Spaceballs - Does It Hold Up?
Welcome to the classic hold up, where we analyze media from the past. Each episode features a different host that brings a fresh take on a film, TV show, video game, or music album of their choice. Do old favorites have a shelf life? Will the classics hold up?
Speaker 2:Hello. Hello, everybody. My name is Trey Cleaver, and I'm gonna be your host for this episode of the classic hold up. I am a junior in digital storytelling with the concentration in audio. I love taking long walks on the beach and drinking pina coladas in the rain.
Speaker 2:And today, we're gonna be talking about Spaceballs, the 1987 film directed by Mel Brooks. And it's it's it's kind of a cult classic at this point. It's a it's a spoof. It's a parody of Star Wars. It follows the main character, Lone Star, the kind of a mix between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and his trusty sidekick, Barf, the Mogg, half man, half dog, as they try to rescue the princess of Druidia.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, it's just a spoof of just the classic Star Wars story. There's you've got characters in reference to to Yoda. You have, Lord Lord Helmet, who is just a parody of Darth Vader. And you it's just really funny, raunchy, definitely not appropriate for audiences, I would say, 16 and lower. I don't know.
Speaker 2:Depending on your household. But I I personally enjoyed it. I first interacted with that film in high school. I believe my sophomore year of high school, I my dad had this this TV recorder. He would just take different movies, shows recorded on TV, on cable, and he talked to my brother and I one day, hey, wanna watch Spaceballs?
Speaker 2:I say, what is that, dad? He said, oh, you're in for a treat, and I for sure was. And joining me in the studio today is Tom McGovern. Please introduce yourself. Yes.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:My name is Tom McGovern. I am a senior at MSU. I'm a nursing major. I'm not much into health food, but I am into champagne. So I am a first time viewer of Spaceballs.
Speaker 3:I fairly enjoyed the movie and we'll get into the specifics of it. I think it has a lot of very good aspects that not only make it kind of a cult classic that people just can get behind because it's really funny. But also, it does some really good things of like making fun of the common tropes and being a fun movie in that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I agree. It's there's there's definitely plenty of of spoofs on on classic film and on classic just storylines in general. So just how how do you feel this content was viewed like when it came out?
Speaker 3:I think when it came out, it was probably it was probably two camps. One camp of people was like, this is really funny. Like, this is a good movie. This is really funny. But then there was probably another camp of people that were outraged.
Speaker 3:Like, oh, this is mockery of something incredible. This great great thing of Star Wars, you're mocking it. You're making a mockery of it. But, I mean, it's just parody. And then, I mean, nowadays, I think most people look at it through the lens of it's just a funny parody movie, you
Speaker 2:know. Mhmm. Yeah. And that's that's exactly what I found, really. It's it had a budget of, I believe, $22,000,000, and it made 46,000,000 in the box office.
Speaker 2:So a decent decent profit Mhmm. From that director there. But it's actually exactly as you said. There were two camps. There were those that that just hated it on release.
Speaker 2:They're they say it was a just a scorn upon George Lucas's name. And then others were just yeah. No. The the the the camp in which the enjoyers of space balls has definitely grown over the years because it it has become a cult classic at this point. It's not it wasn't a smash hit on release.
Speaker 2:It was just, like, mediocre. There was there was some people were like, a plus. It's super funny. And then a lot of people were like, f. This is awful.
Speaker 2:This is terrible. Mhmm. But, yeah, it's just
Speaker 3:it's it's And didn't they get George Lucas' approval for this movie to be made?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. They they definitely did. They there was I I believe it was it was kind of an arduous process to get that that that approval, but it was they got it anyway, and George Lucas yeah. He I believe he's gone on record saying that he he really loves the movie.
Speaker 2:He likes the the spoof. Likes the the gags, the googles. But Mhmm. And, yeah, just, like, going on more about just I don't know. Just some some of the jokes, I guess.
Speaker 2:Just how how do you feel how do you think how do you feel the the movie is looked back upon?
