MovieChat Forums > Spaceballs (1987) Discussion > Anachronisms make no sense

Anachronisms make no sense


I hate when movies do this - they tell you ONE thing, then they completely contradict that thing by saying ANOTHER thing.

For example, this story supposedly happens on a planet Druidia, which is 'once upon a time warp', if I remember correctly. Now, it's probably subject to interpretation as to what 'time warp' even means, but I would have thought it would've been safe to say, this story happens far away from planet Earth, and during a completely different time as well.

However, suddenly you get references like 'Beverly Hills' (if I remember correctly), as if it's a normal place that everyone in Spaceballs universe should know about. What?

Why would it be just as 'weird' to have a 'bearded lady' in their universe as it clearly was on this planet? (Doesn't seem to be that anymore, but that's besides the point)

In any case, this movie has so many anachronisms, it boggles the mind - Fourth of July, for example. What kind of signifigance can THAT have in a completely different time and solar system, possibly a different galaxy altogether?

I mean, the way of calculating time can't be identical to Earth, or it's the biggest coincidence in existence, but even then, how is the calendar exactly a JULIAN one? There's no 'July' without Julian calendar, there's no Julian calendar without Julius Caesar, and so on. Did Rome happen in Druidia, too??

How can a spacecraft be named 'Mercedes'? How can a corporation from Earth exist in this universe, but instead of making grounded automobiles, they make spacecraft - and yet, those are STILL called 'cars'??

Why would a KING be so excited about some 'deal' about a car? Aren't even kings of countries, let alone whole planets, incredibly wealthy, so one car (even a space one) would be as interesting as a grain of sand to regular people?

How the HECK can an android from a completely different solar system not only KNOW about 'Rambo', but also expect everyone else (that might be from completely different worlds) to know about it, as if it's some kind of common knowledge across all existence?

BTW, what country/planet is Lone Starr exactly a prince of, just by the way?

Why does 'Raspberry' exist in this universe in a way that's clearly common knowledge? Wouldn't they have completely different berries from very different worlds, that wouldn't be as limited as a selection as they are on Earth? Meaning, most poeple would never know most of the berries, so mentioning one of them would mean nothing to most people..?

Raspberry only has meaning on THIS planet, why would it still have the same meaning that everyone knows about in a MUCH LARGER scale, like a solar system or galaxy, where there must be millions of different berries? It just doesn't make any sense.

Why would their communication devices resemble Earth Telephones so much, they even use numbers not only in a similar way, but the SAME, exact numbers? If memory serves, Vespa dials 1-800-Druidia, which is very, not only 'Earthian' number, but a very AMERICAN one as well! Isn't it amazing that one continent of one planet that supposedly isn't even part of their Universe feeds all kinds of cultural and everyday info and trivia into their fundamental systems?

Not to mention, in this much larger scale, would that kind of numbering system even work? Also, the '1' usually stands for the country code for USA in telephone numbers. How would Druidia just happen to have the same country code, but on a planetary scale? Does it not have countries?

BTW, how does this 'doctor' (wearing exactly EARTHlike doctor uniform) start performing a plastic surgery by lifting up two huge cleaver-type knives and pointing them at the nose? Wouldn't they start by actually marking the surgery area, after sedating the patient, and so on? How exactly would he 'give back' her 'old nose'? What material would he use to sculpt the extra bit that was removed a long time ago (surely not the SAME, exact nose bit in any case!)..?

Yeah, I know, comedy and all, but sometimes it's hard to not see what's so obviously wrong even in a comedy. They should not have mentioned 'Beverly Hills' in a gosh-darned space movie, it makes as much sense as mentioning 'Norway' in Star Wars movies (even though that's where some of it was actually filmed)... sheesh!

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BEWARE! Avortac4 is a troll trying to waste everyone's time with such idiotic comments. Look at his posts. He doesn't think anything in any film makes sense. His post may seem like it makes sense in the first sentence or two. But he always quickly wanders off into a completely idiotic idea, and then writes a wall of text that makes no sense. And his sole purpose is to waste your time, thinking he's cute for doing so. Don't feed the troll. If you write a comment, you're giving this troll EXACTLY what he wants. Don't comment after my comment.

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Dum-dum's gonna dum-dum.

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