The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 4

 

 

Create your own review

After searching for years (!), I finally re-discovered the title of this very funny sci-fi story. I tried to buy it just after Raul Julia died and all his work was frozen pending settlement of his estate. Clearly, others think this is a stinker, and I haven't seen it since watching the 1983 original. Still, it's Sci-fi, folks... remember 'Let's Pretend'? I remember it as a ridiculous romance of the mind, freely lampooning many social sacred cows. Raul Julia plays a computer hacker in a very boring ultra-controlled future society where the 'average guy' is a total cipher, a mere tooth on a cog in the big political machine. He goes to a mind-numbingly dull job, whose major purpose may be to keep the masses quiet. Our hero has learned how to entertain himself by accessing taboo material (classic movies) of which his favorite is Casablanca. When he's caught, he's immediately sentenced to mental reorientation. Some citizens pay big bucks for the same experience which transfers the person's mind/personality onto a memory cube and projects it into a wild animal of some kind. The experience is valued for mental health and is a common vacation choice for rich citizens who buy time as a lion or elephant or Kodiak bear. Social misfits are placed in less glamorous animals to help them modify their behavior, perhaps to better appreciate being human. Raul's body is toe-tagged with his ID and his consciousness is transferred to a cheapo memory cube good for a fixed number of hours and projected into a chimpanzee. Meanwhile, a group of school kids tours the facility and one future misfit swipes Raul's ID tag. When his sentenced rehabilitation time elapses, the technicians can't find his body. The news leaks and impacts public confidence in the government. They send for a computer wizard to keep Raul's memory cube functioning while the search is on for his body. Here's where the really good part begins: the savior tech is a beautiful girl and she encounters Raul where he has taken refuge in cyberspace. He woos her in the romantic style of Casablanca's Rick. It's funny and sweet and highly enjoyable. I don't remember if they have a shot at happy-ever-after, but since the government fell and had to re-shape itself, maybe so. I'm going to watch again and see.

Rhino has seen fit to release more MST3K movies from the Sci-Fi era which, considering that the Sci-Fi Channel has stopped broadcasting reruns, couldn't have come at a better time.

"GIRL IN BOLD BOOTS" is a swinging, sixties musical mystery tour. Michele is a waitress in a roadside diner who wants to become a professional dancer. One day, Buz walks in and tells her that his sister is a famous dancer. If she'll provide him with companionship, he'll drive her to L.A. and help her break into show business. Before they can leave they also meet Critter, a charming drifter. Long story short, all three end up at the Haunted House, the nightclub in L.A. where Buz's sister Joan is the head dancer. If you look up the word sleazy in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of the nightclub owner. He's also a big time drug pusher, who soon has Buz dealing for him. He's already got Joan hooked on drugs. Joan is washed up and the nightclub owner wants the younger Michele to take her place. Critter winds up stuck as a janitor and stuck on Michele. He refuses to get involved with any illegal activities, except for the fact that he's a draft dodger! This Elvis wannabe is content to sing sappy love songs and stay on the sidelines. A host highlight has Crow T. Robot doing a go-go dance while wearing gold boots!

"HAMLET" stars Maximillian Schell in the title role, and was produced for German television in 1960. Max really puts the ham in Hamlet. This is the biggest bomb the Germans dropped on England since World War II. The voices of the actors are dubbed in English with German accents. Stranger still, the voice of King Claudius sounds like it was done by Ricardo Montalban! At one point in the film, Crow makes a remark about fine Corinthian leather. There is also a strange background sound heard throughout the movie. No doubt, it was the sound of William Shakespeare spinning in his grave!

"OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK" was so awful that Raul Julia watched his performance in it and died of shame. No expense was spared in paying Raul to star in this made-for-PBS movie which, unfortunately, left little money for special effects. Raul plays Aram Fingal, a computer programmer who works for Novicorp, a giant corporation that exists somewhere in the future. When caught watching "Casablanca" at his desk, he is required to undergo rehabilitation therapy. His mind is transferred into the body of a baboon, in order to give him a new outlook on life! While monkeying around, his real body is misplaced and his mind is transferred into a computer. With the help of Appolonia James, a medical technician, Fingal manages to reprogram himself into a simulation of his favorite movie. This film takes "Casablanca," "1984" and "Planet Of The Apes," puts them in a blender, and hits the fast button!

