MST3K XXVI Offers Audiences Offers More Movie History, Laughs

Courtesy: Shout! Factory

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K as it will henceforth be known) has always been considered largely a cult hit among audiences.  If that is the case, then it’s something of a surprise that to this day, it is still such a massive hit among not just its original audiences, but a whole new generation of audiences.  That is thanks to the good people at Shout! Factory.  And thanks to those same people, fans of this timeless show have yet another brand new volume of so bad they’re good b-movies to enjoy along with Joel, Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot.

Everything that’s been said about this show has already been said twenty-five times over and then some.  But it would be impossible to go into this latest set of episodes without reminding audiences that this show is just one part of what used to make Syfy (then SciFi Channel) so great. As already noted, the movies presented in this classic cult show are so bad that they’re good.  Though, it’s great to see many of Universal’s classic monster and sci-fi movies resurrected here.  They’re just part of the show’s success.  And this latest set also includes another of those classic Universal movies in the form of The Mole People.  This movie features actor Alan Napier, who many might recognize as Alfred Pennyworth from the classic Batman TV series.  It’s one of those movies that fans of Svengoolie would definitely have on his show on Me-TV on Saturday nights.  The movie itself takes the heroes into the interior of the Earth, where they discover an ancient civilization of people who worship the goddess Ishtar.  But they aren’t the only ones that the heroes have to face.  The mole people are there, too.  And they are a danger to everyone.  The movie itself is pretty campy on the surface.  That’s not bad.  But the bonus “Making of” feature included with this movie really makes it worth the watch.  It is a bonus in every way.  It discusses the deeper, more social take on the movie.  Those interviewed in the feature discuss how the white guards flogging the darker mole people who “came from below” was a commentary on the America’s racist past.  Speaking of racist views, it’s interesting to learn that scenes involving a man and woman from different ethnic backgrounds being together were edited out by censors, since this was released in the 1950’s.  These are just a couple examples of what make this “making of” feature a true bonus and why it makes this movie even more of an interesting addition to this latest set.  It’s one more example also of the impact of bonus features on a movie.

The Mole People is just one of the movies in this set featuring an underground world.  The absolutely campy 1988 movie, Alien From L.A. also takes place in a world just beneath the Earth’s surface.  It stars a then very young Kathy Ireland.  Ireland was actually in her mid-twenties at the time that this movie—which was also her very first ever feature film–was filmed, though she was playing the role of a teen.  Ireland stumbles into the underground world when she sets out to find her lot archaeologist father (played here by Richard Haines).  In the process, Wanda (Ireland) is transformed from a plain, whiny, high pitched girl to a beautiful supermodel style figure.  And during her time in the underground world, she uncovers an evil government plot to keep the people of the world to know about the surface world.  As campy as the movie is, the interview with director Albert Pyun raises an interesting note.  Pyun notes in his interview that part of his intent in the movie was examining the feeling of what was a young girl having the feeling of an adult being trapped in a girl’s body, thus the transformation.  Just as interesting to note in his interview is that he admits that he had never seen Mystery Science Theater 3000 before the show’s heads announced that this movie would be featured.  Pyun also discusses plenty of other matters centered on the movie.  But audiences can check out all of that for themselves when they pick up the brand new box set for themselves.  It is available now in stores and online.  It can be ordered direct from the Shout! Factory store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/216588.

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Shout! Factory Gives Film Buffs Even More Laughs In New MST3K Set

 

Courtesy: Shout! Factory

Thank goodness for Mystery Science Theater 3000 and thank goodness for Shout! Factory keeping this classic comic science fiction show alive on DVD.  This modern classic is one of the single greatest shows ever created for film lovers.  There was no other show like it during its time.  And there has been no show like it since.  On the surface, the very concept of a man and his robot friends watching a bunch of really bad B-movies sounds like something wouldn’t work.  But it did.  And it still does today.  Now, fans of MST3K have been rewarded once again for their loyalty with another new collection of so bad they’re good movies and great skits from an equally great modern classic TV show.   

Shout! Factory released the latest volume of this modern classic earlier this week.  Included in this brand new set are four more movies that are so god awful that they’re great.  Contradictory, no?  This four disc set is anchored by the absolutely campy sequel to Universal’s The Creature from the Black Lagoon in Revenge of the Creature and the equally campy Operation Double 007.  1955’s Revenge of the Creature sees the return of the famed creature.  This time out, the creature actually becomes a bit of a sympathetic character as it’s captured by scientists and taken to an aquarium in Florida to be studied.  Awakening in the aquarium and gawked at by hundreds of people, the creature (played here by Ricou Browning) becomes angered and tries to escape his tank.  This leads to more strict means to hold the creature, which only makes it angrier when it finally escapes.  And as was the case with classic monster flicks of that era, it went after the first young, attractive woman it saw as it wanted her for a mate.  The creature is of course stopped in the end and the damsel in distress saved.  While the film is absolutely campy, the very fact that it’s part of a franchise featuring one of Hollywood’s great movie monsters, having the opportunity to take in this flick will be appreciated by any true classic movie buff.  As an added bit of trivia, a young Clint Eastwood plays an uncredited role in this campy sci-fi classic.

