Customer Reviews

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 2 (Angels' Revenge / Cave Dwellers / Pod People / Shorts, Vol. 1)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is Rhino's second DVD collection of four episodes of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," and it's excellent. It has three great episodes from various seasons, and a fourth disc of hilarious short subjects. And it comes in a nifty package with moving parts!

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 DVD contains three episodes, plus a compilation of short subjects from different episodes. The episodes cover a wide spectrum: two are from early in season three, when Joel Hodgson was the host and the show was just kicking into high gear. The third is from late in the sixth season, when the show had developed a much more slick and sarcastic approach with host Mike Nelson. People new to the show will get a good chance to compare the styles of the show. Personally, I love both, but they are quite different. The Shorts are brief films that the host would sometimes make fun of before the movie. Originally, they watched episodes of old movie serials, but when those quickly 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 on this collection:

ANGEL'S REVENGE. Episode #622. A 1978 film originally titled "Angel's Brigade," this is an hysterically awful rip-off of the TV show "Charlie's Angels," only it's worse, if you can imagine that! A group of attractive and not-so-attractive women decide to wage war on L.A.'s drug dealers by dressing in white jump suits. The female leads (including Playboy Playmate Susan Lynn Kiger) are horrendous actresses, but what's really embarrassing is the presence of well-known guest stars slumming at the pits of their careers: Jack Palance, Jim Backus, Pat Butrum, Alan Hale, and in a depressing performance, Peter Lawford. Poor Peter appears to have been drunk for the entire filming. Mike and the `Bots have an absolute field day making fun of the relentless 70s style ("Entertaining was a lot easier in the 70s!") and the poor, unfortunate guest stars ("Do you think Peter knows where he is?"). This is one of my favorite Mike Nelson episodes, and it's the best disc in this package.

CAVE DWELLERS. Episode #301. This film was originally released in 1984 as "Ator the Invincible" and then as "Blade Master" on video. It's a sequel to "Ator the Fighting Eagle," and is one of many cheap-o copycats of "Conan the Barbarian." This stinker stars Miles O'Keefe as beefy warrior Ator, who also knows lots of sciencey stuff (like how to manufacture a hang-glider in two minutes with just sticks). Ator travels to the Ends of the Earth to stop some John Saxon-like villain from obtaining some vague object with a funny name that might do something really bad. Or whatever -- the film is just fantasy of the worst kind. It's so cheap there are no special effects, and the only monster is an immobile velour snake. This is first episode of season three, and this is really when the show entered its golden phase. Joel and the `Bots have some good times here, especially at the outlandish finale, and there's a hilarious parody of the movie's opening credits. A good episode, and the start of great things.

POD PEOPLE. Episode #303. The poor dubbing in this film automatically marks it as foreign, but since it's obviously trying to pass itself off American, it's tricky to figure out where it was really shot. Mystery over: this is a 1983 Spanish film called "Los Nuevos Extraterrestres," released in America as "The Unearthling." It's an awful attempt to copy "E.T." and combine it with a horror film. Aliens that resemble miniature two-legged versions of Snuffleupuggus from "Sesame Street" invade the mountains. A high-pitched little kid befriend one of the aliens, Trumpy, while the rest start killing people for no reason. There's an awful pop band on a trip (their performance in a recording studio is one of the highlights of the episode), some poachers, and a dysfunctional family up in a cabin. None of it fits together, but Joel and `Bots create some classic running gags. It's the perfect kind of film for the MST3K treatment. You'll love their re-creation of the incomprehensible "song" performed by the band in the move. ("It stinks!")

