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88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
2 great episodes, 2 pretty good ones., February 26, 2004
This fourth collection of episodes from the classic TV comedy show, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (which, if you don't already know, is the program where a silhouette of a man and his two robots sitting in theater seat provide running comedic commentary to rotten movies), contains four episodes from the later seasons that appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel. That means Mike Nelson is the host, Billy Corbett is doing Crow's voice instead of Trace Beaulieu, and Pearl Forrester is now the evil scientist holding the crew of the Satellite of Love hostage.The early DVD collections were all focused on the Comedy Central years of MST3K, so this is a nice shift in Rhino's marketing. Some fans aren't fond of the host segments in these later years, but there are some occasional funny ones. The riffing, however, is as good as ever, and has changed to an angry, sarcastic style different than the Joel and early Mike years. I love both styles, but some fans prefer one or the other. Just be aware that in this package you're getting a full-assault of the later, Sci-Fi Channel episodes. (Rhino is about release another package of Sci-Fi Channel episodes, after which I hope they'll return to some of the early seasons to maintain balance.) Of the four episodes on this collection, two are superb, while the others are entertaining but more average. Here's what you'll find: GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS: A really sleazy `go-go' film from the late 60s with some disturbing similarities to "Showgirls" (except it's better). Sleazy `elf boy' picks up a girl in a greasy spoon restaurant with the promise of making her a dancer in Los Angeles at the club where his drug-addled sister works. Unfortunately, Elf Boy is a bit psychotic, the boss at the club is oily and sleazy, and a poetic spouting dude named Critter (or "Yak Boy") tries to lure our girl from her plunge into a life of...(gasp!)...SIN! Oh, and there's lots of cameras leering at girls in skimpy go-go outfits dancing to lousy music. The film is similar to early MST3K episodes like "Hellcats" and "Wild Rebels" in its greasy ugliness, but the film is mostly slow and boring. Mike and the `Bots do a decent job with it, but this is only an average episode. There is a funny host segment where Mike sings a syrupy guitar ballad while the ship burns. HAMLET. A 60s German TV production of the play, horribly dubbed into English, and starring Maximilian Schell. It's bleak, drab, slow, and shot entirely on a single very uninteresting set of black curtains and granite furniture. The amusement of this episode is watching Mike and the `Bots take on a classic of literature, and riff off of famous lines, some of which is hysterical. But the production is so ponderous and slow that you'll be screaming along with the hosts for Hamlet to just shut up and die at the end ("Is there a word in English language he hasn't said?" one of them asks). There's a funny host segment called "Alas Poor Who?" set up as gameshow, where contestants must identify celebrities based on pieces of their bones. An intriguing, if not fantastic, episode. SPACE MUTINY. Ah, here's the gravy! An awful South African-produced sci-fi stinker that rips off the plot of "Battlestar Galactica" - as well as all of its effects footage! (I'm not sure this was legally done.) The inhabitants of the giant space cruiser `The Southern Sun' - which is mostly a large basement and boiler room - face a mutiny by guys in marching band outfits. A chunky loser and his love interest (old enough to be his mother) must save the ship. There are loads of people flipping over railings as they get shot (railing kill!), mutineers who can't aim worthy a damn, a chase on vehicles that go slower than golf carts, and a hero who screeches like a woman at odd moments. Mike and the `Bots really let this film have it, and the result is one of the funniest episodes of the Sci-Fi Channel years. OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK. Just as great an episode as "Space Mutiny" is this horrendous Public Television-produced film. Acutally, it isn't a film: it was shot on VIDEO! Cheap and flat looking, and filled with cheesy video toaster effects, the film blows any chance of succeeding it might have had. And it had potential. It has a real star, Raul Julia, and an early cyberpunk and proto-`Matrix' idea of a man whose mind is lost inside a giant corporate computer in a dystopian future. But none of it makes the least bit of sense, and it reaches hysterical levels of incomprehensibility by the end. Mike and the `Bots are in top form, and there's plenty to laugh at here. The end sequence, where they call the tech-support line for the movie to complain, is a classic! In addition to the films, Mike Nelson makes brief introductions to each episode, describing a bit of the behind-the-scenes torture the writers went going through. It's a nice feature, and I hope Rhino continues it. Unlike some earlier Rhino discs, there are no "un-cut, un-MST3K" versions of the films available. Frankly, I never watched the un-cut films on the discs where is WAS available, and I don't think anyone would want to watch any of these film without Mike and the `Bots. They change awful entertainment into great entertainment - and that's a magic feat all on it's own, and why "Mystery Science Theater 3000" will live forever as one of comedy greats. Come on, JUST PUSH THE BUTTON, FRANK, and buy this collection!
