Spaceballs Parent Guide

The planet Spaceball is facing an air shortage, so President Skroob (Mel Brooks) has come up with a plan to steal all of the air from the neighboring planet Druidia - sending his evil henchman, Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis), to kidnap Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga). Before Dark Helmet can succeed, the princess is rescued by Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his sidekick, Barf (John Candy). The three of them must work together to thwart President Skroob, save Druidia, and master a mysterious power known as “The Schwartz”.

Spaceballs has come to be known as a classic comedy, and for good reason. This over-the-top Star Wars parody is quintessentially Mel Brooks. If you enjoyed some of his other classics such as Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, then you know exactly what you’re in for. Spaceballs is ridiculous, exaggerated, meta, and irreverent. The humor is not exactly subtle, and often juvenile. I laughed out loud many times, though I think there were a few 80s references that went over this 90s kid’s head.

In 1987 this film was given a PG rating. Today it would most definitely be PG-13; standards have changed, after all. The main content concern with this movie is its language - there are many instances of moderate profanities and sexual innuendos. I think some of the innuendo would go over most children’s heads, but the profanity is hard to ignore. As this production is primarily a Star Wars parody, anyone who is not familiar with the source material won’t be in on the joke.

If you are a Star Wars fan or a Mel Brooks fan, you will love this movie. I wouldn’t recommend it for children based on the language and other content concerns, but I think teens, particularly older ones, will enjoy the slap-stick humor and outrageous weirdness.