SHORTS, VOL. 1. These come from many seasons, and all are great. Tom Servo does a joking intro for each one. "The Home Economics Story" (from episode #317) is a 1950s film for high school girls that encourages them to study home economics in college, implying that they aren't destined for anything other than being housewives. "Junior Rodeo Daredevils" (from episode #407) tells how a group of kids in a tiny town set up their own rodeo, and then broke all their limbs and snapped their spinal chords -- all in good fun! "Body Care & Grooming" (from episode #510) informs college students how to spend all their time grooming their hair and skin, because people will only like them if they're pretty! "Cheating" (from episode #515) tells the tragic story of Johnny, who cheated and rose to power, and then fell into the pits of despair not unlike a Kafka novel. "A Date with Your Family" (from episode #602) is the best of the bunch: a nightmare about the perfect 50s family having a perfectly repressed 50s dinner. The riffing here is as sharp and satiric as anything ever done on the show. "Why Study Industrial Arts" (from episode #609) is the reverse of "The Home Economics Story," encouraging young men to risk sawing off their limbs in shop class. And finally, "The Chicken of Tomorrow" (from episode #702) explains breeding techniques to create meatier chickens. It's very depressing.

(In a bit of a mistake, two of the shorts are already available on other DVDs: episode #609, "The Skydivers" is on the first Rhino DVD collection, and Episode #515, "The Wild World of Batwoman," is available as a single DVD, so you might have already seen two of these shorts.)

This is another awesome collection from Rhino. There's more laughs here than you'll find in a year's worth of Hollywood comedies. A must for MST3K fans and newcomers alike!

This four-disc set of MST3k episodes lacks a few of the extras available on the previous release, but that in no way makes this a lesser product. While I did miss having the trailers and the uncut versions of the film available on the disc, this is still a worthwhile product, combining three great episodes and one short-film collection. I love watching MST3k on these DVDs, as I can watch and rewatch, and catch gags and references on the second viewing that I missed the first time around.

Here are some quick comments on each of the discs:

ANGELS REVENGE: From the moment the disco music powers out of your speakers on the opening DVD menu, you should know exactly what to expect. This is the story of a cheap Charlie's Angels rip-off that increases the number of angels, but decreases the number of coherent plot points. Yeah, ponder that for a moment. Anyway, this is a delightfully awful movie with a surprisingly high number of celebrity cameos, including Jack Palance (as a drug kingpin's right-hand man), Alan "The Skipper" Hale (as a disco singer's vaguely sleazy manager), and Jim "The Millionaire" Backus (as the head of a right-wing militia). One wonders what hideous bet was lost on the set of Gillian's Island that forced two of its stars to appear. One wonders what on Earth the 70's did to Jack Palance to make him decide to star in this. A multi-ethnic plethora of busty babes rounds out the cast. Despite the title of the film, none of the Angels get anywhere near top billing. A middle-aged, male Hollywood executive's idea of what a feminist movie would look like.

CAVE DWELLERS: This is the sequel to some other lousy film, and the lengthy flashback to that picture in the beginning of this turkey makes it out to be just as painful and bizarre. The back cover of the DVD Boxed Set doesn't even bother giving a plot summary, because there really isn't one - just some muscled guy wandering through a forest for an hour and a half. This is a film that would be a really, really painful experience without those soothing fellows down in the corner of the screen.

POD PEOPLE: This ranks as one of my favorite MST3k episodes. A movie that's unbelievable goofy combined with the hecklers at their wittiest. The host segments to this one are a riot, and all directly mock the main feature. I laughed, I cried, I rewound and laughed and cried some more. I really think this is one of the sharpest commentaries that the MST3k gang recorded, so this is something not to be missed.

SHORTS, Vol. 1: The short instructional films that the Satellite of Live crew occasionally tackled often resulted in some of their funniest material. These short features are hilarious enough in their own right, but when they get the MST3k treatment, they're even more painfully funny. Tom Servo hosts: The Home Economics Story, Junior Rodeo Daredevils, Body Care & Grooming, Cheating, A Date With Your Family, Why Study Industrial Arts? and The Chicken of Tomorrow. Rest assured that they are indeed as frightening as their names would have you believe.

The small print on the back of the Boxed Set informs us that "the production elements required to include the films in their original format were not available". A pity, since a lot of MST3k films make for hilarity even without the commentary. But still, this shouldn't come as a major disappointment, since it's Mike/Joel and the 'bots rather than the dubious, cheesy films that make these Boxed Sets must-buys, although I must admit to a very sick desire to see the uncut version of POD PEOPLE.

