SP XI: Spaceballs

Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections: Star Wars: Parodies, Fan Films, Etc.: SP XI: Spaceballs

Date: 5/20

Synopsis:In a galaxy very, very, very, very far away...Princess Vespa, of Druidia, is about to marry Prince Valium. She excapes the evil clutches of her fiancee`; only to fall into the clutches of Dark Helmet.

King Roland, Vespa's Father, sends Lone Starr so rescue her, and her Mercedes. After rescuing Vespa, they crash into the desert moon of Vega. They meet Yogurt, the keeper of the Swartz, a powerful force that binds us...yada, yada, yada. After learing the ways of the force Schwartz, Lone Starr leaves to rescue Vespa, who has been recaptured by the Spaceballs. The heros excape (but not thier stunt doubles), just before Dark Helmet begins removing Druidia's air. Using the Swartz, Lone Starr defeats Dark Helmet's plan and blows up Spaceballs I. Vespa returns to marry he fiancee`, but marries Prince Lone Starr, instead.

Starring:
Mel Brooks--President Skroob/Yogurt
John Candy--Barf
Rick Moranis--Dark Helmet
Bill Pullman--Lone Starr
Daphine Zungia--Princess Vespa
Dick Van Patten--King Roland
George Wyner--Col. Sandurz
Michael Winslow--Radar Technician
Joan Rivers--Dot Matrix (voice)

Conversion list
Luke/Han--Lone Starr
Leia--Vespa
Yoda/Obi-Wan--Yogurt
3-CPO--Dot Matrix
Ewoks--Dinks
Chewbacca--Barf
Wedge--the unseen gas attendant

Empire--Spaceballs
Vader--Dark Helmet
Emperor Palpatine--President Skroob
Snotty--Scotty (from Star Trek)
Jabba--Pizza the Hutt

Nits: (nits for comedic purposes are marked with an asterk*)
1.* How can Dark Helmet mistake a coffee machine for the radar display?

2. Lone Starr's tires would explode in space.

3. Why doesn't King Roland tell the air shield guards to not let Vespa out.

4. President Skroob's arms are also backward

5. Roland says the car has a moon roof but I can't see it when Vespa launches it. BTW, Druidia appears to have no moon.

6.* Barf & Vespa go outside without their space suits.

7. In the desert scene, Vespa probably should have changed clothes before they leave.

8.* Instant cassettes won't work: movies are usually released to theaters 3-12 months after they are in theaters.

9.* President Skroob holds his book upside down, I can not say why because this is a G-rated site. (BTW, the book is named Don't Blame Me by President Skroob. A good title for a book by a politican, IMHO :)

10. In the surgery sceene, Dr. Schlotkin is called Phillip but the picture Dark Helmet holds up refers to him as Irving Schlotkin.

11. Shouldn't everyone in the operating room (Dark Helmet, Col. Sandurz, Dr. Schlotkin, the nurse, and the caddy) be wearing masks.

12.* Why is the self-distruct mechanism in a locker room, not in forward control (bridge)?

13. The count down is wrong (just like Star Wars).
VCR-time remaining
1:19:33 3 minutes
1:19:49 2 min, 45 sec
1:20:21 2 minute warning
1:20:41 1 min, 40 sec (100 sec, from captioning)
1:22:06 20 sec
1:22:30 10 sec
1:22:58 Spaceballs I (Mega-Maid) explodes.

14. If the timer is irreversable, why is there a cancellation button?

Nice touch: all the escape pods have a double set of doors.

15. Why do the Valiums (the Grooms side) applaud when Princess Lone Starr marries Princess Vespa.

May the Swartz be with you!
By Brian Webber on Friday, November 27, 1998 - 4:20 pm:

OK, um., what's the point? I mean, this is a MEL BROOKS film for cryin' out loud! Why is no one nitpicking, The Producers?


By Chris Ashley on Saturday, November 28, 1998 - 9:00 am:

Because "The Producers", brilliant movie though it is, has not been picked up by either of the people running movie boards. This situation is by no means irreversible, I think. (nudge nudge)


By Charles Cabe (Ccabe) on Saturday, November 28, 1998 - 5:16 pm:

Moderator's note: I no one says they like this board. I'll shut it down in a week or so.


By Chris Thomas on Saturday, November 28, 1998 - 9:54 pm:

Isn't it spelt Schwartz? And I always thought the Dinks were supposed to be Jawas!


By Omer on Sunday, November 29, 1998 - 9:51 am:

I loved the movie, it's one of my favorite comedies. Remember the scene when the trees get sucked off the land, and then get planted back? I laughed SO hard on that! Btw, that's a nit.


