When they are not too distracting, celebrity cameo appearances in movies are a nice treat for the audience, a bonus of sorts that gives viewers a little something extra to talk about after the credits roll. Directors will often reserve small roles for their favorite collaborators — or themselves — and athlete cameos are relatively commonplace whenever sports are involved.
Cameo appearances by actors playing characters from other movies are far rarer, however, and far more likely to enhance the moviegoing experience for those who recognize the character. Rather than destroying the "suspension of disbelief" that moviegoers are expected to achieve in order to enjoy a fantastical situation or story, a character cameo, when done properly, can actually broaden the fictional universe playing out on screen, making it seem more inter-connected with other fictional universes, more "real." And, sometimes, character cameos are not meant to broaden anything at all, except for the viewer's smile. Click on the link below to check out our list of the best character cameos in movies.
The best character cameos in movies >> Posted 10.03.12 by BrentJS For those that grew up during the 1980s, it may be hard to believe that Spaceballs is now 25 years old, but it's true. Back in 1987, director Mel Brooks was coming off of 1983's To Be or Not to Be, a remake that was not a box office success, and decided to go back to the kind of genre parody that had made him successful in the 70s with Frankenstein riff Young Frankenstein and Western spoof Blazing Saddles.
Almost directly parodying Star Wars, or, more specifically, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (with a little Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi jokes thrown in for good measure), Spaceballs took shots at the entire sci-fi genre as it followed Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man half-dog partner Barf (the late John Candy) on their attempt to save Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) from the evil Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). With a new, 25th anniversary edition arriving on DVD and Blu-Ray this week, Leonard Maltin discusses why the Schwartz is still strong in Spaceballs and why the comedy is as timely as ever.
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