Customer Reviews

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 3 (The Atomic Brain / The Sidehackers / The Unearthly / Shorts, Vol. 2)

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

They could have given MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER VOLUME 3 the subheading of "Shorts", as there are more short films on offer here than in any previous box set, and most likely any future releases simply won't contain as many as there are here. There are nine short features here, six from the Shorts Vol. 2 disc, and three more scattered throughout the other three discs. I love the heckling that the MST3k crew give to those short packets of hilarity. While some films are able to transcend their time, the short films are intrinsically tied to the sillier aspects of decades past.

Here are some quick comments on each of the discs:

THE ATOMIC BRAIN: This is a film from that era of bad science fiction films where filmmakers put the word "atomic" in front of any dubious sounding scientific technobabble, hoping that this would somehow make the whole endeavor appear to be more scientific. In this film, a mad atomic scientist attempts to harness the power of the atom to atomically put an old woman's atomic brain into the atomic body of a young, sassy, atomic blonde. Features the short film WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY?, which only provokes me to wonder, "Well, what about it?"

THE UNEARTHLY: More scientists here. This time they're trying to insert a new gland into human bodies so that people will live forever. Or something. If the back of the DVD box hadn't told me that this was a horror flick, I really wouldn't have noticed. Maybe someone forgot that "horror" and "boring" are different things. Also features the shorts, POSTURE PALS (teaches kids to mock the posture of their peers), and APPRECIATING OUR PARENTS (teaches kids to obey). Strangely, every film in this episode seemed to be filmed in Blue and White, rather than Black and White.

THE SIDEHACKERS: Truly hilarious fare here. Grown-up idiots decide to risk life and limb by attaching shopping carts to the sides of their motorbikes and run them around in circles. There are also some subplots involving jealous lovers and mentally unstable cyclists. No sidehackers were harmed during the making of this movie, unfortunately.

SHORTS, Vol. 2. Features the following short films: CATCHING TROUBLE (a 50's sadistic version of the Crocodile Hunter inflicts pain on helpless animals), WHAT TO DO ON A DATE (no, it's not what you think, and when you see who will be doing the dating, you'll be glad it's not what you think), LAST CLEAR CHANCE (teens + cars + moody cops = death), A DAY AT THE FAIR (old men like to show off their corn at the fair), KEEPING CLEAN & NEAT (teaches kids to clean their bedrooms by employing clever camera tricks; any kids without a film camera will remain unenlightened), and THE DAYS OF OUR YEARS (tells us why it's always the worker's fault when someone ends up dying on the job).

Unfortunately, the original, uncut films aren't available as extras on this box set. To make up for this, those folks at Best Brains Inc. have included raw unedited footage and bloopers from the various host segments that appear in these episodes.

In case you're new to the world of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (MST3K for short, that's what us fans -- "Misties" -- call it), this is the famous TV show where a silhouette of a man and two robots in theater seats provide running commentary for some of the worst movies ever made. The ninety-minute episodes are scattered with sketches and songs and amount to some of the smartest, most pop-culture savvy, side-splitting comedy ever made.

This is Rhino's third MST3K collection of four DVDs. It's a bit weaker than the first two volumes (as well the next two), and probably not the greatest place to start if you're new to the show, but it's still hilarious stuff and worth four stars. It has three episodes from widely separated seasons, and a fourth disc that's a compilation of short subjects from various episodes.

Two episodes feature Joel Hodgson as the host. The first one is from extremely early in the second season, when MST3K first started to air on Comedy Central and the writers and performers were still developing the show's style. The second Joel episode comes from the late days of the excellent third season. The third DVD features Mike Nelson as host, late in the fifth season soon after he replaced Joel; he's very fresh and still learning the ropes of being host. The Shorts on the last DVD are brief films that the MST3K boys would sometimes make fun of before the movie. Originally, they watched episodes of old movie serials, but when those became tiresome, they turned to educational, commercial, and industrial filmstrips (you know, those annoying things you had to watch at school assemblies in sixth grade?). They contain some of the funniest riffing in the series, and are favorites of the fans.

