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5.0 out of 5 stars
The question remains of Ogg and Zogg, Jan 28 2004
Gather 'round my friends. That's it make room for everyone. C'mon now kids up in front...everyone comfortable? Can you hear me in the back? Clem, how's your ma doing? Good good. Well folks I've gathered you all here tonight to tell you a tale of intrigue, hope, lost love, sentimental childhood, and the Cold War... That's right Gus, you hit the nail right on the head, The Three Stooges in Orbit.First off there's the music, that sweet single violin playing those sad notes in a scale of D minor. It always reminded me of the girl I spent one magical summer with on the beach, I'll never forget her. The plot is rich and has many side stories that the cretons of today's 20 minute SitCom and microwave burritos would fail to appreciate. That being said, let's look at the story and break it down as best we can..... The Stooges are trying to break into TV amid various problems, sponsor buffoons ("Aw said aw want a whole new type of a cartoon show"), meddling executives ("They'll never make it J.B. They'll never make it") Obviously the Stooges are attacking Columbia Pictures. The Three Stooges are an American icon who's talant was wasted and taken for granted, while the second rate Abbot and Costello team made millions. I salute thee Mr. Howard, not only for your skill of acting the tragic Greek classics, but also for the violence of Shakespeare. The Cold War was in full swing by 1962. (This was also the year that Marilyn Monroe died, so like all artists with sentimental hearts, the Stooges had to pay tribute to the fallen goddess.) Notice the general in this movie, see how fat he is, the overflowing girth of a belly. He represented all the fat profiteers who keep the war rumors blowing. The weapon contracts, the spy equipment, the NASA program (who would fake a moon landing just 7 years later using the same special effects from this movie!)The Stooges were pacifists who used this film as a cry out to the world to end it's jealous and violent way. After all, it was Shemp who pinted out in 1953 that 'The War to end all Wars' ended 35 years ago. Now Ogg and Zogg are interesting characters and there is some argument over their meaning. Some took them as a religious symbol. Moe was Jewish as were his two brothers Shemp and Curly. Were Ogg and Zogg a tribute not only to his late brothers, but a warning that could have been influenced by the Torah? Ignore the subtitles and listen to the actual words of Ogg and Zogg. They are speaking an ancient Arabic tongue and are quoting Dead Sea Scrolls. The guy standing in line behind me at the Salvation Army soup kitchen told me this. He was there when the movie was made, he worked as a grip. He said Ogg and Zogg WERE NOT costumes. He claims to have had relations with the woman who has in the shower scene being frightened by the 'aerosubmatank'. Her real name was Shelly and she died shortly after her second Hollywood appearance as a dancing extra in 'Martian Beach Party'. Apparantly she went into a coma after sampling a super diet version of Dr. Pepper that was never put out on the market. The Stooges were obviously more than the funniest comedy team that ever existed, they were prophets, scholars and finally martyrs. Ya'll come back soon and I'll tell you of the REAL story behind 'The Three Stooges meet Hercules'.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Moe, Larry & Curly Joe in Orbit, Dec 24 2003
The Three Stooges play themselves as TV stars. After getting kick out of their apartment and a long day of looking for a place to live, the boys meet up with Professor Danfort (Emil Sitka, a regular after the Curly days). The professor has invented a tank/helicopter/submarine vehicle for the military. The Army doesn't want it since it flies, the Air force doesn't want it since it goes under water, etc. The professor has suspected that the Martins want his device for their world and to destroy the earth. Moe, Larry and Curly Joe wind up baby-sitting the contraption, giving it nuclear capability and almost help the Martins in their quest.If you like the Three Stooges you will enjoy this movie. The DVD contains no extras.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Surprising in its ambitiousness., Nov 16 2003
This is not your typical Three Stooges short. This is a full length feature film. The beginning is inspirational, starting with images of classic pen and ink drawings of Martians, with a Mike Wallace-type narrative. What follows is a typical Three Stooges routine, regarding hotel regulations against cooking, and the Three Stooges' quest for finding a new place to live. Eventually, the trio finds residence in a scientist's home, where they view his invention (a flying submarine) and discover spies from Mars. The scientist is on the verge of successfully marketing his invention to the U.S. military. The Three Stooges successfully derail the Martians' attempt to take over the earth. The narrative builds up slowly, with amusing footage of a small mockup of the flying submarine, and then, the actual flying submarine, and eventually, footage of an actual atomic bomb blast over the Pacific Ocean. The flying submarine is the size of a mobile home, and it is actually shown to fly. It is a Rube Goldberg gadget, with the charm of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. It is shown to fly over the Egyptian pyramids, over New York City, over Athens, and over San Francisco. The film is reminiscent of Speilberg's zany and astonishing movie, 1941, as well as of the clever and heartwarming The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000), featuring Jason Alexander and Robert DeNiro. But please save your money and use it, instead, for buying 1941 or for the 2000 production of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Despite its ambitious qualities, the film under review has some detracting qualities. Although Three Stooges in Orbit has some clever moments, e.g., the exchange of the submarine's carburator for an atomic bomb about to be tested in the desert, and some amusing moments, e.g., when the flying submarine flies past a laundry line, thereby propelling a woman's brassiere into the face of a U.S. military general, there are some problems. First of all, the martians are ugly and irritating to look at. They are obviously just actors in rubber Frankenstein masks. How uncreative. If the martians had the typical Roswell, Arizona appearance, then I'd give this movie a higher rating. Another problem, a minor one, is the scene showing Curly repeatedly being hit on the head with a crowbar being shoved through a wall. This is not amusing. Another problem is that the film tries to be a monster movie and a science fiction movie at the same time. Much of the story takes place in the scientist's scary castle. Perhaps it would have been better for these sequences to take place in a university laboratory, e.g., at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Please recall that the Three Stooges do have one film short taking place in a college laboratory: "Violent is the Word for Curly" (1938), one of the cleverest and funniest of all Three Stooges shorts. In Violent is the Word for Curly, the Three Stooges are mistaken for elitist college professors. And so, it might have been nice for Three Stooges in Orbit to be based in a college laboratory. Also the sound is bad. There are cracklings throughout. These irritating crackling sounds can also be found in abundance in the video version of the story of Alexander Graham Bell, featuring Don Ameche.
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