I briefly entertained the idea of doing a “special edition” Movie Night due to Halloween, which may still happen, but not today. Tonight is for Mel Brooks in general, and Spaceballs in particular. According to my brother, it made the cut so he could “finally get that one joke in The Simpsons”. I had to look it up, and apparently, this is what he was referring to:

Homer: When I first heard that Marge was joining the police academy, I thought it would be fun and zany, like that movie –Spaceballs. But instead it was dark and disturbing. Like that movie, Police Academy.

So, having seen both, let’s put it to the test.

Spaceballs is a typical Brooks film. That’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable; far from it. But coming into it having seen some of his other works, it felt a little samey. Or maybe it’s because I was more familiar with the parody source material, that it fell a little flat. Cast-wise, there were no real weak links, with Rick Moranis being the stand-out star for me. There were some genuinely funny lines, and everything seemed to work, but for some reason, it failed to catch a spark in my interest. If this comes up as an option for you, I’d say pick Blazing Saddles or Men In Tights, as in my opinion, they’re the better movies. 2.5/5.