By JC on Monday, November 30, 1998 - 11:23 pm:

"Ya hoid of me?"
"Who hasn't heard of Yogurt The Wise?"
"Yogurt The Powerful?"
"Yogurt The All-Knowing?"
"Please, please, please. It's just plain, Yogurt."


And, of course, the scene with Dark Helmet playing with his action figures. LMAO!!! According to Brooks (my laserdisk has a commentary track), the scene was completely improvised by Moranis who was just given the toys and told to go at it.


By Mf on Tuesday, December 08, 1998 - 4:09 pm:

The only scene that really gives me the giggles is when Dark Helmet takes out the boom guy (love that post-modernist stuff). The rest of it just isn't quite up to Brooks' standard.
But what IS the point of nitpicking this sort of farce?


By Merat on Wednesday, December 09, 1998 - 11:59 am:

Well, may the farce be with you.


It is fun to nitpick.


By Yogurt on Wednesday, December 09, 1998 - 5:41 pm:

May the Schwartz be with you!


By Meg on Sunday, December 20, 1998 - 2:29 pm:

Am i the only person who found thid movie funny. I in all my regrets actullay like Mel Brooks films. I guess I'm just crazy.


By Charles Cabe (Ccabe) on Sunday, December 20, 1998 - 8:57 pm:

I found it funny, too. I personally like the long pan across the bow of Spaceballs I (1 minute, 40 seconds +/-).


By Chris Thomas on Sunday, December 20, 1998 - 10:40 pm:

My girlfriend and I love the film. We recently showed it to my 13-year-old brother who thought it was a scream as well.


By Mf on Monday, December 21, 1998 - 3:26 pm:

I'm thinking Gene and Roger don't need to worry.


By BW on Monday, December 21, 1998 - 6:08 pm:

I was five when i saw this. I saw it and the re-release of Snow White the same day (Hey, I was five. I didn't know about Disney's plot for world domination!) on the big screen.


By Matt Cotnoir on Tuesday, December 22, 1998 - 4:34 am:

There is another soldier in the fight against Disney's evil plot to take over the world?! All this time, I thought I was the only one!


By Jon Wade on Tuesday, December 22, 1998 - 8:08 pm:

According to my mom, when my parents went to see it, and Spaceball 1 started to become Mega maid, every parent in the audience started lauging.. transformers were in, you know.
by the way, has anybody seen the Mel Brooks movie "The Twelve Chairs?"


By Matt Cotnoir on Wednesday, December 23, 1998 - 8:33 am:

Want to hear a funny story? The first time I saw this movie, it was during my Catholic school's end of the school year party (I think I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time). I think the nuns were kicking themselves after that little blunder!


By Stephen Mendenhall on Friday, January 15, 1999 - 8:45 am:

In rocketry there's a term, "launch window", the brief period which is appropriate for launching a rocket. Well, they *show* a launch window being opened--it's the opening in the force field surrounding the planet. But nobody actually uses the term.
It's not like Mel Brooks to be subtle, and I wondered about it. It's a good joke but I have a feeling he didn't know about the term. Oh, well.
I liked the movie.
About those nuns--what movies would those nuns find funny?


By Yogurt on Saturday, January 16, 1999 - 12:44 am:

I have von woid for you... MOICHANDISING!


By Ben Jackson (Bjackson) on Thursday, April 08, 1999 - 8:15 pm:

Best Scene:

Dark Helmet - Light speed isn't fast enough, we need LUDICROUS SPEED!

can't remember the lines until:

Barf - They've gone plaid!

John Candy was great in this


By ScottN on Thursday, April 08, 1999 - 9:52 pm:

funny, you don't look Druish!


By Adam Howarter on Thursday, April 08, 1999 - 11:05 pm:

Stop!!
We can't stop. We got to slow down first.
Bull****! I order you. STOOOOOOOP.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
CRASH!!
Sir, are you alright?
Fine...you?
Fine sir, its a good thing you had your helmet on.
Ok...are we stopped?
Yes sir.
Good...smoke em if you got em.

Whats that coming out of her nose?


By JC on Friday, April 16, 1999 - 8:34 pm:

Who are you?
BARF!
Not in here, mister; this is a Mercedes!

I bet she gives great helmet.

I hate it when my Shwartz gets twisted.

What's the matter, Colonel Sanders? Chicken?

Don't wear that thing in front of me. How do I know you're not making faces at me behind that thing?


