Title: Mom and Dad Save The World (1992)
Director: Greg Beeman
Writer: Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson
Cast: Jon Lovitz, Jeffrey Jones, Teri Garr, Eric Idle
Review:
I am a great admirer of the legendary English comedy troupe
Monty Python, you know, the guys behind Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975),
Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983), three movies I never get
tired of watching. I love how their stuff seems silly, but actually talks about
a lot of important themes and subject matter. If you’re a fan of the Monty
Python guys like I am, then you also probably admire the films of director Terry
Gilliam, who was at one point one of the Python guys, but then branched out to
make films of his own. Films like Time Bandits (1981) and The Adventures of Baron
Munchausen (1989). Gilliam is yet another director who mixes comedy and satire
in his films, he often times criticizes societies obsession with reality and preaches
on about our god given right to delight in fantasies, escapism and stories! Mom
and Dad Save the World seems to come from that same ‘Pythonesque’ universe,
that universe that cares not for logic or rules, but for zaniness!
In Mom and Dad Save the World we meet Dick and Marge Nelson,
two loopy parents who are about to embark on a summer vacation, just the two of
them, the kids stay at home. Unfortunately for Dick and Marge, millions of
miles into space, Tod Spengo, ruler of planet Spengo has fallen madly in love
with Marge, whom he has spotted while scoping the galaxy for a planet to
destroy. Obsessed with Marge, Spengo uses his giant magnet and pulls her and
Dick through space (along with their station wagon) all the way to the edge of
the universe, where planet Spengo lies. Once
they get their, they meet the self proclaimed ‘Spengoans’. Their ruler, Tod Spengo, wants Marge as his
Queen and wants to kill Dick, so he can have Marge all to himself. Too bad for Tod,
Dick manages to escape and unite with the rebels of planet Spengo, whom he organizes
to go on a revolt against Tod and his fascist (yet moronic) empire while rescuing his wife in the process!
So this movie is all kinds of fun for me, I really don’t get
why it didn’t make more money way back when it was released in 1992. For some
reason this film was completed in 1990 but not released by the studio until
1992. Why? I don’t know, but if you ask me to speculate either the studio wasn’t
sure the movie was going to sell, they couldn’t figure out how to market it or maybe
there was a change in management in the studio, these are usually the reasons
why a studio would hold back a movie like that. Maybe they just thought they
had a bad film in their hands. Who knows. The film had a budget of 16 million
but only made back little more than 2 million. It only played for one week in
theaters! Another problem the film probably encountered is that though from
afar it looks like a silly film (and it is) it does have some double entendre
jokes that might have made it difficult to sell it as a kids film. Had the titular
parents taken the kids along in the adventure, instead of leaving them at home
and brought down the raunchy jokes, then maybe they could have sold it as a
kids film, as it is, this is a very silly film for adults. And that’s always a
hard sell any way you look at it.
But whatever, I like the film the way it is. The art
direction is really cool, the sets look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book and
so do the creatures which range from killer mushrooms to midgets with the head
of a dog or a fish, sounds crazy, I know, but that’s the kind of movie this is.
The jokes are decidedly ‘Pythonesque’ in style, it’s obvious the writer and
director adore Monty Python and Terry Gilliam style of comedy. One funny scene
has the self proclaimed idiots from planet Spengo picking up a weapon that makes anyone who touches it
instantly disappear. One idiot picks it up and disappears, the next one picks
it up and disappears, and the next one picks it up….all because the device says
“pick me up”. So the humor, while quite
silly, is also quite good.
One of the best things about this movie though is the cast. Eric Idle plays King Raff, the true king of Planet Spengo! His role is a small one, but he makes his funny mark! I’ve
personally always enjoyed Jon Lovitz’s style of humor, there’s something kind
of sleazy about him that fits perfectly with the character of Tod Spengo, the
dictator. I loved how he worries about the silliest things like “on a level of
one to ten, in terms of world dominating greatness…where would you place me?”
Teri Garr was always one of my favorites, I’ve been an admirer of hers sense
she played sexy laboratory assistant ‘Inga’ in Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein (1974), here she plays the
role of the quintessential mom, taking pictures of the galaxy as she travels
through space on her station wagon. And Jeffrey Jones plays the goofy father well;
similar to the role he played in Tim Burton’s Bettlejuice (1988), only on this
one he ends up turning into an overweight Flash Gordon.
And speaking of Flash Gordon, at the end of the day, Mom and
Dad Save the World is a huge spoof of Flash Gordon films. Fans of that Flash
Gordon (1980) film starring Sam Jones and Max Von Sydow will notice that this
film is practically the same exact film note for note. Just switch Sam Jones
for Jeffrey Jones (they even share the same last name!) Max Von Sydow for Jon Lovitz and
Melody Anderson for Teri Garr and you’ll see it’s the same exact movie. Even
the rebels that Jeffrey Jones ends up leading are bird people of sorts! So
yeah, they might as well have called this one “Dad Gordon”. So, anyways, this
film was ambitious in my book, a lot of effort went into it for it to have died
such a quick death at the box office; practically unnoticed by audiences. In my
opinion, it deserves to find an audience and become a cult film, if it isn’t one
already. Do you enjoy films like The Ice Pirates (1984), Spaceballs (1987) or
Flash Gordon (1980)? Do you like Terry Gilliam or Monty Python? Then give Mom
and Dad Save the World a chance, it’s got an innocence and a goofiness to it
that can’t be found in today’s films because studios play it too safe nowadays
and don’t dare spend their millions on something as offbeat as this film. Still not convinced, okay, it was written by the guys who brougth you the Bill and Ted's movies and directed by the guy who made License to Drive (1988)! Mom
and Dad Save the World was made during the last half of the 80’s and though it
was released in ’92, it still has that 80’s silliness to it that’s hard to come
by in today’s cinematic landscape. So if you want to get your 80’s groove on, look
no further than this.
Rating: 3 out of 5
6 comments:
this thing used to play non-stop on HBO back in the early 90's
It was partially produced by HBO so that makes sense
Remember seeing the cover for this in the video shop for years but never rented it. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity Franco. Might check it out for the Bill and Ted connection.
Yeah, thats the writing team of Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. Solomon also wrote MIB, Charlies Angels, Both of the Bill and Ted movies, and Super Mario Brothers the movie, amongst others.
I like this film so much and I really need to see it again but I don't found it ��
Pretty sure you can get it on dvd in Amazon.
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