You might have some Producers, but do you have the Spaceballs to back it up?
What do you get when you put Bill Pullman, John Candy, Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough — IMDB that), Rick Moranis and Joan Rivers together? Comedy.
Princess Vespa doesn’t want to marry the prince that has been chosen for her. Instead of protesting, she simply leaves her soon-to-be hubby and runs away. Regretfully, President Skroob and Dark Helmet are in need of oxygen (because they’re running out of it on the planet Spaceball) that Vespa’s father, King Roland, kingdom/planet has. Their plan is to kidnap Vespa and hold her ransom while they suck out all the air from planet Druidia. Their plan would be fine, except the king hires a hero named Lone Starr, accompanied by his partner Barf, to retrieve Vespa and her car. Lone Starr will not only need the help of his friends, but also the mysterious power of the Schwartz to overcome Helmet and Skroob.
In 1987 this worked well. Star Wars was still on a high from the 1983 release of Return of the Jedi and people were very familiar with it. So, in that time period it worked out really well. Also consider that people had a less refined humor gland than they do now. Spaceballs belonged in the 80s, it was a perfect marriage. Flash forward twenty years or so and the comedy here still works, to an extent. The jokes laid out by Brooks were more hit than miss. Spaceballs, at least in my mind, signified the end of Mel Brooks’ best comedies. You could see he was stretching for humor in this movie. At times you would have goofy lines spat out (like Lone Starr yelling “BARF!!!” at the beginning of the film and Barf replying, “Always when I’m eating!”) that seemed to flutter, even for 1987, but still are quickly forgotten when more refined pieces of comedy enter the scene (Pizza the Hut anyone?). It was more hit than miss. The problem with this now is that the more refined comedies, like Anchorman have brought a more mature level of comedic value to audiences. I know that sounds insane considering that Will Farrell’s maturity level is probably somewhere near the size of a pea, but it still rings true. Gags are old, funny lines and especially delivery is oh-so important. That’s why I have to point out that there are moments in Spaceballs where you’ll simply bust a gut laughing. When Moranis is asking for ludicrous speed from Spaceball 1, you’ll just die laughing at his back and forth with Colonel Sanders (did you get that one?).
Anyway, I think that Spaceballs still holds some water with the Blu-ray loving audience today. Again, with respect to Brooks (because his early comedies were simply epic on a comedic scale), I think this is his last great comedy that shows signs of aging in its writing. I feel like it’s the last movie you should own of his and one more in the library of great Mel Brooks films.
Now, as for how it looks in HD, you won’t get many arguments here. I think it actually looks a lot cleaner than The Pink Panther 2, which says a lot about how much Fox and MGM care for this title. It looks great on a 1080 set and it sounds great coming through 7.1 surround sound speakers, so don’t worry about that. You’ll get the Blu-ray you wanted.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
· Commentary by Mel Brooks
· Additional Commentary Tracks:
o Mawgese
o Dinkese
· Spaceballs: The Documentary featurette
· In Conversation: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan featurette
· John Candy: Comic Spirit featurette
· Watch the Movie in Ludicrous Speed featurette
· Still Galleries:
o Spaceballs: The Behind-the-Movie Photos
o Spaceballs: The Costume Gallery
o Spaceballs: The Art Gallery
· Trailers
o Exhibitor Trailer with Mel Brooks Introduction
o Theatrical Trailer
· Film Flubs:
o Edge of the Mirror
o Grabs Himself Early
o The Magic Reappearing Ring
o More Than His Head
o No End in Sight
o Track Behind Dot
· Storyboards-to-Film Comparison
· Spaceballs DVD
o Widescreen Feature Film (Side A)
o Panscreen Feature Film (Side B)
Spaceballs: The Totally-Warped Adventures DVD Specs:
Features:
· “The Moron’s Guide” (2 minutes)
· Episode I: “Outbreak” (22 minutes)
· Intermission: “Satisfied Customers” (2 minutes)
· Episode II: “Skroobinator” (22 minutes)
· Intermission: “Thanks for Your Order” (2 minutes)
· Episode III: “Deep Ship” (22 minutes)
· Intermission: “Sing Along with Skroob” (2 minutes)
· Episode IV: “Grand Theft Starship” (22 minutes)
· “And That’s Not All!” (2 minutes)
· “One More Goodie” (2 minutes)
Excellent features! You’ll especially love the additional DVD stuff, as it’s quite the added bonus. I wish more studios would respect classics like this and not simply hash them out for a buck. I’m impressed by the back-up material they have here accompanied an already well-respected comedy. Kudos to MGM and Fox!