Here's what's in this collection:

THE ATOMIC BRAIN. Episode #518. Mike Nelson had only recently become host when this episode was shot, so the show is in the middle of a re-adjustment, but nonetheless, Mike gets into the swing of things pretty quickly, and the show is already developing the more sarcastic style of the later seasons. This cheap science-fiction movie has an old lady and a mad scientist capturing foreign beauties in their creepy mansion so they can transplant the old lady's brain into one their bodies. There's no atomic brain, but there are sick scenes of the old lady pawing her intended new bodies. The film is fairly sluggish, but the hosts have a load of fun with the "plink-plink-plink" music and the ludicrously fake accents of the leading ladies. There is also a very funny educational short before the movie, "What About Juvenile Delinquency?" which shows just how wimpy teen gangs were back in the 1950s. (THEY STEAL PENS!) A good, solid episode.

THE UNEARTHLY. Episode #320. The Joel Hodgson years were in high gear when this episode was shot, and it's the best of the three full episodes in this set. "The Unearthly" has a lot in common with "The Atomic Brain," with a mad scientist capturing people in his lonely mansion so he can conduct experiments on them. But "The Unearthly" has real B-movie snap, with such stars as John Carradine (the world's greatest mad scientist), the incomprehensible Tor Johson (from Ed Wood's films), and smug Myron Healy. There's also a perky blonde and a wisecracking palooka, and a lot of scenes of people walking up and down stairs. Adding to the enjoyment are not one, but two hilarious 1950s education shorts shown before the film: "Posture Pals" (elementary school kids, STAND UP STRAIGHT OR ELSE!) and "Appreciating Our Parents" (elementary school kids, OBEY OBEY OBEY!). A great episode all around.

THE SIDEHACKERS. Episode #202. This is only the second episode of the years that the show was on Comedy Central. Kevin Murphy had just taken over the role of Tom Servo, and the show was still a bit wobbly, but they were rapidly improving. This is one of the best episodes from this season, but isn't as sharp as anything from seasons three or four. The movie, however, is a wonderful stinker: a sleazy, icky 60s biker revenge flick centered on the odd sport of `sidehacking' (motorcycle racing with a man in a side car balancing out the bike on turns). This is an important episode for fans because it provided many of the show's running gags: "He Hit Big Jake!" , "Chili Peppers Burn My Gut!" and "That Was Number Nine!" Some good stuff here, and a promise of the terrific stuff to come.

SHORTS, VOL. 2. These short films come from many seasons, and all are great. "Catching Trouble" (from episode #315) is a reprehensible documentary from the 30s about a wild game trapper who cruelly torments baby animals. The hosts are frankly disgusted by the whole thing, but this is a great episode for satiric humor. "What to Do on a Date" (from episode #503) teaches teens of the 50s how to save money on dates by showing how a loser named Nick lures Kay to a...gasp...scavenger sale for their first date. Kiss the second date goodbye, Nick! "Last Clear Chance" (from episode #520) is aimed at farm kids getting their drivers' licenses. A cruel cop explains the many ways a train can kill you, and despite his lectures, people die anyway. "A Day at the Fair" (from episode #608) is sponsored by the Four-H Club to tell you how much fun visiting the local fair can be. It all looks pretty bleak. "Keeping Neat and Clean" (from episode #613) explains to elementary school kids how to conform to 1950s beauty standards through relentless grooming. "The Days of Our Years" (from episode #623) is similar to "Last Clear Chance," only instead of a cop, it's the minister of a small railroad town who wonders why people keeping maiming and killing themselves around trains. This is a great short, with bitter and sharp commentary. Overall, the funniest disc in this collection!

This is another fine collection from Rhino. There's more comedy in this package than you'll find in almost anything made in the last ten years, but first-time MST3K viewers should look at Volumes 1 and 2 first before picking up this one.

Rhino seems to be in somewhat of a hurry these days, releasing the latest MST3000 collection a scant two months after the release of the last collection. Usually they release new episodes at a leisurely pace, but who's complaining? Certainly not myself; I can't get enough of MST on DVD.

This collection contains nothing that was not previously released on video. As there still remain a few video "stragglers" out there, such as "The Gunslinger" and Shorts, Vol. 3," I would expect these to be part of the next collection.

