Spaceballs (PG)

With complete and utter failures such as the “Scary Movie” series, “Epic Movie,” and “Meet the Spartans” littering the cinematic archives, parody films prove to be one of the more difficult attempts at comedy. A common mistake in the genre of the parody is looping together a handful of independent jokes and gags that may be good for a chuckle or two but fail to translate as a cohesive unit.

The recent flunkies to the genre should take notes from one of, if not the best parody film of all time, the 1987 classic “Spaceballs.” Conjured by the king of parodies, Mel Brooks, “Spaceballs” manages to pull off the rarity as it pokes fun at the immensely popular Star Wars movies (among other sci-fi classics) while weaving the jokes together into its own comical and fairly sturdy story.

Mel Brooks is one of those enigmatic film makers with a crop of classic films to his credits (“Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “The Producers”) though to this day “Spaceballs” remains the only one I have ever seen. I first saw “Spaceballs” as a sixth-grader and laughed hysterically from start to finish and spent recess with my friends reciting lines verbatim. Watching as an adult I found the laughter subdued a tiny bit, though now was able to understand everything a little better (with a plethora of sexual and toilet jokes I had no clue about when I was a child.) Brooks managed to assemble an all-star cast of comic talent for the film, including John Candy, Rick Moranis, and Joan Rivers.

Though there is a plot, it’s so outlandish to explain it would be ridiculous. “Spaceballs” makes its juice on the characters rather than the story itself. Rick Moranis made a name as a comedic star in the ‘80s with his memorable performances in “Ghostbusters,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.” Moranis, as the primary antagonist Dark Helmet, is the polar opposite of the Sith lord Darth Vader whom his character is mimicking. Moranis steals the show as the puny, bespectacled nerd with a whiny voice who, unlike Vader, has no need whatsoever to wear the unusually large helmet. Though designed to be inexplicably evil (other than to be antagonistic in terms of the plot) Moranis turns Dark Helmet into a hilarious and thoroughly memorable character.

The other more unforgettable performance comes courtesy of the late great John Candy as the Mawg (half man, half dog) Barf. Candy dazzled the screen throughout the ‘80s in comedic hits like “Uncle Buck,” “The Great Outdoors,” and “Planes, Trains & Automobiles.” Candy’s hilarious portrayal of the Chewbacca-like character reminds the viewers that he was taken from this world far too soon.

Mel Brooks takes the stage as two characters; the bumbling Spaceball leader President Skroob and the all powerful mystic Yogurt, though the other great performance belongs to the unheralded George Wyner as helmet’s straight man Colonel Sanders.

Bill Pullman is a good lead, one who understands he’s not nearly as funny as Candy or Moranis, and Daphne Zuniga rounds out the human cast as the damsel in distress Princess Vespa. Legendary comic Joan Rivers lends her voice to the droid Dot.

The only negative to “Spaceballs” is that many of the jokes and gags are spoofing characters or concepts from other movies and, though I assume nearly everyone has some familiarity with the “Star Wars” series, you may not have watched it so many times as to immediately grasp some of the more subtle jokes. Nevertheless, if you want to laugh and not think too hard, you can’t go wrong with “Spaceballs.” It’s absolutely perfect as a sick day movie, and even makes me think it might be time to check out some of the other works of Mr. Brooks.

-by Matt Christopher