Speaker 3:I think it's still looked back upon very fondly. Because, I mean, I'm sure a lot of people who watched it back then are like, oh, that was so funny when I was a kid. Regardless how you feel about it, now you can always look back on it positively and see the things in it that you liked as a kid or when you watched it whenever. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I I I 100% agree. There's there's things things you wish you could change, but then there's there's parts of it that you're like, yeah, it happened. So I I just appreciate what
Speaker 3:happened. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:You as a first time viewer, it in the Big 25 Mhmm. For the first time, how do you perceive this movie?
Speaker 3:I still see it as a good, like, parody of the movie, obviously. Having seen Star Wars, it a lot of it, like, makes sense. You can see the parallels, and it's fun to kinda figure out what's going on with it. I did enjoy it. You can definitely see some of the, shall we say, nineteen hundredsisms where they make references to certain things that maybe nowadays wouldn't be as accepted or as socially joked about sort of thing.
Speaker 3:But I think as a whole with the overall story, it fits enough and is not too out there or raunchy that it doesn't get too crazy. I think my my biggest part of it was the the fact that the so the the planet of Druidia, the people there are the Druish people. And there are some jokes made about that in relation kind of referencing them to like the Jewish people, which some people could take that offensively. However, Mel Brooks himself is the he was the director. Right?
Speaker 3:Yeah. He he is Jewish. So he's he's almost kind of using himself in the comedy there.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Yeah. No. It's it's there there there are some there are some jokes there just just, yeah, towing that line. There's there's, like, a bunch of, yeah, Drewish jokes, and it's it's I I I feel just certain people might get a little irked about that.
Speaker 2:I I they they they they were pushing it. They were definitely pushing it. But, yeah, as you said, it was just like those 1,900 isms, those late late 1,900, it was there's things were loud. So it it's, you know, it was a different time. And the the the jokes can they they can get they can get a chuckle, but they can also get a cringe.
Speaker 2:It's it's it's the the the two sides of the coin when you you're making that edgy humor, you're making that that more raunchy, I get yeah, that more just towing the line content. It it As time goes on, that line is going to be moved. So maybe instead of towing it, you're just over it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And not not necessarily like with offensive things, but things change that are funny all the time.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I mean, next week, the jokes of this week are gonna be old, know. They're not gonna be funny anymore. There's new jokes, there's new new trends, new fads, like those are the things that are gonna be funny and we'll forget about the old stuff. And looking back, you might be like, why did we think that was funny? Like that that's not really that funny.
Speaker 3:So it it's kind of constantly evolving and changing, but you can still look back at it with the lens of that was very funny at the time, and I see where the humor was.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I know. It's it's rewatching it, I I remember I I watched it in high school, and I'm like, this is so funny. And then rewatching it now with, like, my lens of being out in the world more, I'm like, oh, some of these jokes are but then but then some of the I I I feel what it does really well is just jokes about just, like, film in general. They they there's a there's a lot of, like, what's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker 3:Like parodies and stuff. Yeah. Is. And it's almost like mockeries. Like, I was especially feeling that with the scene where Lord Helmet and Colonel Sanders pull out the VHS of Spaceballs to see what they need to do next.
Speaker 2:It was great. That was a real that was a that was a good bit. That was a fun bit on, I don't know, just kinda meta. It was it like, they were watching themselves, and they made good gags. Lord Helmet in particular made a lot of good gags to the camera.
Speaker 2:It broke the fourth wall a bunch. It was it was pretty funny. Yeah. How do you how do you feel it's gonna be looked upon just going forward?
Speaker 3:I think going forward it'll still be kinda like that that Call Classic because you still have those people who are behind it and you still have enough people that aren't like horrendously upset by it or offended by it that it can kinda just be in its own little bubble. Kind of like an argument of like, if it's not hurting anyone, is it really like a big deal? And where's the line with that is another question. Because it's like, well, if one person doesn't like it, does it have to go, you know? Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I know. That's that's that's just the issue with with just making media in general. It's it's gonna be just how how do you get looked back upon? How do you how's your legacy? How's your legacy just upholded?
Speaker 2:I don't know. It's it's I I feel just in the future, just just some of these jokes are are are gonna be are gonna definitely be too much because even even for me, they they were they were definitely towing I've said that phrase, but they were definitely pushing the boundaries.
