Customer Reviews

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Wild World of Batwoman [VHS]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The MST3k guys do their usual wonderful job of taking an unwatchable movie and making it some of the best entertainment that you'll ever see. The film is absolutely ridiculous and it can't seem to figure out if it wants to be scary, serious, funny or hip. It ends up, of course, not being any of these things.

GASP as a scientist creates an atomic-powered hearing aid! THRILL as the same footage of the villain Rat Fink (yes, the main villain's name is Rat Fink) is used over and over again! SCREAM as the scantily clad extras dance awkwardly with each other (one wonders if they were paid per wiggle)! Where exactly this film went wrong is a question that one could spend many hours pondering, but it's much more fun to just sit back, relax, and watch Mike and the bots suffer through THE WILD WILD WORLD OF BATWOMAN.

This episode also featured the short film, CHEATING. This is perhaps the epitome of every 50's educational short film ever made. To sum it up in words would not do justice to its sheer horribleness. It could cause death by laughter all by itself, but in the hands of the crew of the Satellite of Love, it becomes positively dangerous.

Note: For the very brave, the DVD version of this film also comes with the regular, un-MST3Ked version of the film. I do not recommend activating this feature without a parent, guardian or medical worker present.

Ever notice that you don't really laugh out loud when you're alone? Well, while sitting on the couch alone on a Sunday afternoon, this movie made me laugh until I hurt. Give the MST3K folks a movie with no plot and horrible acting and they'll turn it into on of the funniest things you've ever seen.

The (supposed) plot: scientist builds atomic hearing aid - Rat Fink and his agents steal it - Batwoman and her clan of scantily clad Batgirls save the day. Trashy? Yes. Awful? Yes. Entertaining? Absolutely.

Coupled with the "Cheating" short, this is one of the best episodes of MST3K I've seen. The typically unpredictable combination of obscure cultural references and Ye Olde Scatological Humour can cater to all of your comic sensibilities and leave you exhausted and begging for more.

It often seems that, the worse the movie, the better the kibitzing from the MST3K crew. That's certainly the case with this movie, which is beyond god-awful, but Mike and the 'bots have been inspired to rise to the occasion by giving it the verbal pantsing it so richly deserves.

This DVD also contains the short film "Cheating" (with some hilarious host segments revolving around Crow cheating on an essay) and, for the masochistic, the full-length, uncut "Wild World of Batwoman" without the MST comments.

In one of the two Mike episodes that were wrongly labeled as Joel ones for DVD(the other is The Beginning of the End), after viewing the latest Invention Exchange between the MADs and the SoL crew, which involves Dr. Forrester getting his hair turned into the shape of a mushroom cloud, Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo have to deal with a very bad film entitled the Wild World of Batwoman. And make no mistake, this flick is so bad I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to see it. The main villain, Rat Fink(I won't spoil who he really is... then again, you probably won't care) looks like a bad Zorro rip-off with a ski mask, the girls, for some odd reason, go-go dance almost all the time, and there's the laughable chase scene at the very end of the film that could have been performed better by pre-schoolers. Oh, and let's not get started on the mole people, strange creatures that show up in a pointless little scene and disappear just as quickly. With a flick this bad, you know Mike and the Bots are mercilessly gonna tear it apart.

And tear it apart they do. Despite this being only his third episode, this is arguably one of Mike's best. The riffing is fast-paced and always on target, never missing a beat. From the lame "initiation" at the film's start to the girls yet again dancing like crazy at the end, Mike, Crow, and Servo spout out some great one-liners, my personal favorite being their "cyanaide pill" lines about midway through. There's also a funny part during WWOB's opening credits, where Mike leaves the theater to make some popcorn! And let's not forget the short "Cheating," a cliched, badly acted educational romp about a kid who cheats repeatedly on tests, gets caught, and screws his life up as a result. "Did Johnny really know the harm he was doing with his cheating?," the narrator asks. Our three heroes give a far better question: "Is he just pure evil?" "Cheating," is one of my favorite MSTK3 shorts, up there with Hired, Last Clear Chance, and Once Upon a Honeymoon, and that alone is worth this volume. The Wild World of Batwoman is a classic MSTK3 episode, and definitely deserves a spot in any fan's collection.