Just as with the first MST DVD Collection, someone did a fine job choosing the four discs to include in this collection. "Pod People" and "Cave Dwellers" are both excellent episodes from Joel Hodgson's tenure on the program and perennial fan favorites. And while "Angels' Revenge" (I can't get used to leaving out the apostrophe) is not as remarkable a product of the Mike years, it's still a pretty good show, memorable mainly for the cheesy "Charlie's Angels" knock-off it featured. The short-subject films that frequently graced MST episodes were the venue for some of the show's best comedy, and the "Shorts" disc brings together examples from seasons three through seven for some seriously good entertainment.

As other reviewers have noted, these DVDs don't include the uncut versions of the movies that were included in the first collection. But that hardly seems to matter. The real MST fan has always been more interested in the host's and the bots' reactions to the films than in the films themselves. And while that may encapsulate some film fans' objections to MST in the first place, it doesn't take away from the greatness of the show or the value of this collection. If you don't already have these episodes on video from Rhino or on your own carefully-hoarded tapes made so long ago -- or, heck, even if you do! -- this is a great set to add to your MST shelf.

In my opinion, Volume 2 is the best of the four sets released thus far. "Pod People" and "Cave Dwellers" are among MST3K's classic episodes, and what fan would miss out on the Shorts?

Angels Revenge: T&A are the main assets in this Charlie's Angels ripoff, wherein buxom vigilantes fight drug dealers. Notable stars include Alan "Skipper" Hale, Jim "Thurston" Backus, Pat "Mr. Haney" Buttram, and Jack Palance -- all obviously in more desperate times.

Pod People: A magical ALF wannabe from outer space visits a northern town -- wackiness ensues. "Pod People" uses the cinematic convention that aliens will attack adults and befriend children. As Dr. Forester says, "It has nothing to do with pods, nothing to do with people, and everything to do with HURTING".

Cave Dwellers: A knockoff of Conan the Barbarian, "Cave Dwellers" features a medieval world vaguely under attack. The heroine's pie pan chestplate and an inexplicable hang-gliding scene make this one a breeze for Joel and the Bots. Not as good at the Steve Reeves Hercules episodes, but still good fun.

Shorts: Arguably the best part of MST3K, the Shorts Volume 1 collects half of the bits from the Shorts VHS collection for your viewing pleasure. The shorts are a nice change of pace from the two-hour films, which can become tedious after a while if you're not in the mood for them. They also cover topics *so* obscure (from chicken farming to industrial arts to "A Date With Your Family") that you can be sure this is the only time they'll ever be on DVD.

As stated, this is my favorite MST3K volume. It may not be the best collection to pull in new fans, but for veterans of the series, it's definitely the best Rhino's released yet.

Oh what a beautiful day! Angels Revenge, Cave Dwellers, Pod People, & Shorts Vol. 1 together in one glorious set. Three of these titles are personal favorites and the fourth (Cave Dwellers) has some good momemts.

Angels Revenge: What do you get when you add 7 busty babes, the skipper (Alan Hale), Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram), Thurston Howell (Jim Backus), Peter Lawford and Jack Palance? A laughable piece of poorly acted fluff. The seven jump-suited hunnies (they looked like Evil Kneivel groupies) couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. The plot(?) revolves around these curvacious cuties deciding that they'd take on a drug cartel run by Peter Lawford and his main henchman Jack Palance. Mike and the bots are spot on with their riffing throughout. It makes you cringe seeing poor Jim Backus, a beloved character, sentenced to do this movie.

Cave Dwellers: Stars Miles O'Keefe in your typical low budget sword & sorcery flic. The movie is slow, confusing, and poorly acted but the segments by Joel & bots are priceless. In particular, their version of the movie's opening sequence with credits.

Pod People: What a disjointed collection of celluloid! The movie jumps around more than a jackrabbit on pcp. The story, such as it is, starts with a light in the sky crashing to earth. Three poachers cross paths with some goofy looking alien. Of course these dullards try to kill these long snouted bipedal creatures. A small boy with an annoying voice finds an alien egg and decides to take it home. It hatchs and lil' Trumpy is born. Meanwhile, the movie goes way out in leftfield by jumping to some putrid "rock" group singing the most incomprehensible song. Oh forget it! Joel & co. do a great job dissecting this corpse of a movie.