Speaker 3:I think especially the Semitic based art folks are gonna be the ones that are the first to be like, I don't know about that.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. I know. Because just as time goes on, making fun of a group of people is no no. Big no no. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Unless it's I I feel just a group of people for just faith or something out of their control, sexuality, gender, race, any anything like that is is A defining, like, personality
Speaker 3:or physical Mhmm. Characteristics.
Speaker 2:That's a definite no no. But, like, as time has gone on, I feel like things more in your control, like like your career and stuff like that is definitely up for for just in the firing range, I feel. And that's that's why I feel just some of the jokes work well, you know?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, some of the jokes they do where they kinda, like you were saying, they make fun of the common film tropes where they they they actually look into the movie and see what's about to happen. Or they'll make fun of Star Wars because they have like Pizza the Hut. The princess takes off the princess Leia esque hair and it's really headphones. Or my I really liked the joke with yogurt making fun of like consumerism in general being like, merchandising.
Speaker 3:Merchandising. That that was the funniest joke.
Speaker 2:I feel my favorite my favorite bit was the opening scene. I love that opening, four minute scroll
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Of the star destroyer. I Yeah. Of Spaceball one. That is my favorite bit. There's so many times where you see like what looks like the end of a ship and it just keeps going.
Speaker 2:That really sets
Speaker 3:it up well of like, you're not watching Star Wars. No. This is something completely different.
Speaker 2:I know. Yeah. That's just like, yeah. Just jokes like that are so so good for just long term effects because it makes fun of something in an industry and not in a people.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Or like Colonel Sanders. Exactly. It's funny.
Speaker 2:That's that's a good bit. That is a good bit.
Speaker 3:Or that Lone Star. He's like based on Indiana Jones. Yeah. Because that's another character Harrison Ford is telling
Speaker 2:me. Exactly.
Speaker 4:My name is Troy Wells.
Speaker 5:My name is Annabelle Velton. My name is Jenna Coleman.
Speaker 4:When I complete my degree, I want to edit films.
Speaker 5:I want to make movies.
Speaker 1:I want to animate for adult cartoons.
Speaker 4:My name is Troy Wells.
Speaker 5:My name is Annabelle.
Speaker 1:My name is Jenna Coleman.
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Speaker 4:Start your journey at comartsci.msu.edu.
Speaker 2:Alright. So we mentioned it a little bit, but what are what what just just give a me list of some of your favorite bits, know, just favorite parodies, I guess.
Speaker 3:So I think the the main character's coming in to see Yogurt and it being like Wizard of Oz, where they're coming in like arm and arm and it's this big machine and then he's this little guy actually. Yogurt in himself is really funny. And actually watching it, I thought he reminded me a lot of Tom Izzo, the basketball coach. Because he talks really similar to how Tom Izzo actually talks. And also, he's just kinda like a smaller, like bombastic guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's really
Speaker 3:funny. And I love the way he says Schwartz. Like, the Schwartz. It's it's just Oh, that's a good bit. Colonel Sanders is funny.
Speaker 3:Lord Helmet has a lot funny, like, body humor, where, like, his helmet gets in the way a lot of times or he'll run into the wall. And all the other, like, space balls, storm troopers trying to not, like, be made fun trying to not look at it or, like, oh, nothing. We didn't see anything. It's a good parody of like the, almost like the king's invisible clothes or something like that, where it's like, you don't wanna pay attention to those problems. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. That's a that's a that's a deep cut. Oh. The kids have What was that from? I forgot.
Speaker 3:I don't know. It's some old thing.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. Good story, though. Yeah.
Speaker 2:No. Mentioned, I love the the bit at the beginning, but Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah. The beginning and the opening, like, text and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes. I we, as a people, have lost the great art of some opening text. Just the two I mean, the two I can think of are Spaceballs and, Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. Mhmm. Some of the one of the some of the greatest intros out there, some of the funniest things.
Speaker 3:And then at the bottom, if you're reading this, you don't need glass.
Speaker 2:As it continues to go up. It's so so good. I love it so much. Why do you why do you think Justin kinda got rid of Luke Skywalker as a character?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think that's a good question. I think part of it is it's a short ish movie for the time, so you really don't have time to develop a personality for so many characters because you've already got four main characters, then you've kinda got two main villain characters on top of that, and then you've got the president, and then you've got the king. So there's a lot to develop. And I think if you have another person, it's just it's a lot.
