Entertainment » The Schwartz Unsheathed Review Write review

Android phone users rejoice! Finally, the ultimate weapon in the universe has made it’s way over to your pocket. No, we’re not talking about the force, we’re talking about the Schwartz.

If you’re not familiar with Spaceballs then chances are you won’t find this app to be that interesting or funny. The Schwartz Unsheathed is a complete parody on the iPhone and iPod Touch app called The Force Unleashed. Basically in this app you’re given a Schwartzsaber of your very own.

The app isn’t complicated and is definitely not as robust as The Force Unleashed. There are eight different Schwartzsaber colors for you to choose from. To turn on your Schwartzsaber just press the hilt. Swinging it around will make some noise and you can also enter full screen mode to just show the blade by pressing menu and selecting the only option available.

The Schwartz Unsheathed is just as much fun as any lightsaber app out there, except there is a really good joke attached to it. Oh wait, you’re holding a lightsaber in this app, not anything that looks even remotely like the Schwartz. With Spaceballs being such a cult classic movie, a lot of fans will smile when they see this app available for download but then immediately cry when they realize that it’s just a lightsaber app with no real Spaceballs joke to it.
Rating
Our Rating: Our Rating ( 1.8 )
User Rating: User Rating ( 2.3 )
Price: Free
 
Video
Ease of Use  rated 3/5  Features  rated 1/5  Frequency of Use  rated 1/5  Interface  rated 2/5  Usefulness  rated 2/5  


5/1/2009

Useless but fun

User rated 2/5
Review by neondemon

Useless but fun, exactly what i expected.

User Rating
Ease of Use -  rated 4/5
Interface -  rated 3/5
Frequency of Use -  rated 2/5
Features -  rated 2/5
Usefulness -  rated 2/5
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9/1/2009

The Schwartz Unleashed

User rated 2/5
Review by loomis2

The Schwartz Unleashed (TSU) has nothing to do with Spaceballs, other than the app title.  I think the developer chose that title to get around George Lucas's legal cronies who might want him to take down an app based on the Star Wars copyright.  He also might be a fan of Spaceballs.  I know I am.

That being said, this app reminds me a lot of the lightsaber app on the iPhone before Lucas had it taken down and they replaced it with their own version complete with John Williams score and character icons.  Maybe the same thing will happen to this app.

When TSU first arrived on the Android app store it was very bare-bones and barely worked.  I was kind of bummed, not because I really wanted a lightsaber app sine in reality they are about as pointless an app as you can get, but becasue I really wanted an independently developed Android app to compare favorably to an iPhone app, just to show the legitimacy of the platform. 

I am happy to say that the developer has really stood behind his work, coming out with a newer version almost every day.  It is heads above where it was in its infancy and while it doesn't have the fancy character icons or Williams score, it is virtually indistinguishable from the iPhone app in every other regard.  It is because of the developer support for this app that I am willing to give such a useless app such a high score.  Because really, as long as you know it is useless going in then there is nothing wrong with that.  Useless can be good sometimes, and if you are a SW fan then why not download it and give it a try?  At least you know the app is being well cared for.

On a slightly different note, maybe it would have been better for the developer to embrace the Spaceballs theme a bit more and put in some random Spaceballs quotes or something.  At least that way it could stand more on it's own instead of trying to copy the iPhone app as much as it does.  Just a thought since the original review seemed to suggest this app had anything to do with Spaceballs.  There is nothing to do with that comedy in the app and now that I think about it, I probably would enjoy the app a bit more if it tried to capture some of that comedy.  Just a thought.


User Rating
Ease of Use -  rated 4/5
Interface -  rated 3/5
Frequency of Use -  rated 2/5
Features -  rated 3/5
Usefulness -  rated 1/5
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21/2/2009

USELESS FUN!

User rated 3/5
Review by guitarfreak846

User Rating
Ease of Use -  rated 4/5
Interface -  rated 4/5
Frequency of Use -  rated 4/5
Features -  rated 3/5
Usefulness -  rated 3/5
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28/12/2009

Wouldn't the title just be propagated here as-is?

User rated 0/5
Review by CLCDAN

Anyway, another general gripe but for The Schwartz Unleashed?

Yes, of course, but seriously there is a definite (and possibly very recent) tip-of-the-hat to SpaceBalls as was always the case with this app.  Any copyright infringement would have much more to do with Orion Pictures and "SpaceBalls: The Movie." than "StarWars" or LucasFilms in any way.

The obvious joke here is what you HEAR: The music playing in the background behind the SchwartzSaber sound effects is the THEME TO "SPACEBALLS: THE MOVIE.", it is not the theme to any SW movie.  It even has it's own volume control!

Now do you get it?

In order to get a parody, one has to have a common frame of reference.

User Rating
Ease of Use -  rated 0/5
Interface -  rated 0/5
Frequency of Use -  rated 0/5
Features -  rated 0/5
Usefulness -  rated 0/5
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49% said yes.           



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