Shout! Factory releases the Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXII DVD today (Dec. 6th), which features four full length movies, Time of the Apes, Mighty Jack, The Violent Years, and The Brute Man, as well as Bonus Features. The Bonus Features are truly extras on this DVD as many of the past MST3K DVDs had no bonus features whatsoever.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) was the brain child of Joel Hodgson and first appeared in 1988. The series featured three main characters, Joel Robinson (played by Hodgson himself for about five and a half years), and his robot sidekicks, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. The three characters were stranded on a space station and forced to watch “awful” movies, many science fiction related, as part of a mad scientist like experiment. To keep themselves sane, the trio crack one liners and jokes throughout each movie. The show combined a fresh idea with very good writing and creative humor, turning it into a successful show for the next eleven years. Although more than 20 years have passed since it first started airing, MST3K still holds its own.
The movies on this DVD are nicely varied. My favorite was the Time of The Apes, a movie adapted from the 1974 Japanese series Saru No Gundan and that reminded me of a second rate Planet of the Apes. The movie also served to provide the anthem familiar to many MST3K fans, “Sandy Frank, Sandy Frank, He’s the source of all of our pain…” Sandy Frank was the producer of the English-language adaption of the movie that featured on the DVD. Not only is the movie unintentionally hilarious at times, but it is almost too easy to mock. Despite this, the trio manage to make jokes that are not so obvious. A few of my favorite lines include “C’mon. Try to move faster than the plot” and “Out here where the plot is thinner.”
The second movie, Mighty Jack, is another Sandy Frank creation. The English-language adaption is also a movie based on a hit Japanese television series from 1968. A supposed espionage type movie involving a flying submarine code named Mighty Jack and an evil government organization known as “Q”, what more could a MST3K viewer ask for? The jokes and riffing are endless and quite comical. Another good one to view. Are there any bad ones?
The third movie, The Violent Years, was written by Ed Wood, Jr in 1956. The movie involves a rich girl gang of criminals who manage to leave the police in the dust along their escapades. This movie also features the short A Young Man’s Fancy where a man takes a particular fancy to household electronic appliances. And you thought there might be a dull movie in this set? Think again.
Finally, the fourth movie is The Brute Man, a movie about a character aptly named “The Creeper” who hunts and kills people that he believes are responsible for his deformed face. Along the way, The Creeper falls in love with a beautiful blind lady who sees him only for who he is on the inside. The Creeper tries to find a way to pay for surgery to restore her sight which ultimately leads to his downfall. This movie is more interesting for the real life background story of its lead actor, Rondo Hatton, and his actual deformities. I think the bonus feature The Trail of the Creeper: Making of the Brute Man was more fascinating and entertaining to me than watching our trio riff on the movie. There is also a short The Chicken of Tomorrow about chicken farming on this DVD.
There are bonus features on each disc. Time of The Apes features an Introduction by August Ragone, author of Eiji Tsuburagya: Master of Monsters. He discusses the background of Time of the Apes, the show it was based on, and how it became the movie that MST3K chose to riff. The feature is just over 7 minutes long and is interesting, especially if you are into Japanese movies. The second bonus feature on this DVD is the MST Hour Wraps which highlights the beginning introduction and end wrap up of both halfs of the movie as it would have aired on TV. Hightlight is an ape hand puppet.
The bonus features on Mighty Jack include another Introduction by August Ragone similar to the first. It runs for about 7 minutes. The second bonus feature is the DVD menus of MST3K. This feature, running about 10 minutes long, discusses how Rhino wanted them to change the DVD menus and how they found creators to come in and make the bots 3D, write mini scripts and create new menus. It goes into the entire menu making process and is an interesting perspective to something you might not give a second thought.
The bonus features found on The Violent Years include two interviews with Delores Fuller and Kathy Wood. Each interview was approximately 30 minutes and were the longest features in the DVD set. Each of these ladies were girlfriends of the infamous Ed Wood, Jr. Ms. Fuller discusses everything from how they met, to Ed Wood’s love of cross dressing, to his drinking habit, and ultimately their breakup. Her interview is dry and interviewer heavy, but fascinating as to the old Hollywood life. Ms. Wood, on the other hand, was very engaging. You could tell that Wood was the love of her life.
The bonus features found on The Brute Man include an Introduction by Mary Jo Pehl, writer and director, who honestly gives her thoughts on MST3K’s treatment of this movie and use of this movie. It runs about 7 minutes. The second feature is The Trail of the Creeper: Making of The Brute Man, as discussed above, and which lasts just under 30 minutes. It is one of my favorite features of the set. The third and final bonus feature is The Making of MST3K from 1997. It is a behind the scenes look that actually has the trio riffing on some of the behind the scenes footage. It is a lot of fun and is about 20 minutes long.
Watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXII made me wonder why I do not own all of the MST3K DVDs. It is such an amazing show and so hilarious that I think I am going to rectify this immediately and start adding to my collection. If you are a MST3K fan, this DVD is made for you. Did I mention there are four mini posters, one for each movie? There are. Even the most casual fan will enjoy the movies and the background information contained in the bonus features. If you have never seen MST3K, you are definitely missing out. I encourage you to buy this DVD set and relive this show that has been missing from the air for far too long.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXII is now available for purchase on Amazon.
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