Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 8, 2026

A little Mel Brooks can often go a pretty long way, and for a prime example, one might arguably need look no further than Spaceballs, another madcap romp through both specific film and more broad reaching genre parodies. Brooks is of course a veritable master of comedies such as these, even if other related outings like Robin Hood: Men in Tights and/or High Anxiety may not engender the same lavish praises that, say, Blazing Saddles and/or Young Frankenstein might. Is Spaceballs funny? Yes, and often quite funny. But it is also a film that is arguably too manic for its own good, working overtime to land punchlines that may have already been somewhat tired even by the time of this film's original theatrical exhibition in 1987, and for this reviewer the film just never attains the giddy heights of either Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein. One way or the other, though, Spaceballs has enjoyed a rather long lived and successful series of releases in various home media formats, and Arrow is offering this 4K UHD edition with their typically commendable assortment of interesting supplements.

Longtime readers of my reviews know that a regular mantra of mine is "different reviewers means different opinions", and for diehard fans of this film who are shocked ( shocked! as Claude Rains might exclaim) by the above comments will be happy to know my colleague Martin Liebman gave the film a 5.0 rating in his Spaceballs Blu-ray review of Metro Goldwyn Mayer's 2009 release in 1080. Svet Atanasov's Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray review is another example of different opinions (with a lower score for the film), but may be of special interest to those reading this review.

Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate. Since this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Spaceballs is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. This is one of very few Arrow first pressings that I've received that does not contain an insert booklet, but one of the included art cards (see below) has the following information on the presentation:

Spaceballs is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 2.0 stereo, 4.1 6-channel stereo and 5.1 audio mixes. The film is presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The restored 4K master was suppled by MGM via Park Circus. Additional picture restoration was completed by R3Store Studios.

Audio remastering was completed [by] Þorsteinn Gíslason.

Unsurprisingly, based on Svet's comments this release is similar to the Kino Lorber release, though this package does not include a 1080 presentation. As Svet alludes to in his review, the film features a number of old school composited effects, and the increased resolution of the 4K format, along with the Dolby Vision / HDR grades, probably unavoidably can reveal some of the "seams" of such work, along with inherited anomalies like decreased clarity and increased grain. On the whole, though, this is a really nicely detailed looking presentation, and fine detail levels on all the practical sets and (especially) costumes tends to be excellent. The palette is very healthy for the most part, with again some noticeable fluctuations during opticals, and occasional slight skewings toward brown. The HDR grades provide some impressively deep blacks in some of the space sequences. With the possible exception of some opticals, grain resolves tightly throughout.

Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arguably the single biggest difference between this release and Kino Lorber's 4K release (other than the omission of a 1080 presentation in this set), is the fact that Arrow's disc features the original 70mm sound mix, offered here in DTS-HD Master Audio 4.1, augmenting the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options (also available on the Kino Lorber release). There's some fascinating historical information on the original large format theatrical exhibition's audio which investigators may find salient in terms of what's happening here, but the bottom line is while the 4.1 track is historically important, it may frankly not provide the same depth and especially breadth that the 5.1 option does. The 4.1 track can be noticeably more anchored toward the front, with rear channels engaged for what at times at least is simply a repeat of what's in the front channels. The 5.1 track probably provides a more "sweeping" surround experience, and especially in effects sequences can be more directional. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: More information on the ported over supplements can be found in both Marty's and Svet's reviews, linked to above.

• Commentary by Mel Brooks


• Spaceballs: The Documentary (HD; 30:06) is an in depth look at the film produced in 2003.


• Farce Yourself! Spaceballs and the Skroobing of Sci-fi (HD; 16:44) is a 2012 retrospective with Mel Brooks.


• In Conversation: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan (HD; 20:03) is from 2005.


• John Candy: Comic Spirit (HD; 10:05) is from 2003.


• Behind the Scenes (HD; 8:49) hails all the way back from 1987.


• Storyboards to Film Comparison (HD; 6:43)


• Film Flubs (HD; 1:23) is not a gag reel but actual errors that made it into the final cut.


• Watch Spaceballs in Ludicrous Speed (HD; 00:52)


• Alien Soundtrack Excerpts

Mawgese (HD; 00:34)




Dinkese (HD; 00:29)

• Trailer Gallery

Exhibitor Trailer with Mel Brooks Intro (HD; 2:13)




Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:20)




Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:34)

• Image Galleries

Spaceballs: The Behind the Movie Photos (HD)




Spaceballs: The Costume Gallery (HD)




Spaceballs: The Art Gallery (HD)




Image Gallery (HD)

As mentioned above, kind of surprisingly there's no insert booklet with this release (I don't think this was a packaging error with the review copy sent to me, as the back cover does not list a booklet). The keepcase features a reversible sleeve and encoses a double sided foldout poster and four postcard sized artcards. Packaging also features a slipcover.

Spaceballs 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sorry, Brooks fans, as much as I enjoy Spaceballs (and I do), it just doesn't send me into fits of laughter the same way that Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein can. Fans of the film should be well pleased with the technical merits here, and the addition of the original 70mm sound design should be especially appreciated. The ported over supplements are very enjoyable. Recommended.