Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie: Directed by Jim Mallon. With Trace Beaulieu, Michael J. Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy. Mike Nelson and his robot companions watch and give their comments about This Island Earth (1955).

“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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe concept is: riffing a B-or-worse-scifi-movie; the victim, er– subject, in this case, is u0026quot;This Island Earthu0026quot;, a classic from the 50u0026#39;s. Thereu0026#39;s this guy (Mike) whou0026#39;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 Joelu0026#39;s u0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 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, youu0026#39;ll have to find the episodes on tape and go looking for his appearances as other characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis 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 guyu0026#39;s shower. [aaagghhh!!!]u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe only two things I miss are Joel Hodgson, who was the original host, and Frank Conniff, who played Dr. Forresteru0026#39;s assistant, u0026quot;TVu0026#39;s Franku0026quot;. Joel was a much different u0026quot;test subjectu0026quot; than Mike– Joel was more introspective, did many more musical bits on the show, was more creative [u0026quot;Invention Exchangeu0026quot; was Joelu0026#39;s idea; as a comic/magician, he made most of the bizarre and funny inventions on the show.] I feel that Joelu0026#39;s presence, as writer and actor, would have given a tighter, more coherent slant to the experiment (but then, again, I could be biased!).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFrank Conniff, as TVu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut 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–itu0026#39;s like no-calorie chocolate!!!”