Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
Review by Jude Felton
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is the big screen
spin-off to the popular TV series which ran from 1988-1999. That being said you
do not need to have watched the show to enjoy this spoof science fiction flick,
it works well on its own and is completely daft. As far as party movies go this
one is right up there.
The premise is ridiculously simple and simply ridiculous;
the mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester has plans for world domination, as they
always do, by ways of subjecting the population to crap movies. Enter Mike
Nelson, who along with his robot buddies, becomes the test subject, as they are
forced to sit through the 50s movie This Island Earth. They then proceed to
give a running commentary of the unintentionally, or possibly intentional,
movie which is pretty damned hilarious to these eyes and ears.
As you can see MST3000: The Movie is not a movie that
takes itself at all seriously, not in the slightest, but that is the whole
point. The wrap-around scenes featuring Mike and the evil Doctor are shot to
look just as bargain basement as humanly possible, and indeed spoof the style
of movie that Mike is subjected to.
Where the movie really succeeds is in the altered
dialogue to This Island Earth and the running commentary that goes along with
it. I honestly though it was hilarious. Sure, it stupid and puerile, but damnit
it was fun to watch. Granted, a few of the jokes fall a little flat, and came
across as somewhat forced, but when they work they work really well. Also, some
of the jokes are products of their times and may well go way over the heads of
some younger viewers. There are plenty of pop culture references from the 80s’
and early 90s’ which I instantly got, but then these were nods to movies and
events from my teenage years.
This really shouldn’t dissuade you from checking it out
as it is still funny, although without the jokes hitting home there is an
element of pointlessness to events. Like I said though, most hit home with me
and when they did I was a laughing fool.
MST3000: The Movie is most certainly not a movie to be
taken seriously; to do so would be to miss the point entirely. It’s a fun party
movie that will definitely benefit from being watch with a group of friends,
preferably friends that bring alcoholic beverages along with them.
This new R2 UK release isn’t rammed full of extras; there
is a short ‘Making of’ featurette, along with a trailer and stills gallery. The
laughs I got from the film itself though make this a worthy viewing though.
I really enjoyed this movie. Sometimes it’s great to just
put on a movie that doesn’t require any deep thought and just get swept up in
the humor of it all. This is one such movie.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is available now on Blu-ray and DVD and is released in the UK by Mediumrare Entertainment.
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