Shorts Vol. 1: Some of the best MST moments are these hilarious education shorts from the 50's & 60's. A sometimes innocent, sometimes disturbing window into America at that time.

Buy this volume when it is released, you won't be disappointed!

Both Pod People and Cave Dwellers are classic third season MST3K episodes, and with good reason. The movies take film-making to a new level of ineptness, and the Bots and Joel throw many unforgettably funny comments in the films. The "Trumpy" comments can still make me laugh on their own even today. Angel's Revenge isn't quite to the caliber of the other two, but is still fun to watch just to see former TV stars like Jim Backus making themselves look silly.
The Shorts disc contains some of the only exclusive material shot for the Rhino video releases, with Tom Servo 'hosting' the feature. It's a great little bonus, and it was filmed during the second Sci-fi channel season. It's a little disappointing that they couldn't include the original versions of the films here (I wonder what Pod People is like without the MST3K filter...*shudder*). But this still is a excellent set, better than the first, and a must have for any DVD-enabled MST3K fan!

This is a good compiolation of classic episodes, there isn't really any dull moments, except if you're only paying attention to the movie, instead of Tom, Crow, Joel, or Mike, then yes, it will be very boring. This collection features 4 DVDs, with B movies mostly from the 80's.

Movie 1. ANGELS REVENGE: I never quite understood the plot of the movie, but it seems like its mainly about a group of female spies, a cheesy Bond like re-make, or if you're into the really horrible Cartoon network show Totaly Spies, it will be equivalent to that as well.

Movie 2. CAVE DWELLERS: Now this is a classic....seems to be about a Hercules like hero named Ator, who's trying to help this one girl save (don't know her name) to save her father from his captor. "So, lets recap the action so far..." which appears to be about "ummmm...none so far" which about sums it up for the movie. At the end, they are more then upset with the movie "You know, we had it the worst, we had to watch you watching the movie" says Forrester. Crow shows Dr. Forrester the mistakes they found in the movie. "What do you want from us? We're evil....evil"!!

Movie 3. POD PEOPLE: No....this has nothing to do with Pods, and it has nothing to do with People, it has everything to do with HURTING. It's a foreign film that is dubbed over, sometimes the voices are a little off at times, and it seems like it tries to be an ET rip off mixed in with a horror film. It's about a comet that crashes on earth, in a forrest that has alien eggs on it. 3 poachers see are in the movie periodically who first see the comet, Tom Servo shows us his Yoda impression "Luke..use the force Luke". A high-pitch annoying little kid comes and brings an egg home which hatches revealing the "Pod Person" who later in the movie starts killing everyone for no reason. There is even a really bad pop band that plays on the movie as well, and they travel to where the cabin, a drive that seems to take at least an hour of the film "we bought the van so we're gonna film it" cracks up Crow. They end up setting camp near that the kid and the family cabin. "okay, is this movie C or D"? Asks the lost Servo. This is a funny movie thats probably one of the best in this collection.

Movie 4. SHORTS VOL. 1: A great collection of shorts, some appear in previous DVDs from MST3k box set 1, but still a great laugh. Probably the best ones on here are CHEATING, about a boy who cheats on his math exam and then gets kicked out of the student council. "You've made some powerfull enemies son". The second one is A DATE WITH YOUR FAMILY, an old film that is now knows as "The Woody Allen Story," a hillarious 50's or 60's show about how a modern family should do before, and during a dinner with your family, remember, it's always accustomed to say grace before eating, what could be going through this families head? "Please God take me now". Finally last but not least, WHY STUDY INDUSTRIAL ARTS? About a highschool student who seems to be obsessed with being a carpender "I keep a magazine of Popular Mechanics under my mattress". Which the gang seems to have some of the best comments on here.

This is a great collection over all, and I suggest that you get it.

This MST3K collection is the perfect set for both die-hard fans and viewers who are new to the show. The movies are bad in a ripe, juicy way, making it easy to squeeze every last drop of possible humor out of their horrendous dialogue, lame-duck plots, and trapped-in-a-paper-bag acting.

