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Released by: Shout Factory
Released on: 3/26/2013
Director: Various
Cast: Various
Year: Various
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The Movie:
Shout! Factory delivers up four previously unreleased (according to the box copy) MST3K episodes from the vaults, and unless you have lived in a vault for the last two decades, you more than likely are familiar with what MST3K is if you're reading this review. So without further stalling here's what you can find in Volume XXVI.
The Magic Sword (from Season Four); dir. Bert I. Gordon; color
A princess held captive is waiting to be fed the a two-headed dragon, but the valiant hero (whose foster-mother is a sorceress) takes men from all parts of the land to save her and for him to win her hand in marriage. It won't be easy though, because Basil Rathbone as the evil sorcerer wants to be sure that never happens. Hero boy must conquer The Seven Curses to get to his goal, even if it means the deaths of his comrades. It's an incredible story of heroic actions that has never been told before or since (that was sarcasm).
You may find yourself paying more attention to the movie than the jokes, as it's kind of entertaining on its own, but of course the ribbing they give it makes it all the more fun. Director Bert I. Gordon should be familiar to devotees of the show, as they've certainly lampooned enough of his product. And with terrible special effects, awful costumes, and a lame story there's plenty of ammunition for the three figures lurking in the front row.
Alien From L.A. (from Season Five); dir. Albert Pyun; color
A very annoyingly voiced Kathy Ireland plays an awkward teenaged honey who gets word of her archeologist father's disappearance in Africa, and leaves her job at the Choc'lit Shoppe to go over there and find him. She falls down a bottomless hole and into the lost world of Atlantis, which apparently has similar technology as the surface world does, even though they don't believe said world exists. With the help of some kind souls who can tolerate her voice, she works to find her father and save her own hide in the process, and hopefully find a way back to her world and her California lifestyle.
Bad crud from the 80s like this one makes for easy pickings and the crew seems to have a really good time here. There're tons of jokes about her voice, both within the movie itself and from the audience members. Kathy looks pretty darn hot, but her acting and her nails-on-chalkboard vocal chords take most of that hotness away. These negatives certainly aren't missed by the jokesters up front. It's a fun episode with some really good moments.
Danger!! Death Ray (from Season Six); dir. Gianfranco Baldanello; color
This late 1960s Italian James Bond rip-off puts American spy Bart Fargo on the hunt for the newly invented Death ray and its inventor, both of which have been kidnapped by the bad guys. Bart Fargo was supposed to be on vacation, but he takes the job. Everyone wants to kill him and no one can, because he's Bart Fargo. As with the real Bond, our broke-ass Bond has his a gadget or two, more women than he needs, a cool car (“Hotwheel!â€), and perfect hair. He has everything. But will he save the doctor and his invention before its too late? Yes.
With the worst special effects you can imagine, crappy pacing, and of course dubbed dialogue, “Danger!! Death Ray†is another one that needs no assistance from the MST3K team to make it funny. It stands up on its own in that respect. The use of miniatures (a submarine, a helicopter, and a car going a cliff) would make Godzilla special effects men laugh, and MST3K helps to make these moments even funnier. The guys are really on their mark on this one, supplying plenty of rewind moments. Easily the best of the set.
The Mole People (from Season Eight); dir. Virgil W. Vogel; black-and-white
This time around they roast an old Universal monster movie starring John Agar (Shirley Temple's one-time husband) and Alan Napier (Alfred from tv's Batman). Archeologists find ruins on a mountaintop plus a deep dark hole that leads to a lost, underground city. That city is inhabited by pasty white folks and a “marked one†(you know, the girl different than everyone else), all of whom (at first) believe the archeologists are gods from the heavens. These fine white people have enslaved another race down there, with giant claws, glowing eyes and vagina-like mouths. The heroes soon become hunted and work to bust the slaves out of captivity, get the normal looking blonde lady out of there, and get to the surface.
Although this one certainly has its moments, and it's entertaining throughout the running time, it lacks some good solid laughs found in the three other episodes in the set. It mostly just maintains a medium level of humor with a snicker here and there, but nothing too memorable. That's not to say it isn't a good one though, because it is. Just not among the top shelf. Most of the good jokes involve a useless older gentleman in the archeologist party, one the call “Loadâ€.
One of the great things about MST3K is the fact that the jokes are all over the map, and some references you get, some you don't. Five people watching the same episode might laugh at completely different things. The skits before, during, and after between Mike/Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo and the scientists making watch the movies are hit or miss (mostly miss in this viewer's eyes) and usually are themed after the movie playing. Once in a while they do something pretty darn funny (ape fashion show), but not in this volume.
Video/Audio/Extras:
All the episodes are shown with a 4:3 aspect ratio, with the silhouettes of seats and the hecklers at the bottom. Picture quality depends on the source they used for the movie they were slamming, and then there's the probability that these episodes are taken from tape sources as they aired on television. Scratches, lines, shaking, washed out colors…all stuff we wouldn't want to see if we were buying a studio release of the movie on DVD. But here it works fine and is part of the charm/nostalgia. The bumper skits look fine, and there appear to be no authoring issues on any of the discs. The audio is on par with the video, more than serviceable and easy to hear. The movies are a little lower in volume than the guys talking all through the movie and they don't really walk on each other. All discs in the set are 2.0 tracks.
Aside from really cool animated menus, each disc has an extra or two pertaining to the feature they are picking apart, and all are in 16:9 for aspect ratio. “The Magic Sword†has an 8-minute interview with Bert I. Gordon himself, talking about his career and how he got into the business. Also on the disc is the trailer for the film and “Hour Wraps†for the movie featured as it played in syndication. “Alien From L.A.†has an interview with cult movie favorite Albert Puyn that lasts about 8-and-a-half minutes. He admits he's not seen the Mystery Science Theater version and seems proud of his movie. A trailer for the feature is here too. On the disc for “Danger!! Death Ray†you'll find “Life After MST3K: Mike Nelson†running just under 12 minutes, plus a trailer for the movie featured. Lastly, “The Mole People†boasts the most ambitious of the extras in the set: “Of Mushrooms and Madmen: Making of The Mole Peopleâ€, running 17:20. Well worth the time spent with it. The movie's trailer is also featured. And a little bonus is in the box housing all four discs (in slim cases), and that comes in the form of mini-posters reprinting the artwork on the box fronts, with artwork by illustrator Steve Vance.
The Final Word:
Anyone with a sense of humor should get something out of any episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the episodes in this set are all fun viewing. Shout! continues to please with this series.
