To kill a lot of free time, janitors on a remote space station watch really old, really bad movies beamed up from Earth — razzing and riffing on each film's obvious deficiencies (along with their robot pals).

CRITIQUE

Watching people watch movies? Describing the appeal of MST3K is about an odd a task any any I've encountered. (Furthermore, that fact that they're celebrating a 20th anniversary makes me feel like Methuselah.) Upon my first encounter with the show on Comedy Central, I resisted its appeal. Sure, I loved all those “so bad they're good!” films... long before the practice was hip.

Even before the Medved brothers published “Golden Turkeys” (in the 80s) I'd stumble into my high school homeroom half asleep from watching Plan Nine from Outer Space or Werewolves on Wheels on the Late Show. (Ahh, the pre-VCR generation!) I never dreamed that other people would find this crap funny... at least until I got to college... but that's another story.

MST3K was/is even weirder than simply enjoying the very worst cinematic stinkers. First, there are the wraparound skits wherein the poor space schlubs Joel and Mike interact with their fellow robots (i.e. cheezy puppets) and mad scientists from Earth (i.e. hammy actors in fright wigs).

This sort of shtick is a distinctly acquired taste; it doesn't affect the films themselves... pretty much the same way that old “horror hosts” like Zacherly or Elvira would put on simple skits brimming with wicked puns. More often than not, however, wraparounds act as the Hamburger Helper of cheap TV comedy. (It's highly unlikely that anyone would tune in just to catch a “Joel the Space Janitor” show.) I'm only middling fan of the wraparounds per se.

Fortunately, trashy films are still the main draw... but instead of sitting around with friends (while possibly ingesting a mind-altering stimulus) to make fun of the dogs yourself, the hapless MST3 “crew” (silhouetted in traditional theater seats in front of the screen) performs all the heavy joke-lifting. Since many of the best MST3 shows have already been released, the 20th Anniversary set may not be the funniest... but the sampling is quite decent. My only real dissatisfaction stems from my preference to see older junk flicks. Aside from First Spaceship on Venus (1962) the samplings are all contemporary.

Amazingly, a cult show celebrating crap was nominated for an Emmy... and won a Peabody Award!

First Spaceship on Venus (1962)

Originally a German-Soviet co-production adapted from the novel by respected science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, First Spaceship is pretty stilted to sit through on its own. It's not a particularly rotten film, just dated. Very dated — which gives the MST3 enough of a wedge to blast it apart.

Laserblast (1978)

After reading a story about the FX in Laserblast in Cinefantastique magazine, I ran out to se the flick hoping to get a few glimpses of stop-motion animation; a rare occurrence ever since Ray Harryhausen retired after Clash of the Titans. This early Charles Band extravaganza concerns a teenager who finds an alien gun that posses him like the devil. My crappola-meter nearly hit the roof! Imagine all the miscast roles you've ever winced at — and then, imagine a sci-fi flick with Eddie Deezen as a bully. As the final aired episode of MST3, they went all-out to tear this turgid wreck a new one.

Werewolf (1996)

Not to be confused with the 1956 move of the same name, this one defies all manner of logic, thrills, and basic competence. An archaeologist gets cut by the skeleton of a werewolf... you can guess the rest. Or can you? Just one of numerous unfilled plot holes concerns Martin Sheen's untalented brother Joe Estevez (apparently contractually obliged to appear in grade-Z junk).  Judging from the changing haircuts, Werewolf was most likely filmed in spurts over the course of a few years... and slapped together in a few hours.

Future War (1997)

Kickboxer from the future escapes to present day Earth, pursued by a miniature T-Rex attack dinosaur. (Not a typo.) I almost want to disqualify myself from commenting on this film since I once had the “pleasure” of working for the producer, but in fact there's nothing libelous I could say because it's all true... Future War sucks big time, and it's a perfect example of the producer's entire canon. The “acting” by the dinosaur hand puppet is far better than his human co-stars.

THE VIDEO

MST3K is presented in 1:1.33 full frame. It would've been pointless to remaster the prints of the movies, so these are gloriously awful by default. Video of the wraparound segments is fairly sharp and colorful, but the silhouettes of the crew in the movie theater are distractingly pixelated.

THE AUDIO

MST3K is presented in English Dolby 2.0 for the wraparounds, mono for the movies.

THE EXTRAS

The Oral History of MST3K: Here you get a 3-part feature, 30 minutes each spread over the disc, which is comprised of interviews with the creators, plus vintage behind the scenes footage. It would've been nice to play as a standalone piece.

2008 Comic Con MST3K Reunion Panel: Featuring Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, and others from the show. Big smiles all around.

Original film trailers: Like Jello, everyone loves trailers.

Variations On A Theme Song: Featuring all six versions of the theme song, for hardcore completists.

FINAL THOUGHT

Load of laughs and a perfect introduction to the show for a newbie. Note: Some of the humor is vicious, and sexual entendrés make this collection appropriate for adults.