Here is what you'll find in this volume:
* Episode 202- THE SIDEHACKERS (a really lousy motorcycle actioner, made watchable only through the presence of Joel and company.)
* Episode 320- THE UNEARTHLY (with shorts: Posture Pals and Appreciating Our Parents). John Carradine is an evil scientist. Tor Johnson is his helper. For all Tor Johnson fanatics everywhere. This contains Tor's memorable line, "Time for to go to bed."
* Episode 518- THE ATOMIC BRAIN (with short: What About Juvenile Delinquency?) Wonderful nonsense made even better by the MST crew. Imagine a mad scientist (no, not Dr. Forrester) placing the brain of a woman inside a cat. Has to bee sen to be fully appreciated.
*MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER: THE SHORTS, VOLUME 2 (featuring Catching Trouble, What To Do On A Date, Last Clear Chance, A Day At The Fair, Keeping Clean & Neat and The Days of Our Years). I always loved the shorts, as there was far more funny wise cracking - being that the shorts only lasted 10-15 minutes, not enough time to wear the gang down. These are also included in their own volume as a subtle remainder that you won't see the accompanying feature film in a future collection, mostly due to rights disputes. Check your handy MST Episode Guide to see what you'll be missing.

Like the other collections, a bit pricey, but well worth it to avoid the agony when this goes out of print. I learneed my lesson when I didn't purchase "The Amazing Colossal Man." I could have gotten it when it contained "Mr. B Natural." Nope, I had to be cheap and wait around. I'll never make that mistake again, especially with something as valuable as this series.

...Volume 3 of flat out the best show ever created. This is a terrific collection featuring: "The Atomic Brain" - a very funny Season 5 Mike episode with a great short on Juvenile Deliquency. "The Unearthly" - a terrific Joel episode from Season 3 featuring two of the funniest shorts ever shown on MST3K: Posture Pals and Appreciating Your Parents. "The Sidehackers" - a very early Joel episode from Season 2 that features bikers...and not much else. Very funny. It's one of Frank's first episodes. "Shorts, Vol. 2" - a collection of some of MST's best shorts including the absolutely priceless "Last Clear Chance" ("why don't they look?") and "What to Do on a Date." It's a mix of Mike and Joel-era shorts and all of them are top notch. Rhino is doing a fantastic job!

Any MST fan MUST buy this collection...

(Warning: contains spoiler about one of the movies)

I've never met a MST3K collection I didn't like, and this one is no exception. The plots of the various movies and shorts in Volume 3 have been sketched out by other reviewers, so I won't be redundant. Or be redundant. Just a few comments:

In "The Atomic Brain," you can play "Name That Accent." It's fun! One character arrives from London, yet her accent is all over the map -- sometimes it's English, frequently it's Australian, sometimes it's straight from Dixie, but most of the time it's totally absent. The other foreign girls play hide and seek with their accents also. And isn't it amazing how the mad scientist accomplishes all his surgeries and brain transplants without those pesky visible incisions and stitches??

There seems to be some confusion over a major plot point in "The Sidehackers," which is totally understandable. A main character just disappears and Crow has to intone, "For those of you following at home, Rita is dead." Seems like a shoddy, un-MST3K way to do things, no? There's a good reason for it: as Mike Nelson explained in the book "The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide" (available here at Amazon and worth every penny), "We learned a harsh lesson with this episode. When we were selecting this movie for the show, we had watched only a portion of it. When it came time to write the movie, the writing team was stunned when there came a brutal, graphic scene of Rommel's girlfriend Rita being raped and killed. We were all traumatized, the scene was cut, and from that day forward, movies were watched in their entirety before they were selected."

There, now don't you feel better?

This set contains episodes with Joel and Mike, so that's definately a plus. I don't think one's better than the other, I think it varies on what movie they are making fun of. Anyway to this DvD set:
The Atomic Brain: 5/5
This is the best movie of the set, and it's very funny when Servo starts singing the song about the old lady. The cracks never stop when the old lady is in the frame. Classic lines!
The Unearthly: 3/5
The shorts are great, but the movie, ehh... there wasn't much to work with here. While there are some very funny parts, it doesn't compare to other episodes. So moving on.
Sidehackers: 4/5
This movie is just ,well, bad! They do a great job making fun of the guy who's girlfriend is murdered, then they go so far as to right a song about sidehacking and they even create the terminology for it! Classic!
Shorts Vol. 2: 5/5
Here's the good stuff, right here. These shorts are some really [crummy] ones, but the MST3K cast is there to ease our pain. Of course we all know that union pacific railroad always make the "best" shorts. Some shorts feature Joel, while others feature Mike, so it's a good even trade.
All in all this is a must for any Mistie out there. Also check out the superior Set 4 which features Girl in Gold Boots, Hamlet, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, and the infamous Space Mutiny.

if you are reading this you must be a MST3K fan. digital transfers of any episode from any season are worth owning. get yours now and you'll be kicking yourself later when you're shelling out twice the price on eBay.

i've enjoyed each volume to date and hope Rhino will release more new eps soon. the paperwork required to get an episode released must be a nightmare (rights issues is what prevents many of these shows from being released).

