Daphne Zuniga

"I don't know. Somewhere in the Ford Galaxy." - Bill Pullman