One of my favorite Mel Brooks movies was just on TV. I'm talking about the Star Wars inspired, Spaceballs. It's one of Mel's best. I actually have the DVD, but I haven't watched it in a while. Seeing it again made me think of seven of the reasons I love this movie.
The Cast: What's not to like? We have John Candy as Barf, the companion of the hero, Lone Star. Barf is a mog, which is half man, half dog. John Rivers is Dot Matrix, the android companion to Princess Vespa. Mel Brooks in a dual role as President Skroob (Brooks spelled backwards) and the wise and powerful, Yogurt.
The Radar Scene: Michael Winslow is the man at the radar. He's the guy who does the voices in the Police Academy movies, and he's funny in this scene as he explains that the radar had been jammed, literally. As Dark Helmet says, "there's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry, Lone Star."
Going Over His Helmet: Somebody took the initiative to act before consulting Dark Helmet. By the way, Rick Moranis was brilliant in this scene, the scene where he's caught playing with his Spaceballs action figures and the final scene on my list. In this particular scene, he has a way of dealing with people who go over his helmet. Let's just say that man felt the wraith of his force, I mean schwartz.
Desert Search/Oddly Named Crewmen: When President Skroob orders Dark Helmet to comb the desert in search of Lone Star and the princess, he takes him a little too literally. They didn't find anything either. In a scene on the ship, Dark Helmet seems to be surrounded by many crewman from the same family.
Movie References/Merchandising: Those of you who have scene Aliens and the original Planet Of The Apes movies will appreciate the scenes when you see them. Yogurt knows what movie making is really all about, and he explains it to Lone Star. There's a lot of truth in that scene.
The Duel: Dark Helmet and Lone Star finally meet in a silly light saber inspired duel. I always got a laugh from the line, "And now you see why evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb."
Ludicrous Speed: Lone Star is about to get away, and Dark Helmet couldn't let that happen. Probably the funniest scene in a funny movie for me. Seems that when you go that fast, the colors are a little bit different.
When I see what Mel did with his comedic takes on Hitchcock, westerns, space movies and monster movies, I really would have loved to see him do something on The Matrix or The Lord The Rings. Knowing him, they would have been epically funny.
