Mystery Science Theater 3000: uno spettacolo ai confini della realtà...!

Mike and the bots finally get their own movie, and it's a scream! They tackle 'This Island Earth', wreck the Hubble, and use an interociter to talk with some guy in the shower! Some people were upset that they used what is considered a 'classic' sci-fi movie, but fans of the film should give it a try. Fans of the show need no encouragement, and will recognise several elements from the show thrown into the movie (like the Torgo theme in one scene).

It was a blast! If you, the viewer, are not familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000, better known as MST3K, I recommend that you rent/buy/borrow, beg, or steal tapes to become a tad familiar with the concept.

The concept is: riffing a B-or-worse-scifi-movie; the victim, er-- subject, in this case, is "This Island Earth", a classic from the 50's. There's this guy (Mike) who's been shot up to an orbiting space station (the Satellite of Love, or SOL) by a Mad Scientist (Dr. Clayton Forrester). Mike is a replacement test subject (Joel, who made the robots for companionship, escaped), and he and Joel's 'bots (short for ro-bots) ease the stress of being test subjects by making wise@$$ remarks while the movie is running. Then there are little interval segments that attempt to tell a coherent narrative.

The catch is that the bots are actually only puppets made from a gumball machine head, salad bowl, Tupperware interlocking set of flower vases, and armatures from folding adjustable desk lamps. The original actor who voices Crow T. Robot is Trace Beaulieu, who also plays Dr. Forrester (ah, the magic of motion pictures!). The guy who voices Tom Servo is Kevin Murphy-- well, if you really want to see him, you'll have to find the episodes on tape and go looking for his appearances as other characters.

This movie is much better than the episodes that have appeared either on Comedy Central or the Sci-Fi Channel, primarily because Best Brains, the production company, had more money to make better sets, props, and better staging of gags. The Hubble was great, as was the amusing and embarrassing segment where Dr. Forrester ends up in the Metalunan guy's shower. [aaagghhh!!!]

The only two things I miss are Joel Hodgson, who was the original host, and Frank Conniff, who played Dr. Forrester's assistant, "TV's Frank". Joel was a much different "test subject" than Mike-- Joel was more introspective, did many more musical bits on the show, was more creative ["Invention Exchange" was Joel's idea; as a comic/magician, he made most of the bizarre and funny inventions on the show.] I feel that Joel's presence, as writer and actor, would have given a tighter, more coherent slant to the experiment (but then, again, I could be biased!).

Frank Conniff, as TV's Frank, was the best inept sidekick an inept Mad Scientist could have, and Frank was the perfect foil for Forrester. Their gags tended to be more physical, slapstick comedy.

But MST3K: The Movie is, I hope, the first in a long line of franchise movies (like Star Trek: The Motion Picture!). I hope that Best Brains, Inc. does another MST3K movie--it's like no-calorie chocolate!!!

Funny funny movie, although this is my favorite tv show, so I'm biased. It's always nice to see Trace (Crow/Dr. Forrester), who left the show soon after this movie was released. It's nice to see the guys at all, since Sci Fi took the show off the air.

But I digress. The movie is almost exactly like the show, except shot on better film and with better effects. Jokes abound, and the victim is fairly awful. I thought they would have picked a worse movie to mock, though, as This Island Earth was a relatively harmless piece of 50's sci fi fluff. They have dealt with much more dangerous and evil pieces of celluloid than this one. But a good introduction for the novice Mystie. They can always find out about the horror that is Mandos later.

The humor has recently been called juvenile and aimed at teenage boys, but I must disagree, as I am a 25 year old woman with a Master's degree in English and still find the show hilarious. The movie is only a taste of the overall genius that is (or was) MST, and if you at all liked the film, immediately go out and get what DVDs of the show are available. It's worth it.

The evil scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) locks Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson) and two robots in a spacecraft to watch terrible low-budget movies as part of his scheme to conquer the world. He projects 1954 "This Island Earth" (Title (Brazil): "Guerra Entre Planetas") with the intention of driving them crazy. However, the trio laughs and makes funny comments in every scene and dialogs, having good-time instead, and Dr. Forrester's ambitious plan does not work.

The first time I saw "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" on 01 February 2000 I loved it a lot and I gave a nine. I had watched the cheese "This Island Earth" a few months ago and the comments of Mike Nelson and the two robots made me laugh a lot. Today I have just watched this film again and it is still hilarious, but my rating is lower this time. "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" was released in Brazil on VHS by CIC-Universal Distributor. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Filme Mais Idiota do Mundo" ("The Most Idiot Movie of the World")

Let's get things straight right off the bat: I LOVE Mystery Science Theater 3000! It was, is, and forever will be my favorite television show of all time, in all its incarnations. And the movie is very funny and good and you should see it.

That said...

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (hereafter called MST3K:TM for time-saving purposes) could of been a LOT better than it was, and it's NOT the fault of the folks at Best Brains, Inc. (The production company that made the TV show, hereafter called BBI). I place the blame entirely on the fine (HA!) folks at Universal, who forced several changes to the movie and it's wonderful riffing, forcing the folks at BBI to "dumb down" their product, mess with their tried-and-true break format, and shoot an entirely different (and stupid, compared to the original) ending, as well as trimming it down to 74 minutes (because at 88, it was TOO LONG! As Servo would say "...the HELL?) When you come right down to it, BBI makes MST3K one way, and the studio told them to do it a different way. And ANY other way is the WRONG way! I really wish that BBI had held out for an offer with more creative control, but if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, etc. I don't blame BBI for taking the offer, but the selfish part of me would of rather the film never got made than compromised so radically. Then the realist in me tells me to be grateful that it DID get made, and succeeds (somewhat) in spite of (and believe me, not BECAUSE of) the restrictions placed on it. 4 stars to the fine folks at BBI, -1,000 stars to Universal, 2 1/2 stars to the movie itself. It hurts me to say that about the movie, but it's true.