Spaceballs

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Spaceballs

PG

1987

1h 32m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

52%

Tomatometer

105 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

In a distant galaxy, planet Spaceball has depleted its air supply, leaving its citizens reliant on a product called "Perri-Air." In desperation, Spaceball's leader President Skroob (Mel Brooks) orders the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to kidnap Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) of oxygen-rich Druidia and hold her hostage in exchange for air. But help arrives for the Princess in the form of renegade space pilot Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog partner, Barf (John Candy).

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Critics Consensus

There's fine spoofery and amusing characters in Spaceballs, though it's a far cry from Mel Brooks' peak era.

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

04/12/2024

Spaceballs has the happy air of a comic enterprise that knows it's going right. It just keeps spritzing the gags at us, Borscht Belt-style, confidently and rightly sensing that if we don't laugh at this one, we'll laugh at the next. And so we do.

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

04/12/2024

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.

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Harper Barnes

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

04/12/2024

It probably will do fairly well with kids and younger adolescents, who haven't heard the bad puns and seen the sight gags a thousand times before.

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Katie Hogan

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

Mar 13

3/5

Though there are some genuine laughs, particularly when Dark Helmet and his crew are on screen, Spaceballs is a decent parody film, but is stifled by one too many clichéd jokes, too much of Brooks himself, and its genre.

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Richard Freedman

Newark Star-Ledger

Jan 14

With his incomparably vulgar Borsht Belt sense of humor, leave it to Mel Brooks to kid the pants off such adolescent cosmic debris as the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" epics in "Spaceballs."

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Cathy Burke

United Press International

04/12/2024

This sendup by director Mel Brooks incorporates the silliest aspects of all the major space adventures of the last decade, and the whole is a hilarious combination of its parts.

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Joseph M

Aug 4

Classic Mel Brooks comedy. One of his best. Any fans of comedy and or Star Wars this is a must-see. So many one-liners in references. Highly recommend seeing this in theaters if you have the chance during throwback showings..... LUDICROUS SPEED... GO!

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Rich

12/03/2024

Unquestionably the greatest movie of all time

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smichalkowski

09/01/2023

Haven't seen it in decades but it was good

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Arlan P

08/28/2023

What is there NOT to like...it's Mel Brooks!!!!

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Joshua C

08/28/2023

Absolutely hilarious!

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Crystal U

03/26/2021

Awesome as always!! I think my kids appreciated more of the humor now!

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Mel Brooks

Director

Mel Brooks

President Skroob

John Candy

Barfolemew "Barf"

Rick Moranis

Lord Dark Helmet

Bill Pullman

Captain Lone Starr

Daphne Zuniga

Princess Vespa

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Synopsis

In a distant galaxy, planet Spaceball has depleted its air supply, leaving its citizens reliant on a product called "Perri-Air." In desperation, Spaceball's leader President Skroob (Mel Brooks) orders the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to kidnap Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) of oxygen-rich Druidia and hold her hostage in exchange for air. But help arrives for the Princess in the form of renegade space pilot Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog partner, Barf (John Candy).

Director: Mel Brooks
Producer: Mel Brooks
Screenwriter: Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan, Ronny Graham
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 4, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 20, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $36.7M
Runtime: 1h 32m
Sound Mix: Surround

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