Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition (First Spaceship on Venus / Laserblast / Werewolf / Future War)
by Kevin Murphy
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DVD details
Actor: Frank Conniff, Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Trace BeaulieuDirector: Kevin Murphy
Brand: Mystery
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 480 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-11-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: SF11072
Studio: Shout Factory
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Box set; Color; DVD; Full Screen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition (First Spaceship on Venus / Laserblast / Werewolf / Future War)
DVD Review: "Oh Z'No!"
Summary: 4 Stars
Introduction
As timing would have it, Shout! Factory's first release of Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVDs after obtaining the rights away from Rhino Records coincided with the twentieth anniversary of MST3k's premiere. They decided to pull out several stops for their first release (although they kept the same number -- 4 -- of actual episodes per box set as Rhino had); besides the episodes themselves, the non-Limited Edition version contains a new documentary detailing the rise and fall of MST3k and a recording of the twentieth anniversary reunion of the core cast/crew from the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con.
While extras are always welcome, it's the episodes that really matter. Here I believe Shout! Factory has done a good job. While the split between Joel and Mike hosted episodes is 3 to 1 in favor of Mike, the quality of joke telling is great and highlights MST3k at its best.
FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS
After the discovery of a message from the inhabitants of the second planet in our solar system, an international group of astronauts is sent to Venus to determine if intelligent life has evolved. In typical 1960s sci-fi movie fashion, much time is spent showing the viewer how the space program of the future works and how space travel really would seem to the astronauts. This makes the middle third of the movie extremely arduous as we are treated to long sequences of weightless (with the aid of harnesses) people and elderly scientists playing chess against robots.
I'd never seen this episode before, but I had seen the original film (although I'm not sure I was ever able to stay awake during the whole thing). I found the joking from Joel and the bots to be average at best. One factor which started to annoy me after some time was a sub-plot wherein Servo's sarcasm sequencer was set to a higher level causing him to make increasingly repetitive sarcastic remarks about the film. I found this to be a rare mis-fire from the Best Brains.
LASERBLAST
This is the story of a young man so low on the social ladder that he is actually the recipient of Eddie Deezen's bullying. However, something working in his favor is that he stumbled upon a neat piece of alien technology which attaches to his arm and allows him to fire lasers at his tormentors. On the downside, the claymation dinosaur aliens are now hunting him to retrieve their lost ray gun.
LASERBLAST was the final episode made for Comedy Central, and while the crew had hopes of the show being picked up by another channel (it eventually was) they were aware that this was potentially the last movie they would have the dubious pleasure of mocking. It seems appropriate therefore that there is a greater than average number of hilarious call-back jokes to earlier experiments. The fact that there are a fair number of recognizable faces in the cast (Eddie Deezen, Roddy McDowell, Keenan Wynn) gives the crew many additional avenues for jokes, which they duly capitalize on.
WEREWOLF
Joe "younger brother of Martin Sheen" Estevez is infected by an unknown werewolf virus. The screenplay initially makes a big deal that this is not the standard werewolf story of legend; transformations can occur between any two species. The film promptly turns into the classic cliché of actors getting fur glued to their faces and then having them howl for hours at the moon.
This film (along with FUTURE WAR) is one of the most recent films that MST3k tackled and there are several very 1990s directorial touches. It's not the worst movie ever, but it is silly, goofy and totally illogical (thus becoming an instant classic episode). The crew gets a lot of amusement over the fact that the full moon appears to last for a week, and the bad guy infects people with the werewolf virus for no reason other than that he is Evil.
FUTURE WAR
This was an episode that I hadn't watched -- despite having a VHS recording of it -- since its original broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. The reason for avoidance was my memory of the film was so dire that I simply couldn't handle another viewing. My sole memory was a scene of the Jean-Claude Van Damme looking guy kickboxing Robert Z'Dar in a warehouse of empty cardboard boxes.
So watching this episode brought me two surprises. One, the riffing from the crew was much better than I had remembered (my theory is that in the ensuing years I've become much more strengthened against bad films and am therefore now able to pay more attention to the jokes). Two, the only memory I had of the film was wrong, because that scene never occurs in quite that way I had recalled.
I had completely forgotten about the terrible special effect dinosaurs, the mini-skirted nun, and the two huge guys in the halfway house. You can really smell the 1990s odor coming off of this one, right down to its flannel. Another case where a movie pitches up softballs to the crew and they hit home run after home run.
Extras
The new documentary is an interesting look at the history of the show, although I doubt there is too much new information that devoted fans don't already know. However, I did find it informative in its telling of the program's very early days at KTMA.
The panel from the San Diego Comic-Con was hosted by Patton Oswalt (for what reason, I am not privy) and I found it to be slightly disappointing in that the moderator talks too much and the sound quality is not always great. Still, its nice to see them all together again and I really got a kick out of Frank Conniff asking whether the urban legend about Joe Don Baker wanting to beat up the writers of MST3k was actually true.
Stinger
So I would judge Shout! Factory's first release as a success. Even ignoring the extras, they've given us one solid and three great episodes. They've already announced the next release and I can't wait.
More Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition (First Spaceship on Venus / Laserblast / Werewolf / Future War) reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5
Description of Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition (First Spaceship on Venus / Laserblast / Werewolf / Future War)
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