A guy dressed as a Mexican wrestler plots world domination by stealing a nuclear hearing aid so he can listen in on telephone conversations. Our only line of defense is Batwoman and her legion of skimpy-dressed, go-go dancing Batgirls equiped with assault rifles. That's the plot. I'm not joking. Throw in a wacky professor, a hunchback, a Chinese speaking ghost, and footage "borrowed" from "The Mole People," and you got yourself one bad movie. A truly disturbing scene is where the professor kisses the hunchback good-bye just before the nuclear explosion...which everyone somehow survives??? Anyway just watch it, you'll laugh untill you cry, because it hurts oh so much.

I think this may be the best MST3K I've seen yet. It had a neat short with an actual plot, continuing skits (and an interesting character bit during the opening credits; "You can't have popcorn in the theater!"), and a movie that almost transcends the definition of MST3K fodder. What's amazing is that, if treated seriously, the scenarios might have worked! Mike complains about Ratfink's lack of focus, but what's better than a super-villain with RANGE, as seen in Ratfink's multi-tasking: steal the atomic hearing aid, perfect the duplication process, spike your enemies with dancing serum, breed your mole-monsters with your archenemy's aides and exploit the ancient city. And check out Batwoman's variety, too: high-tech, seances, AND a go-go girl squad? What was going through the filmmaker's mind when he threw all this together? It's too bad he didn't have MORE stuff to splice in! And who IS Batwoman and what's her history with Ratfink? What's the secret of her quasi-vampire secret society of super-girls? And what WAS the deal with the horseshoe? En media res is always nice, but this movie demands a prequel. Mike and the Bots keep up with this zaniness quite well with an above-average collection of quips ("Sir, are you sure you have the right office?" "Simpson, eh?" "I will BRING YOU DOWN, Johnny!" "What's the story, morning glory..." "You don't care about my lunch at all, do you? You know it's there and you deliberately sit on it!" "Jello shot, ma'am?" "What about the hearing aid, am I crazy, wasn't that the plot! "). The only thing I couldn't understand is why no one commented on Professor Neon's remarkable resemblance to Dr. Forrester!

"You've made some powerful enemies, son."

This movie almost rivals Manos and Red Zone Cuba as the Worst Movie Ever. There are hole plots, girls dancing with guns, cups of soup, wrist watches, mole people, a crazy run around the table scene that will leave anyone in stitches, and a VERY odd little seance. The guys do an awsome job with so little. Tom Servo at his best. Includes a short on cheating, which is my all time favorite.

All the MST3K DVDs are worthwhile for the episodes they contain. One rant, however... I do wish Rhino would introduce some level of consistency to the disc production. I get the feeling all of the MST DVDs were made in someone's dorm room.
Here is a tech DVD breakdown:

[Manos]: Season 4 Episode 24 (Joel) 125 mins including "Hired: part 2" short:
· Disc Label: Purple Satellite of Love graphic
· Menu System: 3 choices - Play Movie, Scene Index, Poopie (annoying Manos music loop)
· Special Features: Poopie - hilarious MST3K outtakes

[Eegah]: Season 5 Episode 6 (Joel) 97 mins:
· Disc Label: Eegah color movie photo graphic
· Menu System: Professional but half done - Play Movie/Chapter Selection, Play Uncut Version, Special Features (Music loop is ¾ of Joel's theme)
· Special Features: List of titles on VHS & DVD - There are the makings of forward and back buttons here but they don't work. All 6 pages just transition through each other slowly. Rhino website address (why this is listed as a feature I don't know.) Uncut version.

