Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie Film Review

This year seems to be a really good year for Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans as not only has it been confirmed that we WILL be getting FOUR brand new episodes with the Rifftrax reprising there MST3K roles but there's also oddly enough a board game coming out as well. Yet with all this in mind it is easy to forget that so far the crew only theatrical movie is turning thirty years old this year and well I thought that i'd take a look back at this truly cult classic film as it is one that not alot of people talk about and so then join me as I review the film that is about a bunch of people making fun of a film with the film in question being called simply just "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" enjoy.

The plot of this film is Mike , Servo and Crow have to survive watching a bad movie that Dr. Clayton Forrester is forcing them to watch with the hopes of it breaking Mike's spirit so that he can then unleash the movie onto the world. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. As the film doesn't really need to have a deep and thought provoking plot as that's not only against the spirit of the show but it's also something that does go against MST3K as a whole as this show has always been about introducing these supposedly bad movies to a new audience and while yes granted sometimes the show would have a heavy focus on plot that was usually done when either a new host or villain was joining or leaving the show. Therefore in this film it makes no sense for the film to be plot focused as the film is meant to be a version of the show only on the big screen would it help if the film was more plot focused yes but it didn't need to be as all it needed to be was something that had a fun filled plot to it that we could all laugh at and just have fun with and given the fact that the film also has to squeeze a film albeit one that's been cut down it wouldn't make much sense for this film to be that plot focused in the first place with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is this films writer Michael J. Nelson as Mike Nelson and one of this films associate producers and this films writer Trace Beaulieu as the voice of Crow T. Robot and Dr. Clayton Forrester. Also starring in this film is one of this films associate producers and this films writer Kevin Murphy as the voice of Tom Servo , this films producer and director Jim Mallon as the voice of Gypsy and John Brady as Benkitnorf.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good.  With this being something that is not really all that surprising as alot of this films actors have been playing there respecting characters for years at this point in tie with Trace Beaulieu having been in the show as Dr. Clayton Forrester since the pilot season of the show therefor they would know how best to perform there respective characters due to the fact that they've had years to perfect there characters and while yes there are some performances that are a bit wooden like for example Jim Mallon isn't as good as Gypsy in this film as he is in the show the overall quality of the films acting was really good. With the best actor in the whole entire film being Trace Beaulieu as the voice of Crow T. Robot and Dr. Clayton Forrester as it will always be hard to play two vastly different characters as he has to make them both sound so completely different from each other and while yes this is helped by the fact that he's been playing them both for close to a decade at that point in time it is something that will always be hard to do as one simple mistake in the voice and you can have the characters sounding very much like each other with his performance in this film being really well done because of the fact that you can't tell that there being playing by the same person and yet when Michael J. Nelson does play Cambot in the shows opening you know that it's him doing the voice and yet here it's the opposite that's true as you can't tell that the films main villain and one of it's heroes are played by the same actor. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this film actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out pf them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Whilst it would be pointless to talk about the films characters as they are just the characters from the show the film really has no other characters in it in it's host segments. With the films characters being just as likable as they are on the show and while it was expected that the film would carry over it's central characters this the fact that they are the only characters in the film is something that does make the film feel alot more smaller in scope as while the show would also have a small cast of characters per-episode as well they would also have the main actors playing multiple different characters with that being something that does help the world of the show feel alot more populated as you never really knew just what kind of crazy character that you were going to see next. Yet in this film given that we only have a really a handful of characters that appear in the film as Benkitnorf only appears in two of the films many host segments it makes the film feel alot more smaller in scope when it should have been the other way around as while the characters to behave like themselves with this being largely due to the fact that the makers of the show also made the movie with all of the characters being just as fun to watch in the film as they are in an episode of the show. With the thing that would have helped this film a little bit more was if we got to see more characters interacting with either Mike and the bots or with Dr. Forrester as that is something that could have led to some comedic gold yet for one reason or another the makers of this film just kept it to the core characters which is still something that works but it would have been just as good getting to see new characters in this film and not just alot of the old face and nothing more then that. 

As with an episode of the show the movie does have Mike and the bots making fun of a movie which in this case happens to be This Island Earth. Yet what makes this film stand out from the show interms of how it presents the movie that there making fun off is two things the first of which being the fact that the movie that there making fun is usually pretty bad with it being something that maybe not alot of people know about and yet here in this film it has the crew making of fun a movie that the film did get alot of praise from critics at the time of it's release and for a film from the fifties has a decent score on IMDB with the only reason that this film was chose was due to the fact that the crew believed that another character should have been the her instead of the character that was the main hero due to the fact that he has a massive ego amongst many other reasons. With the other thing being the fact that when they show a movie on the show it's usually left untouched with there being very little to no edits made to the actual movie and yet here because of the fact that this film is shorter then the average episode of the show the makers of this film had to cut a whopping TWENTY minuets from This Island Earth which is something that does lead to that film jumping around all other the place and is something that does more harm to the film then bad as it makes the film appear to be this really bad but cheesy fifties science fiction film when for all we could no the reality might be something completely different. While it would have been understandable for them to make a very amount of cuts to the film as they do have there own host segments to fit in to this film to cut this large amount from the film which given the fact that This Island Earth is barely one hour and thirty minuets is something that would do more harm to the film then good.

