Spaceballs (1987)

Some movies are timeless.  You can watch them and they seem to speak to you the same no matter what.  If there is any political message, that message can be true regardless of how old the movie is or how old the viewer might be.  Spaceballs doesn’t seem to be one of those movies.  To be fair, I remember it being funny when it came out.  It parodied Star Wars and I knew enough about it to get the jokes.   The problem is that 30 years later, the jokes seem dated.

The story goes that Princess Vespa is about to be married to the last prince.  It’s her duty to marry royalty, even if there’s no love.  She runs away and is subsequently captured by Lord Helmet aboard the space ship Spaceball 1. President Skroob intends to hold her hostage so that her father, King Roland, will give the code to their shielding, allowing Spaceball 1 to take all their air.

King Roland calls up Lone Starr and Barf to rescue the princess, which they do.  Unfortunately, they crash on a planet when they run out of gas.  On this planet, they meet Yogurt.  Yogurt is able to help them out, mostly by providing gas.  He also plugs the movie’s massive merchandising, including lunch boxes and the like.  (Do they even still sell lunch boxes like they had in the 80s?)  Being a comedy, Lone Star saves the day and the bad guys get what’s coming to them.

Someone not born in the 1980s probably isn’t going to get all the references.  Some, like Star Trek and Star Wars are somewhat obvious.  Others, like having Michael Winslow as a radar technician, might go over someone’s head.  Even to someone that grew up in the era, the jokes may seem old.  This is something that definitely reeks of the 80s.

The humor itself isn’t necessarily offensive.  Much of the objectionable material would be some cursing and sci-fi violence.  (Think people shooting at each other with laser beams.)  There are a few off-color jokes.  Vespa’s planet is called Druidia with the demonym being Druish.  You get stuff about people looking Druish.  It’s not over the top, but similar jokes are used a few times.

For those familiar with the works of Mel Brooks, I don’t think you’ll have a lot of surprises.  Consider that you have Brooks staring as both President Skroob and Yogurt.  John Candy is Barf and Lord Helmet is played by Rick Moranis.  You’ll also catch Joan Rivers as the voice of Dot Matrix.  Bill Pullman is the only one that I thought was cast against type as Lone Starr.  (Daphne Zuniga is one of the few main actors that I didn’t recognize from another movie.  So far as I know, I‘ve only seen her as Princess Vespa.)

It’s difficult for me to issue a binary recommendation here.  It’s possible to enjoy it on the first viewing, but I wouldn’t recommend buying it.  Instead, rent it or wait for it to become available on a movie channel or through streaming.  I was able to catch the movie on Starz, although I could see it easily coming on basic cable or a broadcast channel.

IMDb page

Police Academy (1984)

I remember someone talking about the TV show Frasier.  The show was spun off from Cheers and featured a psychiatrist as its lead character.  Being a comedy, it took certain liberties.  In the interview, someone admitted that an actual psychiatrist wouldn’t do many of the things that Frasier had done.  So many transgressions had been committed that he would have lost his license long ago.  I tend to think that Police Academy is similar.  I doubt that real police academies look anything like what’s shown in the film.

The movie starts off with a title card stating that the mayor of an unspecified jurisdiction has dropped all requirements for entry into the police academy, thus allowing anyone and everyone to apply.  This exists only to allow for a group of random wannabes to make into the main narrative of the film.

For instance, Carey Mahoney is facing jail time as his father’s friend is growing tired of keeping him out of trouble.  The choice that Mahoney is given is to enter the police academy or face jail time.  He agrees if he can bring with him someone he met in the police station.  That someone is Larvell Jones, who is played by Michael Winslow.  He was known for making all manner of sound effects with his voice.  There’s also a trigger-happy security guard named Tackleberry and a very meek woman named Laverne Hooks.

Each recruit wants to be there with the possible exception of Mahoney, who is hoping to do what it takes to get kicked out.  The police chief has other plans.  He wants the police force kept predominantly white and male.  The chief gives orders to Commandant Lassard to get rid of any undesirables by making them quit.  This puts Mahoney in the difficult position of not having an easy way out.

There aren’t many surprises.  As you might imagine, Mahoney finds his calling.  Many of his attempts to weasel his way out are played mostly for laughs.  (He sends a fellow recruit into the commandant’s house thinking that owning up to it will do the trick.)  You also know that Hooks will find her voice at some point.  None of the recruits really belong there.  Height and fitness requirements exist for a reason.  You are expected to perform certain functions which require certain attributes.

Each character seems to serve as a way of setting up some joke.  The plot seems to serve as a method of bringing them together.  On that note, Police Academy was the first time I remember taking exception with an ironic name.  They took the tallest character and named him Hightower.  One scene has Mahoney teaching him to drive in the smallest car they could find.  It occurred to me one day that Hightower is a common-enough name.  It’s not inconceivable that someone, somewhere is both tall and named Hightower.

It’s one of those movies you’ll get the most enjoyment the first time.  I don’t know that you’ll like it as much the second time around.  I’d recommend renting or streaming it rather than buying it. 

IMDb page