BTW: Mr. B Natural was not in episode 309, The Amazing Man; this short was shown in War of the Colossal Beast 319, the sequel to ACM.

*like the VHS release before it, The Atomic Brain 518 is missing the end stinger. for some reason it was distributed this way,; i'm still waiting for an explanation from Rhino about this problem...

further, this set will be the last release of any MST3K episode on VHS or DVD for the remainder of 2003.

At last, Rhino has added some worthwhile bonus features to the MST3K discs. Each of the 3 full episodes in this set come with bonus footage, of alternate takes and bloopers from the filming of the episode. Mind you, none of the bloopers are quite as funny as the ones in Poopie 1 or 2, but it's still neat. Again, the episodes aren't all wonderful this time out: Sidehackers is the best of the three: The Atomic Brain and The Unearthly have some memorable moments (mainly Tor's "Time For To Go To Bed" and the lady with a cat's brain) but neither of them measure up to Pod People or Cave Dwellers, from the previous set.
The volume of shorts included here has the classic "Last Clear Chance" and a couple of other neat shorts - not quite as amusing as volume one, but still pretty good. Still a essential addition to a Mstie's collection!

There's no "better" MST host for me - Joel and Mike were just great in different ways. I do believe, however, there was a dramatic dropoff after the switch to the Sci-Fi Channel. Mrs. Forrester and the Brain Guys were cringingly bad (though Bobo was funny) and Sci-Fi Channels' blanket "only sci-fi films" rule made sure that many golden opportunities were missed. Among them the educational shorts, which were the true highlights of the series for many MSTies.
The good news is that this set is filled with shorts. Even the poorer eps feature good shorts segments:

1) Sidehackers: Bad 70s era film centers around "sidehacking", an odd two-man motorcycle race that (thankfully) never caught on. Sidehacking footage only pads the film - the true plot involves Ross Hagen avenging the death of his ladyfriend. For whatever reason, we never see a death scene or body - the ladyfriend just disappears, and Crow INFORMS us that the woman was killed. It's a sad film that gets MSTied, but it's a sadder film when the bots must explain vital plot points.

2) The Unearthly: A largely forgettable film (starring John Carradine) wherein a scientist's failed anti-aging experiments cause the patient to turn into a California Raisin. Luckily this includes two great shorts: "Posture Pals" and "Appreciating Our Parents"

3) The Atomic Brain: Yet ANOTHER scientist tries anti-aging experiments, this time by transplanting an older woman's brian into a newly-deceased twentysomething hottie. When the scientist realizes that only live bodies will work, wackiness ensues! Includes the fine short "Juvenile Delinquency".

4) Shorts Part 2: The first part of this is in MST3K Vol 2, and if you have the Shorts VHS, this will be nothing new. Still, it offers the DVD advantage - no fast-forwarding to your favorite short. It's nice to even have the Shorts released, but it'd be better to have all of these in the same DVD set.

All-in-all a great DVD pack with some choice segments - great for Shorts lovers. It's not the absolute dream set for any MSTie, but Rhino's clearly going to release the comedy gems sparingly. The marketing department can be a harsh mistress.

I got this down off the shelf recently and enjoyed reminiscing about the first time I watched these DVD's and enjoyed laughing again at the hilarious comments the MST3K crew lets fly. I like this set more than some of the others for a couple of reasons. One is I like John Carradine and to think that he made a movie as crappy as The Unearthly is sort of fascinating. The 50's chicks in the tight dresses make me like this movie even more. Speaking of which, there's more of them in the Atomic Brain. Sidehackers is really riffed on as it seems to be all about promoting a sport that really never took off, but then it forgets all about the sport and limps off to "brutal punks seek revenge for unrequited love" land. (You're right: It doesn't make sense. Good news is it's funny, though.) Finally, I subtracted one star from my rating for this set because of the shorts, simply because, while they are funny, some of these are available on other issues and because it just seems a waste to throw a bunch of shorts on a DVD and entirely lose the episodic elements between movie scenes. Still this is great fun, hilarity, and hijinks as usual, so fans and casual viewers can add this to their collection with confidence.