By Jason on Wednesday, April 21, 1999 - 11:50 am:

In the Spaceball prison the is a sign on the wall that says "save air, breath less" I just find this funny.


By Anonymous on Friday, May 21, 1999 - 8:25 pm:

I knew it! I'm surrounded by ***holes!


By khazara on Wednesday, May 26, 1999 - 7:47 pm:

Spaceballs has been one of my favourite movies for years. With the relase of the Phantom Menace, a local theatre here had midnight screenings of Spaceballs for 3 days. I had never seen it on the big screen before, so it was a blast this weekend!

A couple things I noticed because of the larger screen, that I didn't notice on the home video:

- Princess Vespa's licence plate is "Spoil'd Rotten 1".

- Spaceballs: The Colouring Book has Optimus Prime on the cover!!

- the book that Pres. Skroob holds upside down has the face of Richard Nixon on it. (Everyone knows that "Skroob" is an anagram of "Brooks", right?)

- that's right--the Dinks are equal to Jawas, not Ewoks.


By Charles Cabe (Ccabe) on Thursday, May 27, 1999 - 1:24 pm:

IMHO, They are a combination of Ewoks and Jawas


By Chris Thomas on Friday, May 28, 1999 - 4:12 am:

They don't look anything like cute and cuddly teddy bears like the Ewoks do.


By ScottN on Friday, May 28, 1999 - 4:40 pm:

DH: "Lone Star, I was your father's uncle's cousin's brother-in-law's college roommate!"
LS: "So what does that make us?"
DH: "Absolutely Nothing!"

What's the exact quote for the first line?

-- Moichandizing! -- Yogurt


By D.K. Henderson on Saturday, July 24, 1999 - 6:01 am:

I liked the wedding scene:

Priest guy: "Name?"

Barf: "Barf."

P.G: "Full name?"

Barf: "Barfalomew."

I love the way John Candy looks when he says that.


By Chewwie on Monday, July 26, 1999 - 2:41 pm:

Since the beginning titles in Spaceballs say "Chapter 11," I'm waiting for Brooks to get on the bandwagon and produce his own "Chapter 1".

I always thought Skroob was just a knockoff for Screwball (re: Spaceballs...)

I think it's a great bit of irony that Brooksfilms used a subsidary of Lucasfilms for some (all?) of the sound production.

highpoint: Spaceball 1 bumpersticker "We brake for nobody."

low point: Skroob referring to beaming "What the hell, it worked in Star Trek."


By Mike Deeds on Tuesday, July 27, 1999 - 9:45 am:

Actually, there has been a rumor going around on the Internet about Spaceballs:The Prequel.


By John A. Lang on Monday, May 08, 2000 - 12:43 am:

The moon roof on Princess Vespa's vehicle
is white...you can't see it very clearly, but
IT IS THERE! You can see a faint outline
of a "moon roof" just mere seconds before blast-off. (DVD version)

Dink dink...dink dink dink dink dink dink!


By E1701 on Saturday, May 13, 2000 - 4:59 pm:

Nobody has yet mentioned the homage to Alien? That had me rolling on the floor the first time I saw that.

*FBI Warning*
CS: That's too early, prepare to fast foward!
SB: Preparing to fast foward!
CS: Fast foward!
*scene zooms through movie (notice at beginning, SB1's engines are off), and stops at Dark Helmet's accident*
DH: Skip past this part! In fact, never show this again!
*scene stops at view of now*
DH: What's this! What are we looking at?
CS: We're looking at now.
DH: So go back to then!
CS: It's too late, we've passed it.
DH: We were just looking at then!
CS: That was then, this is now.
DH: So when will then be now?
CS: Soon.
SB: Sir, we've found them!
CS: Excellent, where are they?
SB: The moon of Vega!
DH: WHOOOO!!!


By John Lang on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 1:41 am:

NIT!

After "Mega-Maid" explodes, our heroes begin to celebrate in the Winnebago....

Look carefully on Lone Starr's hand.....

He's got the ring of the Schwartz back on!

I thought he lost it on "Mega-Maid" when Dark
Helmutt took it from him & threw it down the shaft!

Wha happened?


By John A. Lang on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 1:47 am:

Another addition to "Conversion List":

I think Vinny the Robot (Pizza's aide)
was supposed to be Boba Fett.


By Merat on Saturday, August 19, 2000 - 9:54 am:

The "Spaceballs: The Coloring Book" that Yogurt shows the heros is actually an old "Transformers" coloring book that I used to have. :-)


By Saul on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 9:06 am:

Is this movie supposed to be anti-semitic, Yes I know there are Jewish actors in this movie but what about the Rampant Druish(Jewish)Jokes and Princess Vespa's Nose before her NoseJob. I loved this movie otherwise. I wish John Candy was still alive today, If the late Rabbi Meir Kahane saw this movie what would he think of the "Druish" Jokes.


