By 1987 Mel Brooks name was synonymous with film parody. He would take and existing film or genre and turn it into his own comedic playground. With BLAZING SADDLES he took the western genre on a journey never seen before. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN turned classic horror movies into something that made you want to go back and watch those old movies to see which ones were skewered. And HIGH ANXIETY took the films of Alfred Hitchcock that had frightened so many and made us laugh at moments from them. So it was inevitable as the science fiction film series STAR WARS took off that he focus on them. The result was SPACEBALLS.
On planet Spaceball the incompetent king Skroob (Brooks) has squandered the planets air supply. To solve the problem he plans on forcing King Roland (Dick Van Patten) of nearby Druidia to give him the codes to take down their planets protective shield and then steal their air. To do this he sends his evil henchman Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to kidnap Roland’s daughter Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) who is about to marry get married. Before they arrive she escapes them and her wedding with the help of her android assistant Dot Matrix (Joan Rivers).
King Roland contacts mercenary Lone Star (Bill Pullman) and his trusty sidekick Barf (John Candy) to find the princess and return her at once. Lone Star is heavily in debt to Pizza the Hut and readily agrees. Off they go and not only do they find the princess but they rescue her from Dark Helmet in the process. This leads to all sorts of perilous adventures as they try and return her and collect their bounty. But then again maybe they’ll find a reason not to and still make the funds they need. Along the way the many themes, fixtures and concepts found in the STAR WARS pictures will be tossed and twisted and provide a ton of laughs.
For many this is the main Mel Brooks film that they remember. A large part of that is due to the fact that many your people when it was released weren’t familiar with his other films and this was the one behind most hyped at video stores across the country at the time. It was the, pun intended, launching pad for many of those who would later discover the many films that Brooks had made.
The movie was available on tape for years. Then it made its way to DVD and eventually blu-ray. Then it disappeared and suddenly it was difficult to find. Kino Lorber has fixed that problem by now offering it on blu-ray and doing so with a magnificent new print of the film. In addition to that they are including more extras than many new films are getting.
These extras are enormous. At least as big as Dark Helmet’s helmet. They include: an audio commentary track by Mel Brooks, “Force Yourself! Spaceballs and the Skroobing of Sci-Fi” with Mel Brooks and Rudy De Luca, “Spaceballs: The Documentary”, “In Conversation with Mel Brooks and co-writer Thomas Meehan”, “John Candy: Comic Spirit”, film flubs, watch SPACEBALLS in ludicrous speed, storyboards to film comparison, a behind the scenes image gallery, posters & art image gallery, an exhibitor trailer with an introduction by Mel Brooks, the theatrical teaser and the theatrical trailer.
Fans of the movie and of Brooks will want to add this to
their collection. And if you already own it, you don’t have this version with
all of these extras. Make sure you add this version to your collection. And if
you’ve never seen it, pick it up today and start laughing after you pop it in
your player. This is a classic that deserves to be treasured.
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