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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: 6/21/2011
Director: Franz Peter Wirth
Cast: Maximilian Schell, Hans Caninenberg, Dunja Movar, Wanda Rotha, Franz Schfheitlin
Year: 1961
The Movie:
Originally released on DVD by Rhino in their long out of print Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume 4 boxed set, this German made for TV movie is hardly a highpoint in the series. In fact, it's regarded by many fans as one of the worst in the show's run, though of course, there are those who appreciate it more than others.
The story follows Shakespeare's original tale, just as you'd expect it to. Hamlet (Maximilian Schell), the Prince of Denmark, returns to his home only to find that his father has been murdered and that his dear mother, Gertrude (Wanda Rotha), has remarried… to his uncle Claudius (Hans Caninenberg). Hamlet is understandably freaked out by this, even more so when his father's ghost shows up and asks him to avenge his death. Hamlet, of course, stages his play to prove his uncle is the murderer and get the vengeance his father wants from beyond the grave, but winds up killing Polonius (Franz Schfheitlin), the father of his girlfriend, Ophelia (Dunja Movar), by mistake. Ophelia snaps and her brother, Laertes, decides to give Hamlet what for and it all goes downhill very quickly from there.
The most obvious problem with this episode is the fact that the crew are riffing on Hamlet, which is obviously a much more serious piece of work than, say, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies. While this is obviously a low budget take on Shakespeare's classic story the fact of the matter is that it just doesn't offer up the sort of low budget camp and quirk that the Satellite's crew seems to do best with. The film has a few campy elements that they latch on to, and they somehow manage to work some funny Run DMC references into things, but the film itself moves at a snail's pace and is frequently very little more than drab looking people talking one another to death.
Working references to the infamous Final Justice episode (Joe Don Baker's finest moment?) and James Bond movies and Three Stooges sound effects adds some humor here and there but overall the pacing is bad and it just brings the whole episode down. The sketches, which involve Tom and Crow changing their names before acting out bits from Hamlet, are funnier than average but let's face it, we watch MST3K for the movie riffs, not the performances in the sketch comedy aspects of the production.
Once things pick up towards the ending there are some laughs to be had and the crew do a good job during the finale, rightly poking away at Claudius' rather hysterical death scene, but overall this is definitely one that ranks on a lower rung of the MST3K ladder.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The fullframe interlaced transfer that graces this DVD won't blow you away but it's watchable enough particularly when taken in the intended context. You will see the MST3K silhouettes in front of the screen so purists take note, and the transfer is taken from an old TV master so those expecting the movie to appear here as it was originally intended will be disappointed. That said, it looks as good here as it did on TV when it first aired and pristine video quality isn't really the point here. If you've seen MST3K before, you'll know what to expect. The film is in black and white but the skits in between viewing sessions are in color and look a fair bit better than the movie itself does.
The commentary comes through nice and clear, there are no problems understanding the participants as they're balanced nicely against the audio from the movie itself. As far as the quality of that part is concerned, it's on par with the transfer. It's not great; in fact, there are times where it sounds quite shrill. It gets the job done, I suppose, but it's nothing impressive.
There are no extras on this disc at all, just a simple static menu and chapter stops.
The Final Word:
MST3K completists will be happy that this episode is back in print again and it's great that Shout! Factory is seemingly determined to get as much of the show's material out there as they can, but Hamlet is a bit of a stinker. Regardless, if you need it, it's available only from Shout! Factory directly, and you can find it and order it here.
