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The Movie: For those unfamiliar, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" was a cult series that ran from 1988-1999 and revolved around a mild-mannered worker (Mike Nelson in the second half of the series, Joel Hodgson in the first half) who is shot into space by his crazed boss, Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) and forced to live on the Satellite of Love watching the worst movies that can be dug up while the Dr. monitors his mind. Mike/Joel can't control when the movies begin or end, because those parts were to make robot pals Crow T. Robot (voiced by Trace Beaulieu and Bill Corbett), Tom Servo (voiced by Kevin Murphy or J. Elvis Weinstein) and Gypsy (voiced by Patrick Brantseg or J. Elvis Weinstein). The series saw Mike or Joel accompanied by Tom Servo and Crow into the viewing room, where they were subjected to Z-grade movies so horrendously awful (a comment during a sunny scene in one movie: "Such a nice day out and they're wasting it making this movie.") that they often come out onto that other side where they're not only amusing, but oddly fascinating in their sheer badness. The simple premise of the series has the group commenting on the movie at hand - continuing the thoughts of the characters, making random pop culture references that manage to make sense in the scene ("Love Boat", "Speed Racer", "From Here to Eternity", "M.A.S.H.", "Get Smart", "Married...With Children", "The Waltons"), making wisecracks about what's on-screen (a truck being knocked over a mountain in "Godzilla Vs. Megalon" is met with, "It's up...it might be, it could be...it is! It's a home run!" In "The Giant Spider Invasion", a spider climbing up a farmer is accompanied by, "I'm attempting to scale the North face of Mount Cheesehead.") and more. Serving as breaks are "host" segments, where Mike or Joel and friends chat about the movie at hand and/or do a bit that often revolves around the movie they're watching. As for the films themselves, they're masterpieces of the absolute worst kind, starting with the hilariously awful "Godzilla Vs. Megalon", which has the giant lizard coming back to protect humanity from Megalon, who was launched by an undersea community looking to take over the surface world. Godzilla gets an assist from the amusingly cheesy man-made robot Jet Jaguar. The other highlight of the set is the spectacularly awful "The Giant Spider Invasion", which sees enormous spiders unleashed on a small Wisconsin (Wisconsinites will enjoy a couple of Dells references) town (at least the title doesn't lie.) The picture stars no less than Alan Hale (Skipper from "Giligan's Island") as Sheriff Jeff Jones. Packing plenty of girlfighting goodness is Roger Corman's Z-movie, "Swamp Diamonds", which sees a gang of escaped female convicts taking hostages on the way towards finding stolen diamonds...in the swamp. Although not one of the very best "MST3K" episodes, this one is still a lot of fun and comes complete with the hilarious short, "What To Do On a Date". "Teenage Stranger" is the final film on the bill, and it's a spectacularly awful movie that concerns a serial killer on the loose in a small town, where the local hot-rod gang become the prime suspects. Episodes Included: 212- GODZILLA VS. MEGALON 503- SWAMP DIAMONDS (plus short: WHAT TO DO ON A DATE) 514- TEENAGE STRANGLER (plus short: IS THIS LOVE?) 810- THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION The DVD VIDEO: Image quality for these episodes are just as one might expect: the films look their age (and then some), but the host segments look crisp and clean, with no concerns. SOUND: The sound quality of the films that run in the background can be thin and a bit distorted at times, but the dialogue from the "MST3K" crew remains clean and clear. EXTRAS: MST3k Video Jukebox, Outtakes. Final Thoughts: If you haven't become a fan of "MST3K", now's a good time to start. The show's extraordinarily funny performances and writing are definitely on display in this set, which pulls together four great episodes from different seasons of the series. Highly Recommended. |