Spaceballs
Short description
Spaceballs is a science fiction comedy set in a distant galaxy where the planet Spaceball has squandered its own air supply. Its president, Skroob, orders the villainous Dark Helmet to kidnap Princess Vespa of Druidia, hoping to trade her for the clean atmosphere her world still enjoys. Vespa has already fled an arranged wedding, and her disappearance draws in Lone Starr, a pilot short on money and long on nerve, along with his half-man, half-dog companion Barf. Their path crosses that of Yogurt, a small sage who instructs Lone Starr in the mystical power known as the Schwartz. Pursuing the princess are Dark Helmet's forces and the gangster Pizza the Hutt, to whom Lone Starr owes a debt.
Mel Brooks directed and co-wrote the film with Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham, and he also produced it with Ezra Swerdlow. It followed History of the World: Part I in his filmography and preceded Life Stinks. Brooks appears in two roles, as President Skroob and as Yogurt, alongside Bill Pullman, Rick Moranis, John Candy, Daphne Zuniga and Dick Van Patten. Around 73 cast and crew members are credited.
The production cost roughly 23 million dollars and returned about 38 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from some 226,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 out of 10 from a much smaller pool, while the critics' rating stands at 5.9 out of 10 from 105 reviews. Viewers have therefore rated the comedy more warmly than critics did.
What's left behind the scenes
- When President Scrub meets the twins, he tells them to “chew their gum.” This is a reference to a Doublemint gum commercial that also featured twins.
- When Barf, preparing to rescue Princess Vespa with Lone Starr, looks through the periscope, Cyrillic letters can be seen among the changing symbols, including the words "PES-KOT" and "X-U-I69".
- The president's last name is an anagram of the last name of the actor who played the role and the film's director, Mel Brooks.
- In one episode, Lone Starr states that he was born "somewhere in the Ford Galaxy." This phrase is a playful reference to a car model with a similar name (Ford Galaxie 500).
- The buckle on Colonel Sandurtz's belt is shaped like a Nobel Prize.
- The scene in which Dark Helmet plays with dolls was not in the script. This idea came to Mel Brooks on set. When he told Moranis about it, he played the entire episode through full improvisation.
- Mel Brooks wrote the screenplay for the film in six months. Before making a parody of "Star Wars," he asked George Lucas for permission to do so. Lucas, being a big fan of Brooks' work, read the script and approved it.
- In one scene, all of Mel Brooks' films made up to that point are visible on a shelf of VHS tapes.
- During the transformation of 'Cosmobe 1' into Megagornish Lord Helm commands: 'Begin metamorphosis, password "Kafka"' – this is an allusion to Franz Kafka's story 'The Metamorphosis'.
- George Lucas' company, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), specifically made the laser swords for this film.
- Three people operated the Barf costume. Candy manipulated the tail using a device hidden in its paw, while two assistants moved the ears. The costume was connected to a 30-pound battery located on Candy’s back.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
