| It's 'off the cuff', 'don't take yourself too seriously' feel is a lot like Mystery Science Theater 3000. Very good spoof! The contrast between the slick new effects and the bargain-basement old ones adds a new level of satire to the film and nicely spoofs some of Lucas's less-than-seamless changes to his own film."[9]. "[1] In 1978, the idea of a spoof movie was quite a new approach.

See what's new with book lending at the Internet Archive, Uploaded by It was later released on DVD again by Apprehensive Films for its 30th Anniversary. Spaceballs is below the sophistication level of a 12 year old boy, the jokes and gags are overly explained and overt. And the box cover looks pretty neat too. According to Tested.com, Hardware Wars "was the first parody of Lucas' space opera (Star Wars"--and reportedly one he (George Lucas) enjoyed. It is considered to be the most profitable short film of all time, grossing US$1,000,000; considering its paltry US$8,000 budget, its profit ratio was much better than Star Wars. We just wanted to meet George Lucas, who had made Star Wars.

Brilliant, until "Porklips Now" topped it. You can feel the fun that the people who made it had while they were doing it. Their spaceship is assaulted by bits of tin-foil trash, which makes Chewchilla jittery until he spies Princess Anne-Droid's hair whorls, which are cinnamon rolls worn on the sides of her head. After buying the excellent DVD yesterday, I have become a bona fide HARDWARE WARS fan! Household appliances (such as irons, toasters, vacuums, and a waffle maker) stand in for Ty-fighters, X-wings, R2D2, and the death star. For those of you that have (shame!) As satires go, they don't get more solid than this. "[3][dead link] According to the book "Hollywood's Copyright Wars" by Peter Decherney, Hardware Wars created an environment where "George Lucas and his company have acknowledged and embraced fans of their franchise"[4] and have often showcased fan made films, including Hardware Wars. The only thing is, I wish they didn't add those pathetic new digital features. The weapons and spaceships are household items, and the C3PO-like robot even quotes Oliver Hardy's famous line! And may the farce be with you. The soundtrack for "Hardware Wars" was performed by the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jonel Perlea, and only featured one song, Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries". You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter. It was structured as a mock movie trailer, and Fosselius even secured narration from veteran voice-over artist Paul Frees. You know, it might just be easier if you watch it yourself, which you can do right here: And, as Johnson said, kids “of a certain age” who were dying to rewatch Star Wars over and over before it was ever released on VHS, well, Hardware Wars was as close as it was going to come for the time being. The thirteen-minute film, which was released almost 18 months after Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, consisted of little more than inside jokes and visual puns that heavily depended upon audience familiarity with the original.
The characters include the "intergalactic boy-wonder" Fluke Starbucker, the "ace mercenary and intergalactic wise guy" Ham Salad, Darph Nader, "villain" and a host of other fantastic characters. Use Peripheral objects, Tactical drones, Active objects to experience dynamic warfare. but any number of overblown, overhyped, overwrought and overpriced features. Upon meeting Augie "Ben" Doggie (of the venerable Red-Eye Knights), Fluke receives his father's lightsaber (a flashlight). After a light speed chase, Fluke, Ham, Augie and the rest are sucked into the enemy base (a waffle iron). According to the book "Hollywood's Copyright Wars" by Peter Decherney Hardware Wars created an environment where "George Lucas and his company have acknowledged and embraced fans of their franchise" and have often showcased fan made films, including Hardware Wars. He was like, ‘I’m really going for it with this.’”.

After that, two robots named 4Q2 and Arty Deco escaping from the empire. Johnson explains, “John Williams, by the way, had a blast. I laughed. It was shot to look cheap (or was it just cheap?)

Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. It is littered and loaded with tons of jokes. I've also shown it to 40 or 50 people who had never heard of it. Perfect proof that money, talent and advertising do not equal good comedy. [6], In 2017, Rian Johnson paid tribute to it by referencing it in the Star Wars film The Last Jedi in a scene in which a robotic steam iron is briefly framed to resemble a landing spaceship. Rigorously tested for up to 72 hours, we ensure that your PC is functioning at its absolute maximum for years of hard core usage. Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps.

Hardware Wars was written and directed by San Francisco native Ernie Fosselius and produced by Michael Wiese. According to tested.com Hardware Wars "was the first parody of Lucas' space opera (Star Wars"--and reportedly one he (George Lucas) enjoyed."
To spoof the "Special Edition" re-release of Star Wars in 1997, which included additional scenes and more advanced digital special effects, Hardware Wars was re-released on VHS as a twenty-minute "Special Edition," with new digital "special defects." The Director's Commentary is also hysterical, as is the Creature Feature which parodies taking a film out on the talk-show circuit and actually IS based on taking HW out on the talk show circuit, albeit the public access circuit. One of the best spoofs of Star Wars, and yes, I'm even including Spaceballs with that. Metacritic Reviews. This is the only top-notch Star Wars parody out there. The new version with cheesy computer graphics kind of takes away from the low budget homemade feel of the original.

Don't get me wrong; they didn't take away from the movie at all.

Fluke joins a squad of spaceships (corkscrews). Mad silliness, and a fun ride for any Star Wars geek (like me! You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. I laughed. Awards If you can find it watch it. And may the Farce be with you. But back in the days before camcorders and computer video editing software, Hardware Wars was the stuff. If any of you has not seen HARDWARE WARS, I suggest you do immediatement!

John Allardice has since gone on to work on huge films such as $100 million grossing film Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And then, 39 years later, comes Rian Johnson’s entry into the Star Wars saga, The Last Jedi, where Ham Salad is now canon – sort of. The last scene of the movie involves Fluke flying in a squad of spaceships (bottle openers), presumably to attack the waffle iron. CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.66 GHz / AMD Athlon II X4 650 @ 3.20 GHz; CPU SPEED: Info; RAM: 4 GB; OS: Windows 7 64-bit or newer; VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 5850 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX470 with 1GB VRAM The film begins with the text "Meanwhile… in another part of the galaxy… later that same day", and then we see a clothing iron fighting with a toaster and toast. It was first made available commercially on home video with the Warner Home Video release Hardware Wars, and Other Film Farces, which also included another Fosselius parody, Porklips Now.