Movie #74- "Spaceballs" (1987)

"Blazing Saddles" is one of the funniest movies ever made.  "Young Frankenstein" would also appear on that list.  These movies were sharply written satires containing plenty of quotable moments, and in the case of "Blazing Saddles", social commentary.  There was also a love for the movies that were being sent-up.  You can notice the appreciation, knowledge, and respect that Mel Brooks had of the old westerns and horror movies.
And that was my biggest complaint with "Spaceballs".  Here is a film that merely feels like a cash grab.  It's as if the box office totals of "Star Wars" caught Brooks' eye and since no one had done a parody of the series, an idea was born.  I'm guessing they banged out a script that afternoon and boom, "Spaceballs" got produced.
By the point of this film, the decline of Mel Brooks had already set in.  While I haven't seen "Silent Movie", "High Anxiety" and "The History of the World Pt. 1" were hit-and-miss affairs.  At least with "High Anxiety", Brooks has an understanding of Hitchcock.  In "Spaceballs", the jokes are painfully obvious and juvenile (they were in "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankstein" too, but at least they were funny).  The only laugh I got out of this film was the commercialization of "Star Wars", especially since it continues to grow.
It's sad to see Brooks reduced to this.  It's like watching your cool, funny uncle turn into the uncle that does the quarter in your ear trick when you're 20.

Rating: 3/10
Movies I've previously seen: 6
First time viewings: 68