For collectors and afficianados, this collection is a no-brainer. For everyone else, it makes an excellent starter kit to get you into and hooked on this intelligent, delightful, and addictive show. This particular set contains the following:

CAVE DWELLERS - Miles (and miles) O'Keefe stars as Ator, the greasy, chesty hero who must travel to the ends of the earth in order to stop a strange and mystical device (the Geometric Nucleus -- never seen, never explained, never mind) from falling into the evil hands of some man with a black swan helmet. Along the way he fights invisible warriors (this film's version of cost-saving casting), a fiberglass cobra, and -- of course -- a few cave dwellers. Both well-read and beefy, Ator is assisted in his quest by his mostly mute sidekick, Dong (or is it Wong? Chong? Ba-da-bong?), and a hubcap-clad warrior woman whose name, I believe, is Linda. Joel and the bots discuss foley artist techniques, reprise the opening credits of the film in their own tongue-in-cheek fashion, and discuss ways bad movies make bad props sound better than they are. Delicious if for no other reason than the hang-glider scene.

ANGELS REVENGE - A thinly disguised rip-off of Charlie's Angels, this self-righteous dud treats us to feeble-minded drug dealers beating up school children and a typically-squinty Jack Palance doing as little acting as he possibly can. Other down-on-their-luck stars exploit their dwindling fame as well (Peter Lawford, Pat Burtrum, Alan hale, Jim Backus, and Arthur Godfrey), prompting Tom to invent a Shame-O-meter, just to gauge how pathetic the movie really is. A few of the host segments fall a little flat and seem short-changed, but that doesn't detract from Mike and the bots' able and always incisive commentary. Listen for KPLOT, watch for the scenes of young teens being instructed on proper gun use, cringe at the overly-excessive administration of groin torture, and laugh at eight women "sneaking" into a drug compound in broad daylight while wearing downy-white Evel Kineval jumpers.

POD PEOPLE - The filet mignon of MST3K episodes, "Pod People" features some of the best jokes and gags Joel and the bots have ever pitted against a film. This travesty of a movie concerns the deaths of a few brain-dead poachers (one of them is a Leslie Nielsen look-alike, the other looks like he belongs around the potato cauldron at a Renaissance Fair), the "antics" of a horrendous band (boasting a combined IQ of 12), and the machinations of a couple of murderous aliens that look like the love-children of Alf and an upright Hoover (with attachments). The plot also follows a precocious young boy as he deals with parental neglect, his uncaring and alcoholic grand/father, and a whole host of traumatizing sights. Featuring a hilarious spoof of one of the band's feature songs ("It stinks!") and a delightful recreation of Trumpy's abilities, this episode contains everything that made MST3K a brilliant show. If this one doesn't turn you into an fan, nothing will.

SHORTS, VOL. 1 - Okay, well, maybe this would be better for newbies. Hosted by Tom Servo, this disc provides viewers with 10 and 15 minute "shorts," brief, bite-sized educational clips hailing mostly from the 50s and designed -- primarily -- to teach suppression and the Great White Way to unsuspecting schoolchildren. A short on Home Economics (one of my all-time favorites) follows four girls through college as they major in various things like baby sitting, how to set a table, and (no fooling!) being a good wife. A short on good grooming encourages not just clean skin and hair, but also unswerving conformity to all traditional standards of clothing. Speaking of conformity, "A Date with Your Family" is one of the most frightening short films I've ever seen, a diatribe on familial duty that demands that children dress casually for a home meal, never ask dad for money, and always make sure dinner time conversations are as unemotional as possible. (Seriously. The narrator uses the word "unemotional.") Others include an industrial arts segment (much like the Home Economics clip, except here you have guys talking about how much they love the "smooth feel of wood pushing through a buzzing saw"), a piece on "The Chicken of Tomorrow" (a bizarre title for a boring subject), cheating (in which a young boy who cheats on a test is treated as a leperous pariah by rib-less students and teachers alike), and a Junior Rodeo in which young children risk their lives and spines for a fleeting moment of unbridled, bucking fame.

