Spaceballs

Spaceballs (1987)

Timing: 1:36 (96 min)

6.862/10
3354

6.592/10
15471

7.1/10
226000

All about film

Video 10

Photo 109

Actors and characters

Release date

1987-06-24

Country

United States

Production

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Brooksfilms Ltd., Brooksfilms, MGM

Genre

Comedy, Science Fiction

Budget

$22 700 000

Revenue

$38 120 460

Website

http://www.mgm.com/view/movie/1873/Spaceballs/

Director

Mel Brooks

Actors

Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, Michael Winslow, Joan Rivers, Lorene Yarnell Jansson
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Mel Brooks, Ezra Swerdlow

Operator

Nick McLean

Composer

John Morris

Artist

Dianne Wager

Audition

Lynn Stalmaster, Bill Shepard, David Rubin

Editing

Conrad Buff IV
All team (72)

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• George Lucas' company, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), specifically made the laser swords for this film.
• 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.
• Barf's costume was operated by three people. Candy manipulated the tail using a device hidden in his "paw," and two assistants moved the ears. The costume was connected to a 30-pound battery pack located on Candy's back.
• In one episode, Lone Starr says 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.
• 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'.
• When Barf, preparing with Lon Starr to rescue Princess Vespa, looks through the periscope, among the changing symbols, Cyrillic letters can be seen, including the words "DOG-CAT" and "X-U-I69".
• 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.
• 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).
• 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".