Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie was released in September 2013 on Blu-ray. MST3K is that funny little TV show you used to skip past late night on Comedy Central – you know the one – with the little movie theater silhouette of a guy and two robots in superimposed over some cheesy shlock film – Manos: The Hands of Fate or Eegah.
Mike and the Bots are in fine form, though certainly not at their best, something that’s acknowledged on the disc by the cast itself. Up for lampooning for this episode – This Island Earth, a 50’s sci film film about an alien planet going down the tubes and the aliens coming to earth illicitly looking for our help. It’s hard to say how deserving of being MSTified this one was as I’ve never seen the original and there is quite a lot of noise on the Net that this was actually a good flick for its time. There’s even a featurette ‘This Island Earth: 2 ½ Years In The Making’ on the disc going over how the movie was a classic and giving some background on it. Easily the most boring, forgettable feature on the disc. Nothing memorable here unless you were actually a fan of the original film – just a bunch of talking heads discussing how great the flick was and how MST did it injustice.
Other, better features include ‘The Making of Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie’, ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie: The Motion Picture Odyssey’ and the original theatrical trailer. The trailer speaks for itself. The two docs are essentially a long and a short behind the scenes making of the movie. There’s quite a bit here for the MSTies. Some history and sage words from Mike, Kevin, Trace and Jim about the decision to make a feature film version of MST3K, the choice of the film and the fallout.
Highly recommended viewing for fans of the series. Despite the fact the “episode” wasn’t among their best, there’s a lot to be recommended and it did help it get survive the gap between being let go by Comedy Central and being picked up by Sci-Fi Channel. For more on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie check out http://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217794