Comments on: What is it with Spaceballs?

By: Alfred

Alfred — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:23:19 +0000

I’m 12 and HATED this movie. One day I was bored so I popped an old copy that was lying around into the VHS player and sat down. I’d heard from my classmates that it was hilarious. So I watched. I’m not an easy laugher in movies but sometimes I’ll smirk or think that something’s funny. That didn’t happen ONCE in Spaceballs. I waited half an hour for something funny to happen. Nothing did. I ended up dragging myself through and entire hour but then I gave up on it.

However, I’m clearly a minority because I constantly find myself hearing all of these Spaceball references (like “Pizza the Hut”). Whenever I express my hatred towards the film I find that I generally hurt someone inside. I was recently talking to one of my friends, he’s 13 and I think of him as mature for his age and a Spaceballs reference was uttered. I said that it reminded me of a movie that I hated and he asked if it was Spaceballs. I said, “Yes” and he was instantly quiet. So I asked him if he liked the movie and I think he felt like I was testing him because he said, “It was ok.” So of course I felt bad about that since I’d sort of pressured one of my peers into not liking a movie.

Unfortunately, I guess I have a slightly “off” sense of humor for my age-group. I like to think of it as being slightly more sophisticated (More Sophisticated (a): Having NOTHING to do with Bodily Noises or Body Excretions) than average but I do find that it can hurt other people’s feelings. Not that it’s offensive or anything but sometimes I find that I have more influence than I’d like to think because whenever something slips and I let my feelings on movies like Spaceballs and other things like Epic Movie, I get this feeling like other people feel kind of taken aback. However, I’m going to stop here because I realize that I’ve gone on a tangent.

By: DJ

DJ — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:46:44 +0000

Well, the the guy was repeated. We can assume they’re clones I guess…

By: Triskavanski

Triskavanski — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:00:55 +0000

DJ, you mean the one oompa loompa. But yeah, i didn’t like the new one even though it had Depp in it.

As for spaceballs, I’ve loved it though the years, granted, I’m only 22 though. So, i may not be an old fart like some people, but I’m loving it. You say though that it its because of the innuendo or body jokes in spaceballs, but i dont see very many of them in there. Not nearly as many in those horrible “scary movie” parodies.

By: DJ

DJ — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:51:50 +0000

I know right? The new Willy Wonka was more acurate to the book but it doesn’t have that whimsical sense the original did. And the oompa loompas were awful.

By: Colleen Hannon

Colleen Hannon — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:59:59 +0000

Exactly! It’s a moral imperative you watch these movies!

And I hear you on Willie Wonka. :shudder:

By: Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:54:38 +0000

OK, Colleen, so maybe we’ll get a few quotes out of the deal … I already have them saturated with Veggie Tales, Real Genius, Willie Wonka (the *real* one) and Better Off Dead … just so long as they don’t pull a Back to the Future and say “when this baby hits 88 MPH you’re gonna see some serious stuff” when they are driving!

By: Simon Windmill

Simon Windmill — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:46:12 +0000

Colleen! Yes! I thought I was the only one too! And I think it was called Spaceship when I saw it, and yes, “I Wanna Eat Your Face” is the only thing that stuck with me. Considering I’ve only seen the movie once (I will watch it again now that I know how to find it) and I’ve remembered it for 20-odd years, I think that’s pretty cool.

Of course, I think the same thing about Gotcha! too.

By: Colleen Hannon

Colleen Hannon — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:22:11 +0000

This is so cool. I thought I was the only person on the planet who had seen it. When I saw it, “The Creature Isn’t Nice” was called “Spaceship”. And it is one of my favorite films of all time. Among other gems it contains the classic song “I Want to Eat Your Face”.

The real use for these films isn’t to enjoy them. It’s to enjoy not enjoying them together. Mystery Science Theater: The Home Game is one of the funnest ones out there. Your gang is a little short for it – just wait until they’re older and hormones start expressing the Smart Alec gene. You’ll get it whether you want it or not.

They also provide plenty of fodder for in-jokes and geeky reference. I enjoy their take on these things. I remember when we all watched Krull. Not only did they pick out Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane in performances I bet they both wish they could forget, the Harryhausen-esque glass spider led us off into some very cool old stop-motion flicks. And every time we all walk into the videostore past that Dark Sector poster with the guy who looks like Tom Cruise darkly menacing the whole sidewalk with his Glaive we all giggle and we all know why.

That’s why Spaceballs. So when you two are practicing driving their you can tell your kid he’s gone to Plaid and needs to slow down to driving Ludicrous Speed.

By: DJ

DJ — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:30:27 +0000

I’m a 15 year old and I like Spaceballs. I hadn’t really seen the crappy starwars spoofs, but I saw Airplane as well as many of Mel’s previous comedies. I grew up on the original Star Wars trilogy and the books. I liked the prequels, but to me I still like the old ones much much more. There is really not evidence but I’m a big star wars guy at heart. I also love Mel Brooks movies. Any one of them really. I really liked this one and that spaceballs the video was one of my favorite jokes. That and the merchandising one.

By: GamerDad

GamerDad — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:06:06 +0000

Btw. There’s an excellent book called World War Z (it’s a realistic account of how the world might react to a zombie invasion) and the sillier Zombie Survival Guide, and both are written by Max Brooks.

Yep, he clearly opted to go a different route than daddy. Good thing is a good writer.