For those of you not totally accustomed to the acronym MST3K, it stands for Mystery Science Theater 3000... there, done. Basically it's one of those ideas you absolutely wish you had come up with first. It's simple, it's fun and it's brilliant. Want to know what it is? It's just one guy, and two robots, sat in front of another film entirely, making fun of it. That's it. In its entirety. MST3K itself began in 1988, and ran for over ten years, mocking literally hundreds of really really bad science-fiction movies, from the 50's Commie-bashing era, right through to modern-day special-effects laden nightmares.
They brought only one movie to the big screen however, and clearly considering this to be a special case reserved some of their most effective venom for it. The movie they tear to shreds this time around however isn't quite as bad as some of the others, even managing to garner a respectable 5.5 on the IMDb. It is This Island Earth, a 1955 Rex Reason starrer concerning aliens coming to Earth to gather scientists for some nuclear-energy related plot. Really, it's not that bad on its own but after the boys set to it it does kinda come out looking like Battlefield Earth.
Apparently they watch each movie a half a dozen times before setting it up for recording, in order to fully garner the plot intricacies (if such a word can be used), and the many many ways to mock it. And it shows. As I said before, this is an idea everyone wishes they had had. How many times have you sat in front of a film and made witty and incisive comments during its quiet periods? I know I have, a lot, but then I'm annoying. MST3K turns this into an art form, with Mike Nelson, aided by his two robot buddies Tom Servo and Crow, delivering line after line that had me rolling on the floor in stitches. I can't transder any of it to here, as it would lose all impact, you'll just have to trust me. I'm even going to the lengths of downloading episodes (90 mins long a-piece) from Kazaa, I love this show that much. Buy (or steal), watch, enjoy. |