Universal Pictures did this film so dirty as not only did they barely market the film back when it was first being released with them giving alot of the marketing budget that was assigned to this film to instead Barb Wire. They also had alot of scenes cut from the film one of which would have been a pay off scene to something that happens at the start of the film as during the start of the film Mike saves the bots lives when Crow breaks through the hull of the Satellite Of Love and one of the host segments would have seen the ships oxygen supply be damaged with the bots now rushing to save Mike's life much like he had to do at the start of the film with that cut scenes being just the tip of the ice berg for the headaches that Universal Pictures caused the makers of this film with them cutting a newly filmed intro that would have explained the show's premise to possible new fans which is something that did result in that slightly awkward opening scene at the start of the film where Dr. Forrester now has to do that exact same thing with the newly recorded theme song now being nothing more then an instrumental that's played over the shows ending credits and heck the expirence go so bad that not only did it cause Trace Beaulieu to leave the show at the end of it's seventh season but it also caused them to mock there expirence making the film in an episode of the show as that's how much of a bad time that alot of the crew and actors had making this film. With the lack of marketing also causing the people that Universal wanted to attract to the film that being the die hard fans of the show to miss out on the film as they had no idea that it was coming out let alone that it had already come out.

To give this film some credit it does show us more of the Satellite then what they could afford to do in the show. As in the show we only really see the front of it and of course it's theater and that's it where as here we get to see things like Servo's room on the satellite as well as what is basically it's bridge and it's training area all of which are great editions to make to this ship as while it is understandable why it would be kept small for the show as the show was made on nothing more then a wish and prayer as the budget for the show was always that small and while that works for the show as the show does have a tight budget to work with and a really small studio to work in. Here in the film however the budget was alot more bigger and the studio that it was filmed in wasn't the same studio where they filmed the show in therefor the crew could effort to show us more areas of the satellite with those new areas doing a good job of making the satellite be alot more bigger then what the show made it out to be with this being a really good reason to watch this film as you do get to explore areas no matter how briefly that they are and whole you still don't see where Mike , sleeps or eats or find out any other science facts you do get to see how one of the bots gets to relax. With it being made crystal clear that the makers of this film have alot more love and respect for Mystery Science Theater then what Universal Pictures themselves had for it as there are nods to other films that were covered in the show all of which are things that none fans of the show will notice but the die hard fans will not only notice them but will find them to be really funny with those things being something that the makers of this film didn't have to include and yet they did it anyway.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and fourteen minuets and two seconds. With this film actually being quite alot shorter then the average episode of the show as the show has a running time of around one hour and thirty minuets when it's usually the film that is alot longer then the show that's it based on with this being something that oddly enough makes the film feel less grand and less like a movie then what the average episode of the show does. As while the film does have the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time this film does also not use it's running time all that wisely and while this might been as being a bad thing as you do expect a film to have amore fully developed plot and characters given the fact that this film by it's design can't fully develop it's plot as it has to squeeze in the characters watching most of entire feature film it is understandable that the film wouldn't be able to develop it's plot and while this issue would have been eased alot more if the film did have it's newly filmed opening as that would have explained the premise of the film the fact that the film also has a scene at the start of the film that does that as well makes it pointless to have plot development as you could also argue that the show fully develops the plot alot more then what could have been done in the film. The same thing is also true for the films characters as we get to find out nothing about this film characters with us knowing as much about all of this films characters coming out of the film then we did coming into the film with this being something that's understandable as we have all of the other episodes of the show for the characters to get there character development and therefor it's not really something that's needed in this film would have been nice if we did get both plot and character development yes but it's also something that wasn't needed to make this film work in the first but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well ten in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the film having alot of jokes in it that all work and land really well as all it is is the characters making funny quips at a movie and while that is something that could get old really quick the fact that the makers of the film have perfected this thanks to doing the show with all of the quips that the characters make about the film being really funny with the film even having alot of funny moments in it's host segments like for example Mike crashing into and the destroying The Hubble Space Telescope with it being done in such a way that does feel true to the spirit of the show. With the best joke in the whole entire film being when the characters make fun of the fact that the one of characters in the film has what appears to be a toilet in the middle of the room something which this film does take great glee in not only mentioning that fact but also poking fun at it with the film being filled to the brim with great little zingers like for example when a postman is seen dropping something of at the scientists laboratory the film quips that the script for the film as just arrived which is a really quip. With it being one that the film could have carried on with just by having one the characters ask the question is that the films script or something like that with the film having alot of really good and funny moments in it and heck the film is worth seeing just for it's fresh and clever jokes alone in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall while MST3K is due back sometime this year with an episode on the film "Sting Of Death" and while it is a good thing that it is coming back that doesn't mean that we need to sit on the fact that this film is turning thirty years old as this film is just as fresh and just as funny as it was all the way back in 1996 in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.