Rotten
The crew flings itself energetically through space in search of laughs, but it will never penetrate the galaxy where Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein traced their giddy orbits.
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
Spaceballs
May the schwartz be with you.
1987 · 1h 36m · PG
Comedy, Science Fiction
Directed by
Mel Brooks
Overview
When the nefarious Dark Helmet hatches a plan to snatch Princess Vespa and steal her planet's air, space-bum-for-hire Lone Starr and his clueless sidekick fly to the rescue. Along the way, they meet Yogurt, who puts Lone Starr wise to the power of "The Schwartz." Can he master it in time to save the day?
Director and cast
- Mel Brooks Director
- Mel Brooks as President Skroob/Yoghurt
- John Candy as Barf
- Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet
- Bill Pullman as Lone Starr
- Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa
- Dick Van Patten as King Roland
- George Wyner as Colonel Sandurz
- Michael Winslow as Radar Technician
- Joan Rivers Cast
- Lorene Yarnell Jansson Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
52%
Tomatometer
Fresh
The film's low-tech styling is roughly the cardboard inversion of the cinematic machines it parodies, and Brooks seems less inclined than usual to push the overkill urges too far.
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader
Rotten
Mel Brooks will do anything for a laugh. Unfortunately, what he does in Spaceballs, a misguided parody of the Star Wars adventures, isn't very funny.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh
If it isn't likely to generate what Mr. Brooks himself refers to as 'Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money, neither is it anything less than gentle, harmless satire that occasionally has real bite.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
Rotten
How do you review a movie like this, anyway? I guess by saying whether you laughed or not. I did laugh, but not enough to recommend the film.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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