SPACEBALLS was a childhood favourite of mine and I'm pleased to see that it still holds up today for audiences. It's a loving spoof of the whole STAR WARS franchise with Mel Brooks on top form as he mercilessly ribs George Lucas for his addition to merchandising, ridiculous costumes, plot elements, and the like. That SPACEBALLS also tells its own entertaining story that holds up as a stand-alone adventure is testament to its effectiveness. Strong production values and fun effects only add to the experience.

The cast is a superior one with the highlights including Joan Rivers as 'Dot Matrix' and the lovably goofy John Candy playing a half-man, half-dog. Rick Moranis really shines though in his best role as 'Dark Helmet' and many of his scenes are the funniest the film has to offer; also watch out for Mel Brooks's scene-stealing 'Yogurt'. The laughs come thick and fast and not all of them are funny, but when the film hits it really hits; the scenes involving instant video cassettes and breaking the fourth wall are the funniest. My overall highlight though has to be John Hurt's cameo, which is the icing on an already splendid cake.

This movie can be absolutely hilarious, if you are in the right mood for it. If you didn't liked this movie, then you probably weren't in the right mood, because there is no way you can dislike and find this movie unfunny.

Most fun thing about the movie is Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet who is the complete opposite in every way of the ultimate bad guy from the entire universe; Darth Vader, especially in size. Like almost every other Mel Brook's movie this movie has some extreme hits and some extreme misses, by seriously it all is just a matter of taste. What might seem funny for some is unfunny to others and vice versa.

The acting is over the top and quite bad actually especially Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga. Thank goodness that the sidekicks are the better and funnier characters in this movie, characters with poetic names such as Barf, Colonel Sandurz, Major Asshole, Yogurt and Pizza the Hutt.

The movie suffers from some horrible eighties songs, the curse of almost every eighties movies these days, other than that, there isn't much negative to say about his movie even though it is far from Brook's best.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Okay, I freely admit that I sometimes like silly and unsophisticated comedy, but when it comes to SPACEBALLS, I just can't take all that juvenile humor and excesses most Mel Brooks films are subject to. Once upon a time, long before Brooks considered himself a great comic genius, his roles in his own films were very, very limited--and I really think this is why THE PRODUCERS and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN are his two best films. Not only was he practically absent on screen, but the films showed great humor as well as restraint. However, after his reputation spread, the hammy nature of the director became apparent--he made himself the star of many films (even though he couldn't act) and the humor became far less sophisticated or funny. The expression "beating a dead horse" definitely comes to mind, as Brooks could have used a strong producer on set to keep the films on task and not overdo the jokes.

Here is SPACEBALLS, there fortunately is less Mel on screen but the jokes, while often funny are also often very childish and show no sense of timing or restraint--making this a great comedy for 7th graders (and under) or those with VERY undemanding tastes.