Spaceballs is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-produced, co-written, and directed by Mel Brooks. It primarily parodies the original Star Wars trilogy, but also other popular franchises such as Star Trek, Alien, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and Transformers. The film stars Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis and Daphne Zuniga, with the supporting cast including Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, Lorene Yarnell, and the voice of Joan Rivers. In addition to Brooks playing a dual role, the film features Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise and Rudy De Luca in cameo appearances. In Spaceballs, heroic mercenary Lone Starr (Pullman) and his alien sidekick Barf (Candy) rescue Princess Vespa (Zuniga) of the planet Druidia and her droid, Dot Matrix (Yarnell, voiced by Rivers), from being captured by the Spaceballs, led by President Skroob (Brooks), who wants to use Vespa as ransom to obtain Druidia's air for their own planet. However, the heroes get stranded on a desert moon, where they encounter the wise Yogurt (also Brooks), who teaches Starr about the metaphysical power known as "the Schwartz." Meanwhile, Spaceball commanders Dark Helmet (Moranis) and Colonel Sandurz (Wyner) lead the search for them, but are hindered by their own incompetence. The film was released by MGM/UA Communications Co. on June 24, 1987. It received mixed reviews upon release, but has since attained a cult following. A sequel, Spaceballs: The New One, is scheduled to be released theatrically by Amazon MGM Studios in 2027; it is directed by Josh Greenbaum and co-written by Josh Gad and Brooks, and will star Lewis Pullman, Keke Palmer, and Gad, with Brooks, Bill Pullman, Moranis, Wyner, and Zuniga reprising their roles.
Plot In a galaxy "very, very, very, very far away", the ruthless Spaceballs, led by President Skroob, have squandered their planet's atmosphere. Desperate for oxygen, Skroob hatches a plan to steal it from the neighboring planet Druidia by obtaining the code to its air shield, destroying Druidia in the process. On Druidia, the spoiled Princess Vespa flees an arranged marriage to the narcoleptic Prince Valium, having already rejected all other suitors in her search for true love. Meanwhile, mercenary Lone Starr and his half-man, half-dog companion Barf are contacted by crime boss Pizza the Hutt, who demands repayment of a one-million space buck debt. King Roland of Druidia offers Starr the same amount to rescue Vespa and her droid servant, Dot Matrix. Aboard their Winnebago RV spaceship Eagle 5, Starr and Barf rescue the pair just before they are captured by the Spaceball ship Spaceball One, commanded by Colonel Sandurz and Skroob's enforcer, Dark Helmet, who wields the mystical power of the Schwartz. However, Eagle 5 runs out of fuel, forcing Starr to crash-land on the desert moon of Vega. The four wander through the scorching landscape, with Starr and Vespa exchanging barbed remarks and mutual attraction. They cannot act on their feelings, however, as Vespa is duty-bound to marry a prince. They collapse from the heat, but are rescued by the Dink-Dinks, a group of robed, diminutive aliens, and taken to the hidden temple of Yogurt, a wise sage who breaks the fourth wall to advertise fictitious Spaceballs tie-in merchandise. Yogurt guides Starr in using the Schwartz and a ring to channel its power. He also deciphers Starr's medallion–found with him as an abandoned baby–but withholds its meaning. Meanwhile, Helmet, having tracked Vespa's location using an instant VHS of Spaceballs, uses the Schwartz to disguise himself as Roland to lure her out of Yogurt's temple for capture. Helmet extorts the shield code from Roland by threatening to reverse the plastic surgery on Vespa's nose. Starr and Barf infiltrate the Planet Spaceball prison, rescue Vespa and Dot, and escape in Eagle 5. With the shield code in hand, Spaceball One transforms into "Mega-Maid", a giant maid robot, and begins vacuuming Druidia's atmosphere. Starr reverses the vacuum by using the Schwartz, saving the planet, then pilots Eagle 5 into Mega-Maid's head, finds the self-destruct button, and battles Helmet in a Schwartz duel using ring-projected lightsaber-like beams. Helmet steals Starr's ring and drops it down a grate, but Starr hears a telepathic message from Yogurt that the Schwartz is in him, not the ring. Starr wields the Schwartz to reflect Helmet's energy blast with a mirror, sending him flying into the self-destruct button. As Eagle 5 escapes, Skroob, Helmet, and Sandurz are left behind when all the escape pods are launched, and Mega-Maid explodes. The trio crash-land in the ship's remains on a nearby planet populated by intelligent apes, who are chagrined to witness their arrival. Lone Starr and Barf discover on the news that Pizza the Hutt has eaten himself to death, absolving them from their debt. The duo return Vespa and Dot to Roland, but take only a small portion of the reward money to cover their expenses. Later, Starr and Barf discover a final message from Yogurt that reveals Starr's medallion identifies him as a prince. Upon returning to Druidia just in time to stop Vespa's wedding to Valium, Starr reveals his royal lineage and he and Vespa are joyously married.
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