[Mitchell]: Season 5 Episode 12 (Joel's Final Episode/Mike) 97 mins:
· Disc Label: Cheap silver silhouette
· Menu System: Cheap flying saucer graphic buttons with semi-annoying music loop from Mitchell - Play Movie, Play Trailer, Scene Index
· Special Features: Original theatrical trailer for Mitchell.

[The Brain That Wouldn't Die]: Season 5 Episode 13 (Mike) 97 mins:
· Disc Label: Double sided disc. (Why? The same features fit on one side with Eegah)
· Menu System: Professional but half done - Play Movie/Chapter Selection, Play Uncut Version, Special Features (music loop is from the movie and moderately annoying)
· Special Features: List of titles on VHS & DVD - There are the makings of forward and back buttons here but they don't work. All 6 pages just transition through each other slowly. Rhino website address. Uncut version on second side.

[Wild World of Batwoman]: Season 5 Episode 15 (Mike) 72 mins + "Cheating" short 20 min:
· Disc Label: Cheap blue with flying saucers (Joel's face errantly graces the box. Mike is the lead in this episode)
· Menu System: Professional - Play Movie/Chapter Selection, Play Uncut Version, Special Features (Music loop Is ¾ of Joel's theme... which is strange as this is Mike's episode)
· Special Features: Lists 3 other MST DVD titles. Click on titles to see a clip from each. Very Nice! Rhino Website. Uncut Version.

[The Beginning of The End] Season 5 Episode 17 (Mike) 72 mins:
· Disc Label: Cheap blue with flying saucers
· Menu System: Professional - Play Movie/Chapter Selection, Play Uncut Version, Special Features (Music loop Is ¾ of Joel's theme - again, this is Mike's episode)
· Special Features: Lists 3 other MST DVD titles. Click on titles to see a clip from each. Very Nice! Rhino Website. Uncut Version.

[Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie] 1996 - 72 mins:
· Disc Label: Cheap silver silhouette
· Menu System: None - chapter selection only
Notes: This movie is really hard to find and considered a collector's item. The only difference between the movie and a TV episode are a precious few amped up special effects, makeup and they hired a real actor to play in one of the skits (which I feel is a tragic mistake). It is not worth the (money) that it is going for in Amazon's Used section unless you're a diehard.

One of those rare gems: a horrifically bad film that's also screamingly funny. Batwoman and her non-too-bright bat-complices fight Ratfink and a stunningly lame script. At least half the scenes appear to have been ad-libbed, including the classic Chinese ouija-board seance, and an indoor chase scene that recalls the delicious absurdity of the toy-fight sequence in "Santa Claus versus the Martains." Proving once again that movie-makers should be licensed. The boys are in rare form as they slash and trash this excercise in swill.

This is the movie that makes you really wonder what the hell was going through the minds of people in Hollywood power during the '60's. A 60 year old woman protects the coast from overweight dumpy guys dressed like Zorro using the only weapon available during the '60's, dancing women dressed in bikinis. This movie is like an old lady driving a dump truck through a victoria secret store. Or as Crow put it, "Some on just put a bunch of movies in a blender and hit mix." The Mad Scientist (Which I swear looks a lot like Dr. Forrester, I'm sure much to the chagrin of the MST cast) and his monkey boy are just a completely odd concept. As the Doctor routinely forces every human trapped within his home to take happy pills, and monkey boy paws around on everything. For most of the movie I did not wish a painful death upon them, that was until that kiss at the end. That scene was enough to give me night tremors. Throw in the fact that "Batwoman" flat out stole a bunch of scenes from "Mole People" (I'm, sure to keep costs down) and it's a real wonder that humanity was able to even survive on to the '70's.

All of this mess makes for a real enjoyable MST3K episode. I love this one a million times more than Mike's first outing in "The Brain (Head) That Wouldn't Die." The short on Cheating is pure gold and if I hadn't have already gotten it on the Shorts tape Batwoman would have been worth getting for just that.

Flat out, if you want to get an early Mike episode and have to choose between "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" and "Batwoman" I recommend Batwoman if for nothing more than all of the insanity which makes for some great jokes from those three little shadows.