‘Spaceballs’ pop culture references beyond ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek’

Millions of votes suddenly shouted with pleasure by learning that Mel Brooks, who will be 99 years old in less than two weeks, will appear in the next Spatial balls Following like guru yogurt greedy for profit. This project has been talking about for some time, but the announcement (and a teaser video) gives the impression that it will happen. The attached director is Josh Greenbaum, who made the comedy led by Kristen Wiig Barb and Star goes to Vista del Mar and the documentary led by Will Ferrell Will & Harper; Josh Gad is one of the many co-writers.

Spatial balls Delighted the comedy audience when it was released in 1987 as the major science fiction franchises. Most jokes are adjustments Star WarsBut there are a lot of Star Trek And Strangerand a large horn Planet of the Apes Gag there too. (There is also no shortage of humor of Brooks-Ian without parody, like the line saying to Dr. Phillip Schlotkin, the best plastic surgeon of the known universe and Beverly Hills, to “return to the golf course and work on your putts”.

But the film contains more esoteric references in there that you may not have caught.

Lawrence of Arabia

When our group of heroes crashes on a moon of the desert, there are several shots that succumb to the fury of hot weather. The composer’s musical signal John Morris is a deliberate tribute to the partition of Maurice Jarre of the grandfather of all the crossing films of the dunes, the winner of the Oscars of Sir David Lean in 1962 for the best film, Lawrence of Arabia. It is juuuuuustt different enough to avoid having to pay royalties, which is in accordance with the philosophy of yogurt to save a few shekels whenever possible.

The bridge over the Kwai river

There is not one but two references to the work of Sir David Lean Spatial balls (And they come well immediately, strangely).

When our heroes collapse in the desert, they are rescued by the “dinks”, which are clearly made to look like small Schnorrers in collecting waste called jawas in Star Wars. Rather than watching them walk along the sand, Brooks decided to allow them a bit of an energetic spirit, so they “Dink” to “March of Colonel Bogey”, a melody of the British army which dates back to 1914.

During the Second World War, the soldiers sang the melody with a few anti-Nazi words, and the melody appeared in several other films, notably Alfred Hitchcock’s The lady disappears And John Hughes’ The breakfast club. But what really made a feeling was the way British prisoners whistled him in the 1957 Oscar winner for the best film, THE Bridge on the Kwai river.

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2001: A Space Odyssey

Well, this one can be a bit of a scope, but work with us here.

Two production elements of production in Spatial balls seems to be taken from the masterpiece of Stanley Kubrick in 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey.

When the black helmet of Rick Moranis orders his ship, Spaceball OneTo pass a ridiculous speed at a ridiculous speed, the display signs light up on the deck. They have a very similar police force and look at those that the public sees when Hal 9000 kills hibernation astronauts aboard the Discovery One.

In addition, once the ship moves at a ridiculous speed, the distant light show (“They went to Plaid”) could easily be interpreted as a little thumb in the eye towards the confusing stargate (although revolutionary) sequence of the previous film.

Prince Valiant

A large part of Spatial balls“The intrigue starts when Princess Vespa of Daphne Zuniga fled with her soporific fiancée, Prince Valium (the powerful Jim J. Bullock), at the altar.

Although blond in Spatial ballsPrince Valium has an absurd haircut similar to the prince of Robert Wagner in the 1954 Swashbuckler skybuckler sky.

The character started in newspaper comics in 1937 and is always Printed like those of you who still buy Sunday newspapers know this. The character was also adapted for an animated series in the early 1990s and was parodied more than once Looney Tunes.

Star Wars, Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz, Rambo, Planet of the Apes, And Stranger

To keep everything, it’s the same place, let’s see if we remember the references to the most obvious sources.

Spatial balls“The nasty black helmet is clearly Dark Vader, and the only star of Bill Pullman is Han Solo. Princess Vespa is Princess Leia, Joan Rivers dot matrix is ​​essentially C-3PO, and John Candy’s Barf is essentially Chewbacca but perhaps better. Pizza The Hutt you can train for yourself, as well as the Schwartz being a replacement for the Force. Megamaid is Spatial balls Version of the death star too. But if you look at a very close time – outside the Space Diner – you will see a miniature Falcon Millennium parked in front.

References to Star Trek Come when Lone Star tries (and fails) to give someone a pinch of Vulcan neck, and when President Skroob (also played by Brooks) decides to be shown by Snotty (not Scotty) and figures, “why not, it works on Star Trek? “”

There is an just as uninstant reference to Ambo After Princess Vespa, the bad guys with her Blaster matrix and Dot said it was “good enough for Rambo!”

When Lone Star, Princess Vespa, Dot Matrix and Barf First Approach Yogurt, it is a clear visual reference to Oz assistantWith “Just Plain Yogurt” emerging from behind a screen that makes it appear and its intimidating.

When President Skroob and the bad guys are thrown into space in a part of an exploded megamaid, they crash on a planet that looks like the final photo and the end of the original Planet of the Apes. We then cut two monkeys, including one said: “Oh s —, This is the planet!”

Finally, we can say that the opening blow of Spatial balls of the endless ship zoom in front of the camera is a parody of the first overview of Nostromo Since Stranger. (Of course, the ship of the film Ridley Scott had no sticker.) The other Stranger The reference, one of the highlights of the whole film, is John Hurt coming to resume his character during the restaurant scene.