Spaceballs

365 Films

Entry #26

Spaceballs (1987)

Directed by: Mel Brooks

Forgive me if I’m skipping around a bit on the chronology of these movies.  This entry was meant to be about Robin Hood: Men in Tights until I realized that Spaceballs is a much better film and a better film with which to approach an inherit film-going dilemma.  I’m sure this phenomenon applies to all generations and their antecedents but it feels particularly relevant to mine in lieu of growing up with shows like The Simpsons and Mystery Science Theater 3000.  What I’m talking about is watching a comedy that makes pointed, specific references to various pop culture or historical events that go sailing over one’s head.  Instead of making the viewer feel dumb; such enticements only lead a curious mind to explore the many intertwined facets of our collective unconscious.  Spaceballs immediately springs to mind when thinking about this because I was not the least bit aware of Star Wars when I first encountered it.  I had no idea who Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker were and quite frankly, I didn’t give a damn.  I knew the general gist of the story, it was impossible not to if you dared venture to any Disney Theme Park.  But I was not in on the joke that was the entire basis for Spaceballs’ very existence.  The reason I mentioned MST3K and The Simpsons in conjunction with this entry is because these comedic minds were brilliant enough to make the jokes stand on their own even if you didn’t know the entire story behind a particular reference.  That is precisely why I believe Spaceballs still holds up to this day.  Sure, many out there would argue (and perhaps rightly so) that this is nowhere near Brooks’ best film.  He’s definitely been more daring and inventive with many other titles in his filmography.  What makes Spaceballs special is that while the overall taste of the thing is relatively standard in terms of spoof movies (spoovies?), it’s proportion of jokes hurled vs. jokes that stick is remarkably high.  Brooks has mastered the timeless art of absurdity in such a way as to never feel dated (most of the time) and remain free of the “for Star Wars fans only” trap that so many other spoovies fall into periodically.  Spaceballs is a remarkably silly movie that is consistently funny and performed by a cast that never once winks at the camera.  Perhaps the reason this movie works is because Mr. Brooks never sought to make a Star Wars parody, he just wanted to make people laugh.  What a radical concept.