Revenge of the Creature is a great addition to the new MST3K set from Shout! Factory.  It’s just one of the movies included that make the set great for anyone that wants to go back in time to just one era of Hollywood’s “Golden Age.”  Along with that flick, classic film buffs will also appreciate the even campier, Operation Double 007.  This largely forgotten flick from 1967 starred the younger brother of now retired actor Sean Connery, Neil.  Neil plays a plastic surgeon that is brought on board by the British government when his older brother (who just happens to be a secret agent) turns out to not be available to help them for a special mission.  Here’s where things get completely ridiculous.  The mission in question involves Neil stopping the evil crime syndicate Thanatos from using a giant magnetic wave device that will stop all metal machinery in the world.  Yes, it’s laughable.  But that’s what makes it so fun.  Of course, the action is just as campy, making it that much more fun and funny.  Think it can’t get any worse?  It can.  Not only is the plot and the action hilarious, but the scriptwriters didn’t even try to give Connery’s character a name.  He is actually called by his real name throughout the story.  There is even more that classic film buffs will love and laugh at throughout this movie proving why it’s one more that’s so bad that it’s great.  Thanks to being part of this new set, it’s one more movie that would be great for a classic camp movie marathon.  Of course, it’s just one more in this set.  Audiences will also love Robot Holocaust and Kitten with a Whip.  They finish out the four disc set that’s available now in stores and online.  It can be ordered online direct at Shout! Factory’s online store, http://www.shoutfactorystore.com.

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Iron Sky A Modern Day Comedy Cult Classic B-Movie

Courtesy: Entertainment One

Iron Sky is hilarious.  In fact it’s so terrible that one can’t help but laugh at this triple threat of a farce.  On the surface it’s obviously a sci-fi spoof.  On another, having it be about Nazis living on the moon coming to invade Earth makes it also a spoof of the war movie genre.  And having a Sarah Palin look-alike as the President makes it a political spoof, too.  Put all of these spoofs together into one pot and this movie is sure to become a modern day cult classic.  Despite what director Timo Vuorensola notes in the director’s commentary, the spoof of all three genres is there, even if it was meant first and foremost to be nothing but a war comedy.

Iron Sky comes across as one of those movies that were it made in the heyday of science fiction, would have been one of the movies featured on the former Syfy channel series, Mystery Science Theater 3000.  The very concept of generations of Nazis living on the moon, planning an eventual attack on Earth is absolutely laughable in itself.  But then again, the very concept isn’t meant to be taken seriously.  For that matter, nothing in this movie is meant to be taken seriously.  Even Vuorensola notes in the “Making of” featurette that the movie was completed in thirty-seven days and that it wasn’t even intended to be the next movie that he made.  The first movie he made was a spoof of the Star Trek franchise.  On a side note, audiences will laugh hysterically at the short clips of that film.  But having completed this movie in such a short time and making it just as hilarious as so many classic sci-fi movies puts it right up there with the likes of B-movie master Roger Corman.

The political spoof side of Iron Sky is just as hilarious as the sci-fi and war movie spoofs thrown into this laugh-a-minute mish-mash of a movie.  The very fact that those behind the cameras would have a Sarah Palin like figure as the leader of the free world is just as funny as the concept of Nazis living on the moon, planning an Earth invasion.  The concept of a figure such as Mrs. Palin leading the country isn’t so much what’s funny.  Rather, it’s the spoof of the former Presidential candidate that is funny.  The president here is a total caricature of Palin that’s completely over the top.  Even funnier is what Vuorensola notes in the director’s commentary about her.  He notes that Palin originally wasn’t even the person that was going to be spoofed.  Rather, he says that his original plan was to use a spoof of *surprise surprise* Jenna Bush.  That comment alone is worth its share of laughs.  The randomness of her as an original choice makes both that choice and the latter that much funnier.  Again, there’s more comedy added to this movie and more proof of the value of bonus features and commentary for a movie’s home release.

The Palin caricature in this movie makes for so many laughs.  Add in the absurdity of her interactions with the world’s other leaders, and viewers can’t help but laugh at the story’s political commentary.  One glance at the news on any network today shows that while what’s shown here is a spoof, there is at least some reality in the leaders’ over the top immaturity and fighting.  During the huge space flight scenes, audience even see the President’s campaign manager on the bridge of her ship with monitors in the background flashing the word, “Vote” interchanging with images of the President.  Sure, jokes of that style are common in political movies.  But that it was so subtle is what makes it so funny.  Even before that, there is another subtlety that audiences will love if they catch it.  As the attack on Earth begins, the President and company are watching the news of the attack.  The crawl on the bottom of the screen reads something to the effect of the FDA had determined that nearly everything causes cancer.  Again, it’s that subtlety that makes this joke so funny.  Here’s this message about people’s health safety begin run against news of an attack on Earth.  It makes for so many laughs for those who manage to catch it.  Of course, there is so much more that viewers will catch and enjoy from this way over the top triple threat of a spoof. And in catching all of the other jokes and subtleties will leave any viewer agreeing that this movie is bound to become a modern comedy cult classic, albeit an underrated one.  But it’s bound to be a cult classic nonetheless for those who are open minded enough to appreciate its total absurdity.

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