forrest_rice's Full Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie''s plot.
Premise- Based on the popular 90's television show Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mystery Science Theater 3000- The Movie is nothing more than a an excellent average episode of the show with a bigger budget. A Mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Bealiue) has shot a man named Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson) into space, and he is driving him crazy with the worst movies ever made. Mike's only defense against the movies are his witty sense of humor, and his plastic robot pals (Kevin Murphy and Trace Bealieu).
Note: If you do not want care about the history of the show skip the next few paragraphs until you come across bold letters that say Mystery Science Theater 3000- The Movie
Review- So what the hell is Mystery Science Theater 3000? It started out as a local television series in Minnesota. It was created from the genius mind of Joel Hodgson, who was a magician, comedian, inventor, and pop-culture know it all. The show's format was simple, a guy and two robots make fun of bad movies, by throwing comments at the screen. The whole back story behind it was that two mad scientists shot Joel into space, and he has to live in a satellite, and they monitor his mind as he watches the bad movies. Back then the robots were voiced by Trace Bealieu and Josh Weinstein. It was a very clever show, and it gained enormous amounts of fans the minute the show began.
But this was only the beginning...
After the success of the show on a local channel in Minneapolis called KTMA, the show grew so big that Comedy Central bought the rights to it. This was the big time. The show was unlike anything ever made before, and after the success of season 1, Comedy Central decided to order another season. Josh Weinstein, who voiced the robot Tom Servo, left the job, and it was handed down to Kevin Murphy (which, all in all, worked out for the best). The show got much better in season 2, and the show continued to get more and more fans. Then season 3 began, and in my opinion, season 3 was the best season of them all. It featured 24 episodes, which season 1 and 2 only contained 13 each. Season 3 was extreemely successful, so the show was picked up for yet another season. Season 4 was also extremely good, as it featured the most famous episode of them all Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Then season 5 was under way, and it contained many memorable episodes, but then the fans would have to face a terrible fate, Joel Hodgson, in mid season would leave the show. The last episode for Hodgson was Mitchell, and it quickly became a fan favorite. The replacement for Joel Hodgson was given to Michael J. Nelson. And even though it was sad to see Joel go, Mike was exceptional, and overall, I prefer him as host. He's the most funniest man who ever lived, and if he doesn't make you laugh, then you were sadly born with a rare disease called humorlessnessintitus. Mike finished the last half of season 5, and though many fans decided not to watch the show anymore because they're were too mad to see Joel leave, most of the fans still stuck with the show, and enjoyed Mike's take on the show. And Mike was not new to the show, even though he had never been host, he had served as head writer since season 1.
The show was picked up for a sixth season, and in my opinion, it was the slickest season of them all, with the most witty, funniest comments to ever be heard on the show. Season Six was also 24 episodes long, but then, something awful happened. When Comedy Central ordered for a seventh season, only six episodes were to be shown, and only one "Special Edition Thanks Giving Special" episode. Then Comedy Central canceled the show.
It was a dark day for fans of the show when it was ended by a only slightly above average episode Laserblast, and the show seemed to end rather oddly. But then, something great happened. The Sci-Fi Cannel picked up Mystery Science Theater 3000 for 22 new episodes for the eighth season. There was a catch though, only movies with science fiction or fantasy were allowed. So then the show started up again, but there was a problem. Trace Bealieu decided not to stay with the show anymore to persue other needs for his creative ambitions. The task to replace Crow went to Bill Corbett, and just like the transaction between Joel and Mike, Bill Corbett was, for me, a miracle. Though I miss Trace's Crow a lot, Bill Corbett gave us a totally new personality for the 'bot, but somehow, to me, he was always Crow. bill Corbett did an excellent job, and in a few ways, improved some things in the show. Trace Bealiue was also the Mad scientist, so he had to be replaced, and that task went to Mary Jo Pehl, who appeared as Clayton Forrester's mother in a few Comedy Central episodes, but now she was the leading lady.
Some fans got angry with the changes and stopped watching the show. I on the other hand love any change the show goes through, and all in all, whatever Best Brains (the company behind the show) does, I'm fine with.
The show was picked up for a ninth season, but, sadly, only 13 episodes were ordered. But it was, in my opinion, a great season, which featured what I believe to be the funniest episode ever, The Final Sacrifice. Then the show was picked up for its tenth and final season. It was a great season overall. Joel even was a guest star for the first episode of season 10, Soultaker. Season 10 ended with a great episode, Danger: Diabolik, and that was it. Though it was very sad to see the show go, it does make it more legendary. And MST3K is and always will be, in my opinion, the greatest, most funniest show ever made.
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 THE MOVIE-
Note: Due to people asking me to write more about the movie itself, here it is, I wrote more about the feature shown in the movie, as well as details on the cut scenes
The movie fell in between seasons six and seven. The show had gotten so big that a movie was to be made. The movie would feature the movie This Island Earth, which is a movie I actually enjoy its own, but still, it is a bit on the cheesy side, and it made for perfectMST3K fodder.
It is about a scientist named Cal, and he is invited by an alien to work with him about world peace and such. So Cal accepts his invitation, and he then witnesses the destruction of the alien's planet Metalluna (Mike: "I've never Metalluna I didn't like). At times This Island Earth can be intelligent, but then at times, it has a lot of cheese. For example the "mutants" in the movie are very unconvincing, and cheesy looking. All the heckles are totally on target throughout the feature, and even though I love every episode of MST3K, I will admit that at times, select episodes can get tedious due to the awfulness of the movie, but Mystery Science Theater 3000- The Movie never gets tedious, it just gets funnier and funnier!
The MST3K- The Movie is simply the funniest movie I've ever seen in my life, from the line: "doesn't the fact that's it's Universal make it international?" to Tom Servo's quick "This Island Eaaaaarth" song, MST3K- The Movie is an enjoyable sit. It also seems to move faster than the typical episode, but this can also be due to its length. The film is only 70 minutes long, and this is due to Universal Studios and Gramercy cutting up the film to pieces, and since they cut so much out, I wonder how much better the movie would be. The deleted scenes have become a part of fan lore, one is where the bots' try to hilariously save Mike from running out of oxygen. Another is the Satellite going through a meteor shower, and the the last one is about going into the deep and dememted mind of Dr. Forrester. All transcripts of these can be read in WARD E at www.mst3kinfo.com. These scenes oviously took hard work and effort from Best Brains, and it is understandable why Best brains did not want to make future MST movies. In fact, in a season 7 episode entitled The Incredible Melthing Man, Crow makes a movie script called Earth vs. Soup and he is going to make it into a movie, but he must go through a ton of legal crap and all the things BBI went through to make this movie. But still, despite many deleted scenes that Gramercy butchered, Mystery Science Theater 3000 will make you laugh til you cry, that's a promise.
Overall Grade- A+
Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: DVD Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age
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