Spaceballs
Published August 11, 2018
Film info
- Title Spaceballs
- Director Mel Brooks
- Year 1987
- Run time 1hr 36m
- Genres Science-Fiction, Comedy
- Tagline May the schwartz be with you
An opening shot of one of those enormous, endlessly flowing, across-the-top-of-the-screen George Lucas space cruisers introduces us into the not-quite-so-serious world of director Mel Brooks' planet Spaceball, which is attempting to steal the atmosphere.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:59 | Chapter Eleven! |
| 3:13 | The audacity to start a film like this is brilliant. |
| 6:35 | I’m going to start calling all my machines Mr… |
| 7:54 | Dot Matrix. |
| 11:56 | That pizza is properly disgusting. |
| 15:19 | “Snotty beamed me twice last night. It was wonderful.” |
| 21:38 | The guy that makes the noises with his mouth! Amazing. |
| 26:14 | Love the number plate ‘SPOILD ROTTN I’. |
| 28:13 | “Close all shops in the mall.” |
| 36:46 | Love, love, love the watching a movie before it’s been finished bit. |
| 43:38 | It’s clever they have just put a mirror under the vehicle to make it look like it’s floating. Doesn’t quite work now we’re watching in HD, but still. |
| 43:55 | “What are you preparing? You’re always preparing. Just go!” |
| 47:11 | Love the merchandising! |
| 53:13 | Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money. |
| 1:01:12 | Aren’t you a little too short to be a stormtrooper? |
| 1:06:40 | I want a drum to follow me around. |
| 1:12:28 | “At last we meet, for the first time, for the last time.” |
| 1:21:00 | Rocky 5,000. |
| 1:24:38 | How did they get him to do that?? |
| 1:30:20 | Love the grumpy vicar guy. |
Conclusions
Such a weird one, this. I have seen this before, quite a few times, but I watched it before I’d ever seen Star Wars, so how did it ever make sense? Why did I like it when I hadn’t seen the source material it was spoofing?
Anyway, I watched a trailer for it recently and thought it didn’t look as good as I remembered, but it was worth watching again now that I actually have seen Star Wars. Thankfully, the film was better than the trailer made it look, and funnier now that I actually know what the jokes are referring to.
It’s a bit of an oddity, a sprawling mess of references and inside jokes that just about clings on to a narrative. But you’re not watching it for the story, you’re watching it for the endless merchandising gags or the great bit where the film is available to rent before it’s even done.
Rating: 3/5.
Rating: 3 / 5