Mom and Dad Save the World

Mom and Dad Save the World follows Marge and Dick Nelson, an ordinary married couple whose weekend trip is interrupted when an alien emperor named Tod Spengo spots Marge from across space, pulls the couple to his planet with a giant magnet, and decides to marry her before destroying Earth. Dick ends up imprisoned, where he meets the planet's deposed ruler, King Raff, and draws on his knowledge of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers adventures to fight back and save his wife and the planet.

The 1992 comedy was directed by Greg Beeman, his second feature after License to Drive (1988) and the second of the eight films listed in his directing career. Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Teri Garr, Jeffrey Jones, Jon Lovitz, Eric Idle, Thalmus Rasulala and Wallace Shawn. It was produced by Michael Phillips and J. Max Kirishima, with HBO among the production companies.

Made for about 14 million dollars, the film took in roughly 2 million at the worldwide box office, a fraction of its cost. Audiences on TMDB rate it 4.9 out of 10 from 89 votes, and critics were harsher still, scoring it 3.7 out of 10 across 25 reviews, so both groups received it poorly.