Spaceballs: The DVD Review
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Spaceballs |
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by: matthew
anderson
A long time ago, in a galaxy…….oops, sorry, I forgot. That movie isn’t on DVD yet.
Meanwhile in another galaxy there lived a ruthless race known as the Spaceballs. Unfortunately through their foolishness, they will have squandered their supply of air in 20 years. What follows is a diabolical plot to kidnap the Princess Vespa of the Planet Druidia and force her father to relinquish their supply of air to Planet Spaceball.
Sounds ludicrous don’t it. Well, that’s the plot behind Spaceballs, Mel Brooks’ hilarious parody of such sci-fi classics as Star Wars, and Alien. Bill Pullman stars as Lone Starr, the foul mouthed, Winnebago driving space pirate who, along with his half-man, half-dog partner, Barf (John Candy), must rescue the princess from the evil clutches of Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) and President Skroob (Mel Brooks). With unforgettable characters such as the almighty Yogurt (also Mel Brooks), and a hilarious crossover of the chest-burst scene from Alien and the singing-frog, Spaceballs is just one gag after another in one of the greatest parodies of all time.
MGM realized that they didn’t have to wait for George Lucas to release those other movies on DVD to release their send-up of it.
Besides a the widescreen and pan & scan versions on the disc we’re also treated to a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround soundtrack, a commentary track by director Mel Brooks and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
The picture and sound are the best I’ve ever experienced for this film. The picture is nice and clean with no apparent signs of aging. The sound is an excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix that really brings this movie to the level that it could’ve been at had the sound technology been available when it first released.
The commentary track is entertaining and informative, though I was disappointed that he didn’t keep the commentary scene specific. At times he seemed to ramble on about stuff that wasn’t even about the film itself. The behind-the-scenes featurette is your typical behind-the-scenes film like what you might see on E! or HBO.
Overall, "Spaceballs" succeeds where so many other movies of it’s type fail…..It’s funny.
Spaceballs: Special Edition DVD: Excellent movie, I just wish that the special features matched the quality of the film itself.