Speaker 3:And if you can fit together two of those personalities, kind of, you can almost mesh them in. I think it works well. But also, you could almost see it as like a meta commentary of like, there is no the guy in this movie. Like, there's no hero of the universe. It's just it's just regular old people coming together and it's like, alright.
Speaker 3:We'll we'll try, I guess. Let's see what happens as we drive through the space in this Winnebago. I forgot.
Speaker 2:That is that is the that is another good bit that I forgot about the Winnebago being just like a mocking of the the Millennium Falcon. Mhmm. It's pretty funny.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Said like eagle or something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Was like eagle five. Yeah. Eagle. The eagle s.
Speaker 2:It it looked
Speaker 3:it was
Speaker 2:pretty funny. Yeah. If this movie were to be released today, because when it came out, Spaceballs, or still is now, is a PG movie. So if it were to come out today, do you think it would still be a PG movie?
Speaker 3:I Probably not. Yeah. I don't think it would still be a PG movie. That makes sense for when it came out. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I think now it would definitely be at least PG 13, maybe higher than that. I I I don't think it's like rated R necessarily. There's no extreme violence or like nudity or anything like that. But I could see it like, later, like, what's the one, TV 14 or something? Is that one?
Speaker 3:I Maybe. I don't know. I I'm not too familiar. But, yeah. I could definitely see it being higher than PG.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. Like PG 13 at least. Because there's some there's some raunchy humor in there and there's some things that like parents might not want their kids to know and see about necessarily. So, I think definitely at least PG 13.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's that's that's that's fair. Alright. Now it's time to get in the meat and taters of the podcast. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:This is does it hold up? Does this movie hold up? Is just what's the hold up? It's in the name. So how do you feel?
Speaker 2:What what what are the pros and cons you feel? Okay.
Speaker 3:So I think pros for the movie, it had does a a good job with it's a double edged sword, but it does a good job of its parody and its mocking. Because with that, you have really good aspects of that, where it's making fun of the film industry. It's making fun of Star Wars. But then it's got the bad aspect, where it makes fun of specific groups. Like, we were talking about how it kind of mocks the the Jewish people a little bit in there.
Speaker 3:So that's that's a double edged sword. You know, it can go either way. Maybe you really like the comedy, but also you have to acknowledge that there are some aspects of it that are a little outdated. And then another point of it that I think matters is sort of like, almost you you look at it as a movie for when it came out, it was not like super successful. But the fact that it has maintained itself for all these years, you you kinda think like, so far it has held up.
Speaker 3:And I think that's for for a pretty good reason because it does have a lot of good aspects to it. And I think ultimately it's a decision of can you overlook the negative aspects of it to celebrate the positive aspects of it. Mhmm. Because, I mean, no movie's perfect. You're always gonna have something that's a little bit negative that's not exactly what you want.
Speaker 3:And going forward, I'm sure a lot of media today will be looked back on with a different lens where people don't necessarily respect some of the jokes in there. But I think overall, I would say it holds up. I I think my vote is it holds up.
Speaker 2:Okay. Okay. My thoughts on just just the movie. I have a lot of a lot of similar thoughts about like the content of the film. Just the you were talking about some of the jokes, some of the these these stabs at a group of people that that are definitely definitely a no no nowadays.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, as you mentioned, you that you it was a different time, and can we overlook this? One thing we haven't mentioned yet, but mentioned a little bit about Princess Vespa, just the the princess of Druidia. Just there was a lot of stuff around her that was very another very 1,900 ism. Just like a lot of, like, just damsel in distress tropes and making fun of the quote unquote helpless woman, I feel. There was, like, there was the bit at the beginning when she first met Lone Star where she had to have her luggage everywhere.
Speaker 2:She couldn't go anywhere without her hair dryer and just some things that are that are a little they continue to tell you that this movie was made in 1987. And I that's I I feel that's a very big dock in points. Points. Mhmm. The the the fake point system we have here for does this movie hold up.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. But just I I feel there's these things that that that just keep coming up where for every good bit making fun of of something, there's a bad bit making fun of someone.