Unsettling Depression-era edutainment, 70's technicolor plaigarism, sci-fi/fantasy tomfoolery, and self-congratulatory heavy handedness: this collection harbors some of MST3K's worthiest (and cheesiest) foes. It's a treasure to be able to watch Mike, Joel, Tom and Crow chop them to bits with high-brow allusions, goofy witticisms, and hilarious insights. If you like watching bad movies with your best friends (or if you're the type who can't help making wise comments when you see something lame), MST3K should be a treat, making this collection the equivalent of a candy shop of humor.

Several excellent choices with Joel as your host. Why watch bad movies? Because sometimes you just don't realize the astounding skill behind the good ones until you see these mind-bogglingly bad ones!

ANGEL'S REVENGE. A STUNNINGLY bad rip-off of the bad TV show "Charlie's Angels." As one reviewer put it: "women decide to wage war on L.A.'s drug dealers by dressing in white jump suits." Amazingly, it co-stars: Jack Palance, Jim Backus, Alan Hale, Peter Lawford (who appears to be drunk) and . . . ARTHUR GODFREY! How did this happen? Maybe they thought it was an actual movie of the show and the casting folks told everyone simultaneously that "we've got XXX" and they all agreed on the basis of thinking that the other guy was in-- but failed to read the script! A favorite scene is the raid on the huge drug-processing facility (apparently invisible to the police) guarded by a simple 2-strand barbed wire fence. One Angel can't manage to cut through with her wire-clippers so ad-libs by rolling underneath . . . and so on. (This movie completely ruined "The Road Home" for me. There were too many long scenes in which little Chinese girl runs over the hills after the schoolteacher and all I could think of was the 'bots refrain of "She's running and running and running and running . . . and running and running and running . . . " from "Angel's Revenge.")

CAVE DWELLERS. A hilarious knock-off of "Conan the Barbarian." For those who question the artistry of a show involving a guy and his robots making cracks about bad movies . . . consider how hard that is to do while laughing so hard you can't catch a breath. Notice the opening footage which has NOTHING at all to do with the movie which also has nothing to do with caves or dwellers.

POD PEOPLE. Opening footage appears to be made by the same outfit that made the opening footage for cave-dwellers. It also has nothing to do with the movie, or if it does, notice that the monster changes from a Creature-From-The-Black-Lagoon sort of monster to a Snuffleupuggalus sort of muppety thing. My least favorite of the collection, but if you want BAD, it's way up there on the Bad-O-Meter.

SHORTS. "The Home Economics Story" encourages high school girls to study home economics -- particularly poignant for me because the school appears to be Iowa State where my mother did just that, often talking about the group house. "Junior Rodeo Daredevils" shows kids setting up a rodeo (and Head Injury!!! Yeeehaaaa!!!) Also "Body Care & Grooming", "Cheating" (which gets the star kicked off the Student Council ("You've made some powerful enemies son!"), "A Date with Your Family", "Why Study Industrial Arts" (the guy's version of "The Home Economics Story"), and "The Chicken of Tomorrow."

Just a terrific collection!

This is a good collection of DVD's featuring some classic episodes, as well as the ultimate feature: a DVD with shorts on one DVD.

The first two films - "Pod People" and "Cave Dwellers" are some of my favorite episodes. The skits are funny and so is the heckling, and I would definately invite people to introduce friends to MST3K this way.

"Angel's Revenge" is...well, it's not HILARIOUS, but it is funny. I wouldn't suggest introducing some one to MST3K with it, but definately watch it after you've gotten into the series. It's kind of weak in the beginning but picks up better after a while ("So they just destroyed all the drugs in the world?").

The Shorts Collection - while perhaps missing "Mr. B Natural" - is still the funniest piece of the pie. I laughed through ever last one of them, and "Cheating" made me fall out of my chair. Such lines as "I will bring you down Johnny!" or "You've made some powerful enemies, son" will stick in my mind forever. The last short involving chickens was fittingly good as well ("Where's the driver? Oh my god the chickens are taking over!")

In short, for MSTie or MSTie-in-training, this is an excellent volume. Get it. Got it? Good!