MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE
Rating: *** (out of ****)
Cast: Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, Jim Mallon
Writers: Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Paul Chaplin, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy, Mary Jo Pehl, Bridget Jones
Director: Jim Mallon
Now on DVD from Rogue Pictures (Universal)

Like all of the best comedy, there’s something gleefully anarchic about Mystery Science Theater 3000. The show, which ran on cable in the United States from 1989 to 1999, had a simple premise that both postmodern deconstructionists and couch potatoes could get behind: a humble working stiff (Mike Nelson, who replaced series creator Joel Hodgeson) is shot into space by a demented mad scientist (Trace Beaulieu) bent on world domination. His evil plot: find the worst movie of all time and use it to melt the minds of the public. (Well, I’m still not sure on the specifics of his plan – it’s pretty vague).

Nelson, aboard the ‘Satellite of Love,’ is a guinea pig, forced to watch dozens and dozens of terrible, Z-grade films, ranging from Japanese monster films to juvenile delinquent melodramas, and films by Ed Wood and Roger Corman, among others. To maintain his sanity, Nelson, along with his robot friends Tom Servo (voice of Kevin Murphy) and Crow (Beaulieu), fire a series of wisecracks at the screen while the moving plays. Seen in silhouette at the bottom right corner of the screen, their sardonic running commentary consisted of something like 700 quips during each 90-minute episode. And far from taking lazy potshots, the script (which was extensively written and re-written by a large writing staff) could contain references to Kierkegaard, Shakespeare, and Aristotle alongside jokes about bodily functions.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was my first exposure to this concept. I saw it for the first time in 2000 when I was 11-years-old and discovering the cheesy wonder of Ed Wood and Godzilla films. MST3K:TM takes as its target the 1955 Universal sci-fi epic This Island Earth, about a race of big-foreheaded aliens looking to conquer Earth since their planet is dying. This Island Earth, a big-budget production in its day and fondly remembered by sci-fi fans with too much time on their hands, was full of all the hallmarks that defined a cheesy sci-fi movie to my 11-year-old self: a wooden he-man lead (Rex Reason), goofy special effects, and some of the most ridiculous make-up in movie history (big foreheads? Really?). As Mike, Tom, and Crow are seen in silhouette filing into the theatre, the ‘50s “Universal International” logo appears. “Doesn’t the fact that it’s universal make it international?” says a member of the peanut gallery. Seconds later, when the opening credits appear against an outer space backdrop, partially obscured by stars, Crow says, “Hey, who sneezed on the credits?” These guys are on the audience’s side, appealing to the part in us that gets outraged when marketing hype lures us into a Hollywood bomb. MST3K serves as a sort of movie police agency, holding lazy and untalented filmmakers accountable for their poor work in an articulate, hilarious way. To me, this was revolutionary.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released in 1996 shortly after the series was cancelled after seven season on Comedy Central and before it was picked up for another three by the Sci-Fi Channel. By all accounts, it faced a difficult production process, with scenes deleted by the studio and the writers required to produce a broader, more accessible commentary. The movie is not as good as the best of the television show (look for the episodes skewering Mitchell, Space Mutiny, and Manos: The Hands of Fate, all available on DVD from Rhino), and at 73 minutes, it’s shorter than the average episode (and, for that matter, the original, un-edited This Island Earth, which is 87 minutes). Apart from some more elaborate sets it doesn’t really take advantage of the feature film format, and the intermission scenes are startlingly lame…

…but, those 73 minutes contain a lot of laughs. When a geeky scientists says, “You know what my kids would say?”, Tom blurts, “You’re not my real father!” When dramatic music plays after a character announces he’s shifting an ‘interoceter’ to Normal View, the gang sings along, “Nor-mal view! Nor-mal vieeeew! NOR-mal, Vieeeeew! NO-RMAL VIEEEEEW!” When an asteroid falls crashes onto a planet, Tom says, “Oh no, Tinkerbell’s goin’ down! Pull up Tink!” Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is smart snarkiness.

(The MST3K crew taking on a ’50s educational film)