Speaker 3:I I can I can I can agree with that? I didn't actually interpret it that way when I was watching, so I I appreciate that that viewpoint because that that is definitely something that could be interpreted from that. And looking at it, it does kinda it it it shows some aspects of that. I, when watching it, saw it as, like, sort of, like, the spoiled royal trying to live like the the survival life or or like the the layman life sort of thing, and not being able to go anywhere without, you know, like, servant is there, like her her her the robot. Or have all her clothes and the hairdryer and all that.
Speaker 3:I saw it as that, but I could also see how it could be interpreted as like that, like, patriarchal sort of lens. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I I I actually didn't even think about just I mean, obviously, I thought about it a little bit. It was in your face, like, I I need my daddy, like, all that stuff. Like, she kept talking about the king of druidia just like I need. And, like, obviously, there was one joke where it was like, wait. I don't have to deal with this.
Speaker 2:I'm rich. That that was funny. That was that was a good bit. But Mhmm. I definitely took it more as a commentary on women, not a commentary on on just social status.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, I know. So, yeah, just here's where we are. We just have, like Mhmm. Just different interpretations and that's where
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just something there there can be a clash.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Especially And I think it also kind of sides more with your part originally with the ending. Because the ending is not like a breaking out of the norm. It's more it's it's the film trope of like the everything works out just because, oh, turns out Lone Star is royalty, so she can marry him and it's fine. Not it's it's not based around like getting away from those ideals of, like, oh, she has to marry so and so.
Speaker 3:It it it kinda sticks to that idea of she has to marry a prince in the end, which that's probably a negative part of it. And I think they could have tried to go some other way around with that. But, yeah, I think that more agrees with your part of it, of being more of a patriarchal viewpoint of her.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Yeah. It's just, I don't know. And obviously, there's so many so many funny bits. There's, like, were we were watching it at your place, and we had some some other friends there and just hootin' and hollerin'.
Speaker 2:There was there was some very, very funny bits. I just I feel, personally, it's hard to overlook those those those forty years ago isms, you know. It's fifty almost fifty 48 at this point. Wait. Sorry.
Speaker 2:No. No.
Speaker 3:Almost forty. Almost forty eight.
Speaker 2:No. Almost forty. I did my math wrong. But almost forty years ago at It's this Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's Yeah. So so it seems like the conclusion we're kind of thinking is like, maybe it's not great. But that doesn't mean you can't watch
Speaker 4:it. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Because it it still has some good parts to it. And as long as you can acknowledge those negative aspects, you can still celebrate the good parts of it as Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's a great way to put it, think.
Speaker 3:I don't wanna speak for you, of
Speaker 2:course. No. No. So just after that that little discussion, how do you do you just, yes or no, does Spaceballs, the 1987 Mel Brooks directed film, does it hold up?
Speaker 3:Coming into this, I probably would have said yes. But I think that aspect of like Princess Vespa being like so portrayed as helpless and kind of ditzy, I think I'm gonna have to go with no, honestly. Mhmm. And that's not to say I enjoyed the movie. It's it's a great movie, very funny.
Speaker 3:But I think, yeah, I'm gonna have to go with no. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I think I'm gonna have to side with you. And I think this may may be a shock to some of the listeners as we have been singing praises, and there there have been, yeah, obviously critiques, but there's just I feel the the social aspects outweigh the the comedic aspects of this this film in in its ability to hold up in nowadays culture. So I'm going to have to agree with you. I'm gonna I'm gonna have to say maybe Spaceballs doesn't hold up.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. Alright. Get the get the stamp. Good.
Speaker 2:Get there. There it is. Stamped and shipped. That's gonna be a no from your host and guest here. But speaking of, thank you so much for joining me here on this podcast.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It was very fun. Glad we got to have a little little discussion about it. I I think you changed my mind, Baronet, with that that extra point there. So, yeah.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having
Speaker 4:me here.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No problem. Well, alright. My name is Trey Cleaver and this has been the Classic Hold Up reviewing Spaceballs, a 1987 film. Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 1:Find the classic hold up on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us at audio video land for updates, teasers, and behind the scenes content of all audio video land productions. The classic hold up is an audio video land production by students of the college of communication arts and sciences at Michigan State University in collaboration with Impact eighty nine FM.