Spaceballs
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Spaceballs is a 1987 science fiction spoof movie written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks.
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Plot
On Planet Druidia, Princess Vespa is about to get married to Prince Valium (who is the last prince in the galaxy, and thus they have to marry despite his characteristics). She runs off from the altar with her droid-in-waiting, Dot Matrix, and escapes into space.
Planet Spaceball has foolishly wasted all of its air and is desperate to find more. President Skroob and his top military leader, Dark Helmet (along with his aide Colonel Sandurz), devise a plan to kidnap Princess Vespa and extort Planet Druidia into giving all of its air to the Spaceballs. If they do not comply, they will reverse Vespa's cosmetic surgery, thus restoring her hooked nose.
Meanwhile, Vespa's father, King Roland hires two mercenaries—Captain Lone Starr (a parody of Han Solo) and Barf (a mawg, or man-dog halfbreed), who are desperate for money to pay back their debts to mafia boss Pizza the Hutt—to get Princess Vespa back to Druidia so that she can marry Prince Valium. They are helped by the wise alien sage known as Yogurt and the mysterious power he possesses, called the Schwartz.
In the end, Lone Starr and Barf are able to rescue the princess, destroy the Spaceballs' spaceship, and get the Druidian air back. And at the very end (of course), Lone Starr and Vespa get married. Pizza the Hutt gets trapped and eats himself. As for Skroob, Dark Helmet, and Colonel Sandurz, they survive a crash-landing on the Planet of the Apes.
Antagonist
The main villain, Dark Helmet is performed by Rick Moranis Just as the movie as a whole is largely a parody of Star Wars, Helmet is an obvious takeoff on the character Darth Vader, the immediate villain of that trilogy.
Dark Helmet looks more or less like Darth Vader, except that he is much shorter, his helmet is many times larger, and he's wearing a necktie. When his mask is down, Dark Helmet's breathing is overly audible and he speaks in a deep baritone voice (Vader was voiced by James Earl Jones), but when he lifts his mask he speaks in Rick Moranis' intentionally incredulous, shrill tone. He also wears glasses.
In the movie Helmet is the commander of the armed forces of the Spaceballs, and commands its enormous flagship Spaceball One.
Cultural context
The plot is deliberately evocative of fairy tales, as are the scenes on the planet Druidia. The majority of the scenes and characters are parodies of Star Wars, although it parodies other movies as well. The most notable are Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Wizard of Oz, Zardoz, Planet of the Apes, Rambo, Max Headroom, and Alien (with John Hurt reprising his famous scene from that movie). The film also mocks various aspects of 1980s culture, including fast food, action figures, and merchandising. Robin Hood: Men in Tights, a later-made movie also by Mel Brooks, borrowed from the main storyline of Spaceballs.
Some critics pointed out that since timing is the essence of comedy it was odd that Brooks should have waited ten years to spoof Star Wars, though his supporters say that he wanted to wait until the entire trilogy was available for mocking.
In September 2004, a sequel to Spaceballs was announced, due to come out in 2005 to coincide with the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. However, as of May 19, 2005, there are no signs of it. There was however a statment by Brooks, that '"Worst case senario, one year after Star Wars episode 3"
Representative quotes
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Lone Starr: I wonder: Will we ever see each other again?
Yogurt: Who knows? God willing, we'll all meet again in Spaceballs 2: the Search for More Money.
Dark Helmet: What's the matter, Colonel Sandurz? CHICKEN?
President Skroob: Sandurz, Sandurz! You got to help me! I don't know what to do. I can't make decisions! I'm a president!
Cast
- Bill Pullman – Captain Lone Starr
- John Candy – Barfolemew (Barf)
- Rick Moranis – Lord Dark Helmet
- Daphne Zuniga – Princess Vespa of Druidia
- Mel Brooks – President Skroob/Yogurt
- George Wyner – Colonel Sandurz
- Lorene Yarnell – Dot Matrix
- Joan Rivers – Dot Matrix (voice)
- Dick Van Patten – King Roland, Ruler of Druidia
- Michael Winslow – Radar Technician
- Jim J. Bullock – Prince Valium
- Dom DeLuise – Pizza the Hutt
- John Hurt – Man in diner
See also
External links
- Template:Imdb title
- Spaceballs images (http://www.ladyofthecake.com/mel/space/sbimages.htm)
- Sequel announcement (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=6547), animated TV series announcement (http://www.scrypticstudios.com/index.php/news/179)de:Spaceballs
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