Disc 1: Teenage Caveman
“Teenage Caveman” is a Joel episode from 1991 that opens
with two shorts. Aquatic Wizards is about the joys of water skiing, and
includes references to The Go-Go’s and Monty Python. Tom Servo tells us, “And
the incentive to stay up is… crocodiles!” The second, Catching
Trouble, is about a man named Ross who captures wild animals, with Joel and
the robots firmly on the side of the animals. Joel says, “Guys, I’m deeply
ashamed of my race right now.” And afterward, during a break segment, the
gang puts on a wonderful skit about catching Ross and torturing him. The main
movie was directed by Roger Corman, which leads Crow to quip, “Well, this
must have been filmed painstakingly over the course of three days.” When a
hunting party starts shaking rattles, Joel asks, “What, are they hunting
babies?” Crow tells them, “Throw your spears at the monster stock
footage!” And when the monster shows up, Joel says, “Something goofy
this way comes.” The gang criticizes the dull, repetitive scripts, with
Crow noting: “This is why the dinosaurs died out. You bored them to death.”
This episode contains lots of pop culture references, including references to
Bruce Springsteen, The Monkees, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Doors, The
Warriors, Westside Story, Grease and Jaws.
As for bonus material, the first disc contains I Was A
Teenage Caveman, a short documentary about the film, including an interview
with Roger Corman.
Disc 2: Being From Another Planet
“Being From Another Planet” is a Joel episode from 1992.
The invention exchange in this episode is particularly good. I love the Tragic
Moments figurines. Someone ought to make those. As for the film, the gang is
off and running early on, making jokes about each of the opening credits. The
first scene is terrible, so Crow says, “So far this movie looks like a
dramatization of a movie.” When a student points to an X-ray and asks, “What’s
this,” Tom Servo answers for the professor: “No idea, I’m a complete
phony.” When a woman on screen says, “I myself can’t take a quantum leap
into the supernatural,” the gang adds, “Not in these clothes, anyway.”
At one point Crow quips, “Oh no, it’s that thing again, the thing that’s
been driving the plot to nowhere.” And Joel says, “Okay, we’re all going
to join hands now and try to contact the script.” At the end Tom Servo
says, “You know, I think this is the worst movie we’ve ever seen here.”
That sure is saying something! The episode contains references to Badfinger,
The Cars, Neil Diamond, Hart To Hart, Get Smart and My Dinner
With Andre.
The bonus material contains the original film, titled Time
Walker. It is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio. There are short bits
included that were cut from the MST3K version, such a little more of the scene
after the reveal of the injured hand, and a bit of nudity. Also, the opening
credits sequence is different. This is a great bonus feature, and I hope that
future MST3K DVD releases will include more original films. This disc also
includes Richard Band On Time Walker, in which composer Richard Band
talks about the film. And the Time Walker trailer is included.
Disc 3: 12 To The Moon
This is a Mike episode from 1994, and it includes the
short film Design For Dreaming, a weird musical about a materialistic
woman. Crow tells us, “I had a near-death experience like this.” After
the woman decides she wants a series of expensive vehicles, the gang jokes, “This
is a rebuttal to Roger And Me.” I love that it includes a reference to Happy
Birthday, Wanda June. At the beginning of the main film, a man introduces
the twelve astronauts. He goes on and on, so that when he says, “During the
entire flight-” the gang jumps in with “I’ll be talking.” And the
twelve characters being from different countries gives the gang a chance to
practice various accents while poking fun at the film. When one character is
speaking into a handheld microphone and says, “I am now switching over to my
helmet microphone,” Tom Servo comments, “I’d love to get the storyboards
for this scene.” And during a seriously poor-looking special effect, Mike
announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, the budget just ran out.” During a
break, the gang pretends to be on a trip to the moon, and they’re interrupted
by the singing materialistic chick from the short film. This is a particularly
hilarious episode, and it contains references to The Muppet Show, Star
Trek and Romeo And Juliet (and contains a great joke about those
Wall Drug signs).
And for bonus material, we get You Are There:
Launching 12 To The Moon, in which Jeff Burr talks about the film.
Disc 4: Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell
“Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell” is a Mike
episode from 1996, in which Dr. Forrester suffers a visit from his mother,
Pearl. The first of the opening credits of the movie reads, “New Classics
Presents,” leading Tom Servo to observe, “Oh, so you can just declare
something a classic, huh?” I love that, especially as idiots do that all
the time. When one characters says, “He gets around, one village one day,
one the next,” Mike says, “So two villages.” When their village is
attacked during some sort of festival, the guys remind the characters to grab
the gate receipts. Afterward, when a princess dies, the gang jokes, “If I
knew your name or anything about you, this would be sad.” When another
princess says, “That’s not the way love’s supposed to happen,” Crow
adds, “It should be secret and shameful and leathery and dirty.” During
a particularly inept fight sequence, Crow quips, “It was a good idea to film
the walk-through.” This is the movie with an entire scene dedicated to
potatoes. And the villain seems to like furs almost as much as I do. During the
breaks, the robots make fun of Renaissance festivals. This episode has
references to the Grateful Dead, Neil Diamond, Annie Hall, Life Of
Brian and Chinatown.
The bonus is Medieval Boogaloo: The Legend Of
Deathstalker III, which features an interview with actor Thom Christopher
in which he talks about the movie, including preparing for the fight scene.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXV is
scheduled to be released on March 29, 2016 through Shout! Factory. In addition
to the bonus material already mentioned, the box set includes four mini-posters
by artist Steve Vance.
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