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| Available at Amazon.com |
1996’s Mystery Science Theater: The Movie makes it back to DVD after being out of print for 10 years. Now you can own it for 15 bucks, instead of buying it used for 40.
Huzzah!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 was, of course, the cult classic show where a human and his robot (puppet) buddies cracked wise during some lousy films. It was chock full of silly jokes, delightfully low budget props and effects, and obscure references. MST3K is pretty much the sole reason anybody remembers films like “Manos” The Hands of Fate, Red Zone Cuba, Hobgoblins, or Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie differs little from this formula. The important changes are as follows:
1. It is presented in 1.85:1 Widescreen.
2. It has a low budget instead of an ultra-low budget.
3. It runs for only 75 minutes, whereas the TV show lasted 95 minutes without commercials.
4. The movie isn’t that bad.
The movie within the movie is the minor sci-fi classic This Island Earth. It was directed by Joseph Newman (Dangerous Crossing), and stars Rex Reason as a scientist who contacts large-foreheaded aliens.
The strange thing is that This Island Earth, by itself, runs for about 89 minutes. So, if you’re keeping score:
MST3K on Comedy Central or Sci-fi = 2 hrs (with commercials)
An episode of MST3K on DVD = 95 minutes
This Island Earth = 89 minutes
MST3K the Movie (featuring This Island Earth and a number of host segments) = 75 minutes
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Anyway, if you’ve seen the show, the movie plays like a fairly average episode. If you haven’t seen the show, this probably won’t be of any interest to you.
Wow! Mystery Science Theater has never, ever looked so good. It’s almost too good. The film quality of the host segments is shocking high.
The sound is also nice and clear. I’ve often experienced problems with sound clarity within episodes of the TV show. The movies are generally too quiet, and feature a hissing noise. This mix here is much better.
The DVD scores highly in this category. Granted my appreciation for the audio and video of this disc might be in comparison to my SLP Sci-Fi channel recordings.
You can watch the DVD in French, or with English subtitles. Other than that YOU GET NOTHING.
No trailer, no un-MSTied version of the movie, no cast list, no commentaries, no stills.
Nothing.
Mystery Science Theater fans should appreciate a reasonably priced DVD of MST3K: The Movie. But, they shouldn’t get their hopes up that this thing contains anything beyond the movie itself.
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Gramercy Pictures presents Mystery Science Theater the Movie. Directed by Jim Mallon. Starring Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, and Kevin Murphy. Running time: 75 minutes. Rated PG-13. Released on DVD: May 6, 2008. Available at Amazon.com.
About ML Kennedy
