While a later entry in the Mel Brooks canon than The Producers or Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs is nonetheless an all-time classic. The Star Wars spoof has become as essential a film as the original films it parodied. It's also one of only eight films the legendary comedian wrote, directed, and starred in.
With the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga having released in December and Spaceball's release going back a whopping 33 years now, it's a good time to look back at the hilarious film and our favorite parts. Without further ado, here are Spaceball's 10 Best Jokes That Aged Perfectly.
"The Combination Is 1-2-3-4-5."
At one point, Dark Helmet tortures Princess Vespa in exchange for her father to hand over a password. When the king finally gives over the combination, one digit at a time, to reveal it is simply, "12345," Lord Helmet bursts out, "That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!"
The joke is made even better when Brooks's President Skroob walks in a few moments later and says he should change the combination on his suitcase. In today's modern era when passwords are more important than ever, this joke definitely holds up.
"Perri-Air"
There are a lot of great "sight gags" in Spaceballs, including the C-3PO style character of Dot Matrix and all of the faux Spaceballs merchandise. One gag that also ties into the over-arching "air stealing" plot, however, is when Skroob opens a fresh can of Perri-Air.
The label looks almost exactly like a can of Perrier water, but instead of drinking it, Skroob deeply inhales the fresh air. With the recent fervor and hype over seltzers and sparkling waters of all kinds (alcoholic and non), the joke is almost more appropriate today than it was in 1987.
A Bear Is Not A Seatbelt
In the final minutes of the movie, after Lone Starr tricks Dark Helmet into hitting the self-destruct button on his ship, pandemonium breaks out. When there appears to be one last escape shuttle left, Skroob goes into it and unknowingly sitting in the lap of a bear who had already occupied the shuttle.
For a few confusing moments, he tries to buckle himself in with the bear's arms as the paws even make a clicking seatbelt sound before the bear throws him out. This super silly joke is one that's timeless and essential to the humor of Mel Brooks.
The Wedding Of Prince Valium And Princess Vespa
A seeming play on "Prince Valiant," Prince Valium is anything but. Instead of a brave and daring prince, Princess Vespa is set to marry a prince so sleepy he doesn't have a personality.
Valium is so boring, they can barely make it through the ceremony, causing the priest to become more and more flustered. When Lone Starr barges in to break up the wedding and romance Vespa for himself, the priest is not amused like everyone else and simply wants to get the whole thing over with, a lasting subversion of an eternal trope.
"What’s The Matter Colonel Sandurz? Chicken?"
There are a lot of random food-related product placement jokes in Spaceballs, including the Jabba the Hutt-esque villain, Pizza the Hut, but Colonel Sandurz makes the list because the character alone is so strong. Much like his direct supervisor, Dark Helmet, and their boss, President Skroob, Sandurz is little more than a bureaucrat.
Like General Hux, Sandurz is low enough down the totem pole to see the consequences of Helmet and Skroob's decisions without having the power to change their minds, allowing for plenty of hilarious scenarios, including the pun with Sandruz's name.
Ludicrous Speed
Building off of the previous entry, one of the more direct spoofs on Star Wars happens when Dark Helmet commands the ship to go to ludicrous speed in his pursuit of Lone Starr.
Rather than the cool lightspeed sequences with Han Solo in Star Wars, Dark Helmet and Sandurz are going so fast, they have to grip onto the sides of the ship in order to not be thrown around. It's an extraordinarily silly sequence with great acting to make it that much funnier, a joke that lasts the test of time.
"The Radar...It Appears to Be Jammed!"
This joke references not just Star Wars films but many types of action and adventure films. When they first encounter the Spaceballs ship, Barf and Lone Starr decide to jam its radar in order to throw them off their scent, shooting a gigantic jar of jam onto their ship's satellite.
But Spaceballs doubles down on the joke when Helmet discovers the issue and sees that raspberry jam is dripping down the radar screen. This sight gag is so ridiculous and silly, it will always be funny, just like Mel Brooks.
Skroob's Transportation Issues
Early on, Skroob tries to "beam" to another part of the ship. However, something goes awry and his rear end shows up on the front of his body. It's then revealed that Skroob was just trying to go next door rather than on the opposite end of the ship, making it that much funnier.
Later, Skroob doesn't use the transport anymore, and runs from place to place, at one point saying, “The ship is too big. If I walk, the movie will be over.” With space movies still in production, these jokes are more appropriate than ever.
Breaking The Fourth Wall
Meta jokes have only become more popular since Spaceballs' release, with shows like Family Guy, 30 Rock, and Community popularizing them. However, Spaceballs has some of the best "in" jokes about the movie itself, including the storyline featuring Spaceballs merchandise, the moment when the movie gets turned off instead of the lights, and a shot that reveals the camera crew.
Perhaps the height of this run is when the Spaceballs lackeys announce they've captured Lone Starr, Barf, Dot Matrix, and Princess Vespa, but upon further inspection, Helmet says, "You've captured their stunt doubles!"
The Character Dark Helmet
The popularity of Star Wars and its most infamous villain have not waned since Spaceballs' release in 1987. This is part of what makes Rick Moranis's portrayal of Dark Helmet so perfect. His Vader-esque helmet is comically large, yes, but his villainy is also extremely petty.
Spaceballs even capitalizes on the bureaucratic elements of Star Wars perfectly by giving Dark Helmet a tie to wear with Moranis's trademark glasses. While Spaceballs has more jokes than we can count, none of them would work without Moranis's hilarious and effective performance.