agk4984x
Probably the worst movie I've ever seen. It's an hour and a half of terrible puns. Barf? Yogurt? Pizza the hut? comb the desert? Jam the radar? awful. I love Mel Brooks, but if this was his first movie, he would have never worked again. Sorry, but this film is Un-watchable. Even the great John Candy could not redeem this atrocity.
Robert Thompson (justbob1982)
Version I saw: Netflix live streamActors: 5/10Plot/script: 5/10Photography/visual style: 7/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 6/10Spaceballs is possibly the funniest film I have ever seen... that could have been written by an 8-year-old. His career as a director began with plaudits for The Producers and Blazing Saddles, and since then has become steadily more silly and, with some exceptions, less good ever since, and often actively dreadful. Incidentally, it has occurred to me that Woody Allen's career progressed in almost the opposite direction from a very similar start, becoming progressively less comedic and more refined.Spaceballs is pretty much a straight parody of the first Star Wars movie, although it draws on the others to a lesser extent, as well as other sources. The entire comedic register of Spaceballs, and indeed of his entire catalogue of genre parodies, is utterly juvenile, from the silly character names (Lone Starr, Princess Vespa, Barf, Yogurt) onwards. Don't get me wrong, it's mostly funny, and very funny at times, but films can be funny and also well-constructed, clever and insightful. It speaks to me of a distinct lack of ambition.There are a couple of aspects of the film that I would single out for praise. The first is the way it calls out Star Wars for its rampant commercialization, and specifically merchandising. This is a tired old joke now, but Spaceballs is the earliest instance of it that I know of. The second is the work on costumes, makeup, sets, props and models, which is genuinely impressive at times, enhancing the comedically bad examples of these things elsewhere in the film. As well as providing an exaggerated contrast for comic effect, it serves to prove that they are not just doing bad work because they are incapable of better.You could view Mel Brooks as a youthful spirit or as an immature prankster, but all that really matters is whether he is funny enough. Spaceballs is more than funny enough.