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259 of 288 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some of my favorite episodes ever..., November 6, 2003
I knew there would be at least a few reviews that dismissed the SciFi era in favor of the Comedy Central years. The arguments seem to center around the host segments, which, in my opinion, are hardly the most important part of the show. Yes, one gets to feel some attachment to the characters, but the premise of MST3K is people making fun of bad movies, and in my opinion the SciFi era represents the pinnacle of Best Brains' comic writing.First, I must admit that I didn't have Comedy Central until the ascendancy of South Park forced my cable provider to add it. We did, however, have the SciFi channel, for whatever reason. So I had to wait until the SciFi channel picked up MST3K before I could watch the show. So my association with MST3K consists primarily of these three years, though I have watched a number of the CC-era episodes now. There are really two different periods. Joel and Mike offered two kinds of humor. Joel--sleepy-eyed, laid-back Joel--was capable of the most intellectual, wise commentary, but it was generally reserved for the host segments. The skewering of the films was relatively friendly--even when the film was as punishing as "Manos: the Hands of Fate." Joel was the class clown who made fun of the teacher's presentation, but in a way that let the teacher know he didn't really mean any harm. The pop culture references in the Joel era tended to be somewhat dated and very geared toward a baby-boomer audience. But the "Mike" era changed that. Slowly, by degrees, the commentary began to sharpen to a razor edge. The references became more contemporary. The sarcasm was amped up, and this was probably what turned a lot of former MSTies off. The films were no longer joshed; they were skewered. Where Joel and the 'bots would often spend much of their time pretending to be characters making stupid or goofy remarks--essentially, allowing themselves to be drawn into the film, crappy as it was--Mike and the 'bots tended to comment more broadly on the action, the plot, the actors and the production values. This type of humor was much more appealing to me. My point of all this is that the whole Joel/Mike debates are not only divisive but pointless. The two hosts--and the eras they hosted--offer two arguably different senses of humor, and many people will prefer one or the other. But I think it's unfair to demand that Rhino produce DVDs from one era over another. I've been waiting for some SciFi-era DVDs for a long time, and these represent a tiny fraction of the DVDs published to date. Now, as for the episodes themselves--I must admit, "Hamlet" and "The Girl With the Golden Boots" are not two I would have chosen for the DVD. That said, both are amusing. But the real meat of this set are "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" and "Space Mutiny." The former is a movie, made for public television, that inexplicably stars Raul Julia. It is very, very bad, and yet, watching it, one can't help but notice that it has a lot in common with "The Matrix." Both films deal with a world where computers control everything and a single programmer who must fight back; and both films are bad. (Ooh, that's going to cost me some "helpfuls"). But "Space Mutiny"...ah, Space Mutiny. So perfect. So unbelievably amusing. It's one of those films that must have written itself in the MST3K office. My favorite line: when the villain attempts to escape in what appears to be a cherried-out golf cart, and the heroes quickly board another one to give chase, Mike notes, "You could walk on your hands and catch up to the guy!" Personally I hope for more SciFi era releases..."Riding With Death," would be wonderful, as would "It Lives by Night" and the two Japanese superhero films, "Invasion of the Neptune Men" and "Prince of Space."
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
are you ready to laugh?, October 11, 2005
What do insanely funny people in Minnesota do in there spare time? Mystery Science Theater is one of the results, and here are four very entertainingly awful "experiments:"
Girl in Gold Boots: This one has everything - bad lighting, bad acting, really bad editing, and a purplexing storyline: wannabe dancer Michele leaves her abusive dad at "Eat" (the restaurant they run) and hops a ride with Buz, the greasy dope-dealer who says he'll get her a job in a "groovy Hollywood nightclub." Along the way, they pick up Critter, a folksy gentleman who bears a strange resemblence to Paul Rudd. This movie features bad 60's music, terrible dancing, and some of the ugliest men you'll find in L.A.
Hamlet: I feel a duty to advise you to stay away from this if you find Shakespeare boring. But it's easier to understand Mike and the 'bot's zingers about this dubbed German version of the greatest drama of all time. Funniest of all is Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" speech. If you can get through this, kudos to you.
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank: I know I still love Raul Julia (Gomez of the Addams Family), but I hate his decision to star in this made-for-PBS-film about a man rebelling against his futuristic workplace. While trapped in a computer. Watch this one a couple of times and it'll become one of your favorites. Enjoy the guys' jokes about Julia's obsession with Casablanca (yes, the classic movie) as it plays out inside the computer.
Space Mutiny: This is a must-see for diehard MST3K fans. A soggy Star Wars rip-off, this is a great example to aspiring filmmakers what NOT to do. Some of MST3K's best jokes are here, including an ongoing rambling list to rename the movie's muscular "hero" (i.e., "Butch Deadlift," "Punch Rockgroin"). The funniest (unintentional) character? Kalgon, the head mutiner, with greased-back hair and a widow's peak drawn on his forehead.
All in all, one of my funnier collections. Enjoy!
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