By ScottN on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 9:26 am:

I doubt it. Mel Brooks (the writer, director, and producer) is Jewish. He was just going for some cheap laughs.

Shalom.


By Brian Fitzgerald on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 2:04 pm:

Is this movie supposed to be anti-semitic

calling mel brooks anti-semitic is like calling the Wayens brothers anti-black, or Jeff Foxworthey anti-southern


By The Undesirable Element on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 8:55 pm:

Remember that "Jews In Space" thing at the end of "History of the World, Part 1"??

TUE


By ScottN on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 10:14 pm:

Yes, and so was "Hitler on Ice". What's your point?


By TWS Garrison on Thursday, March 13, 2003 - 10:19 am:

ScottN:
DH: "Lone Star, I was your father's uncle's cousin's brother-in-law's college roommate!"
LS: "So what does that make us?"
DH: "Absolutely Nothing!"

What's the exact quote for the first line?


"I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate."

If you think about it for a minute, that means that he was Lone Starr's roommate, or Lone Starr's cousin's roommate.


By ScottN on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 6:20 pm:

Nits.

After Lone Star and Barf mug the guards for their uniforms, they go and rescue Vespa and Dot. They take off their helmets (just like Luke) in the cell, and go out without their helmets. No problem, except when the mugged guards show up in their underwear, they're wearing helmets!

Why didn't King Roland change the combination from 1-2-3-4-5 after he told it to the Spaceballs?

NANJAO

Lone Star's bumper sticker: "I (heart) URANUS"

Did anyone count all the moichandizing? I lost count... I think the last item was "Spaceballs: The Shaving Cream".

The look Zircon gives Skroob in the bathroom is priceless!


By constanze on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 4:50 am:

One of the best scenes: "comb the desert!" ROFL


By Torque, Son of Keplar on Friday, July 04, 2003 - 12:27 pm:

After Lone Star and Barf mug the guards for their uniforms, they go and rescue Vespa and Dot. They take off their helmets (just like Luke) in the cell, and go out without their helmets. No problem, except when the mugged guards show up in their underwear, they're wearing helmets! -ScottN

they also have their blasters.


also there are a few exterior scenes of Eagle 5 where you can see through the models windows.


By MuscaDomestica on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 8:20 am:

One of the best scenes: "comb the desert!" ROFL


Check out the carear of the actor that Aint found S*** you should find something very interesting.


By ScottN on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 9:00 am:

Wasn't that Michael Winslow of "Police Academy" fame?


By Darth Sarcasm on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 10:22 am:

Michael Winslow was the guy aboard the ship... I don't recall him as one of the spaceballs combing the desert.


By Darth Sarcasm on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 10:24 am:

OMG! I just imdb'd Spaceballs... is the desret comber "Trooper"?


By Snick on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 11:58 am:

Holy cow! Now I gotta get home and see it!


By Captain Dunsel on Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 4:56 pm:

Now we know what Tuvok did during those years between Excelsior and Voyager...


By xenocide42 on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 6:54 am:

During the exterior shot of the diner, near the end of the movie, look to the right. You can see the Millennium Falcon.


By MikeC on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 9:38 am:

Brenda Strong (Sue Ellen from "Seinfeld" and now Mary Alice on "Desperate Housewives") is also in the film as Gretchen, the nurse to the plastic surgeon.


By Gordon Lawyer on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 6:47 am:

I enjoyed this movie, but wonder how it got a PG rating. There's a lot of strong language (including an instance of the F word) as well as plenty of (frequently unsubtle) phallic humor. You think it would be at least PG13.


By B Wildered on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 6:08 am:

Mom! The kids have gotten into the liquor cabinet again!


By Polls Voice on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 11:15 am:

What is this? Viagra? well.. it's better than being spammed with "Vote Quimby" messages


By Zarm Rkeeg on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 12:53 pm:

Whoa! This is your board...

This is your board on drugs! Eeep! (And just when we got 'em offa 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture,' too...)


By Butch the Roving Mod on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 4:53 pm:

I've moved several spam posts to the Garbage Dump.
Thomas, I going to close this thread and open a Part 2. That foiled the Spambot that last infested NitCentral and I hope it will work here. Be assured, I'm not trying to step on your moderating toes, I'm just trying to stop the spam. :-)