"SPACE MUTINY" nearly causes one aboard the Satellite Of Love! All is not well aboard the Southern Sun spaceship. The old space captain, played by Cameron Mitchell, looks like a cross between an aging hippie and Santa Claus. He is content to explore the galaxy forever. John Phillip Law plays Kalgan, the mutineer who wants to take over the ship and divert it to a habitable planet. His acting is so far over the top that, when he laughs menacingly, you expect him to twirl a nonexistent, handlebar mustache. The captain's daughter is a brainless bimbo, while the pilot picked to succeed the aging captain is a giant slab of muscles with no acting talent whatsoever. There's lots of shooting with space guns, followed by a succession of space-suited stuntmen falling over handrails. The big chase scene involves the use of modified golf carts. My favorite scene takes place in the spaceship's bar, where the space travelers wear disco outfits and the women use hula hoops when they dance! While watching this in amazement, Crow asks, "So, in the future, there is absolutely no shame?"

the one I remember most was "girls in gold boots" and Count Chocula guy from seaseme street and his twin.(1-2-3 blehaaha) MST3000 is still on sci-fi channel at 8 or 9 or something on saturday morn. Most of this overdone hippie stuff is revised by little guys at the bottom of the screne making fun of it.(aka 5 star rating :).

P. S. Mike's singing is priceless.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 42 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

5.0 out of 5 stars always fantastic stuff
you cannot beat watching Crow shake his moneymaker in his gold boots

Does anyone have a videotape of MST 3k's "Monster A Go-Go"? Read more

Published on April 17 2004 by Amy J. Magsamen

5.0 out of 5 stars "Whoa! A Huge Slam On Anteaters Out Of Nowhere!"
Three great and one horrible episode of MST with new introductions featuring Mike for each are the contents of this set. Read more

Published on April 3 2004 by Robert I. Hedges

3.0 out of 5 stars The good, the mediocre and the ugly.
The four episodes are: Space Mutiny, Girl in Gold Boots, Hamlet and Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.

Girl in Gold Boots: Truly a great episode. Read more

Published on Mar 27 2004 by Sickness23

5.0 out of 5 stars Yeah! More MST3K!
Rhino has done it again. Now with this fourth box set, we have more recent episodes from the Sci-Fi channel era. I think every single episode is funny. Read more

Published on Mar 17 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars 2 classics make this a great set.
A man and two robots he created are forced to endure bad movies in a mad scientist's experiment..

1. Girl in the Gold Boots - One of my favorite episodes! Read more

Published on Mar 11 2004 by C. N Wells

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing extra...
This set includes shows from the Sci-Fi years of MST3K. In fact, they were still showing this shows when the set came out. Read more

Published on Mar 10 2004 by Michael Valdivielso

4.0 out of 5 stars Well, Dopple my Fingle!
One can't help but feel sorry for accomplished, talented, (and now deceased) Raul Julia, in the PBS Stinker "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank". Read more

Published on Mar 8 2004 by J. L. K.

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally New DVDs
I have been waiting forever for new MST3K DVDs, and it was well worth the wait. Overdrawn at the Memory Bank and Space Mutiny are absolutely brilliantly skewered, and two of the... Read more

Published on Mar 7 2004 by S. McHaney

4.0 out of 5 stars 2 great episodes, 2 pretty good ones.
This fourth collection of episodes from the classic TV comedy show, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (which, if you don't already know, is the program where a silhouette of a man... Read more

Published on Feb 26 2004 by Claude Avary

3.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Was Waiting For
The best episodes are still unreleased. First Sci-Fi Channel grabs the show, then makes them ONLY do sci-fi films, then puts it on at horrible times. Read more

Published on Feb 23 2004 by Heidi Crabtree

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 42 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!