706-Laserblast

Film Year:  1978
Genre:  Science Fiction
Director:  Michael Rae
Starring:  Kim Milford, Cheryl Smith, Gianni Russo, Roddy McDowell, Keenan Wynn
MST Season:  7

The Movie

A teenager finds a laser gun in the outskirts of town left by aliens.  He uses it to destroy those who have wronged him, as well as those who haven’t.  So he really just kinda kills everyone.  Basically this kid is a dick.  The aliens eventually come to reclaim the weapon and hopefully stop his rampage.

Infamous among MSTies as the movie that Leonard Maltin gave two and a half stars (though, let’s be honest, this isn’t the only movie on the show Lenny gave a positive-ish review to).  I’m not going to rib him too much for it.  He likely was just in a good mood that day and I highly doubt he had seen this movie since (unless it was on MST3K).

But two and a half stars?  Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh…

The movie has an amusing concept, but there isn’t a lot done with it.  The main character has relatable problems but he doesn’t have a very welcoming personality for the audience.  I never sympathize with him at all during the film.  This might have been a purposeful choice for his character since the plot requires him to murder people, but it’s mildly ruined by the story development of the gun [i]possessing[/i] him and turning him into some sort of alien creature.  Is it him doing it or the beast?  If it’s the former, then why make that plot development?  If it’s the latter, then the tragedy of the story is a sham.

The stop motion aliens are pretty fun though.  And it DOES have that high concept storyline going for it.  And Roddy MacDowell is always a soothing presence.  But overall Laserblast blows up in the filmmakers’ faces.

The Episode

There’s a lot about this episode to digest.  First it was presented as a series finale before the series was picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel for three more years (and long before the Kickstarter relaunch gave the show another shot).  While it isn’t quite the end of the road, there is a finality to it because the second thing to realize is that it’s Trace Beaulieu’s final episode.  Helping the series since The Green Slime pilot and a regular on the series since Revenge of the Mysterians of Mars, Trace was the last of the original on-screen talent to make his final bow.

No more Dr. Forrester.

A revamped Crow.

After seven (or eight) seasons, this hurts a little.  The series was fine in the long run, but our emotional attachment will continue to tether to him.  Out of all the riffers, he had the second longest run, behind only Kevin Murphy.  Alas Trace would eventually continue to riff in Cinematic Titanic and his current live show with Frank Conniff The Mads Are Back.

As a finale, I prefer Diabolik.  The riffing is about the same level, though I find Diabolik’s a tad leaner.  The riffs for Laserblast tend to rely on the “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!” running gag far too much, which is funny the first time but gets to the point where I can’t help but go “oh just stop.”  But once you get around it, the riffing has some wondrous highs.  I especially love the riffs on the stop-motion aliens, as Mike and the Bots give them the characterization they need to make them the most memorable part of a forgettable movie.

I also lean toward Diabolik with the host segments as well.  Laserblast’s are fine, but they don’t quite end the series on a strong note.  Dr. Forrester’s funding has been cut and he sentences Mike and the Bots to death by cutting the Umbilicus and letting them burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The Satellite of Love manages to break free and drifts to the edge of the universe.  In the meantime, we are treated to more than a few Star Trek parodies, as they are boarded by the robot from The Changeling and Mike eventually takes command under the guise of Captain Janeway.  Eventually, Mike and the Bots turn themselves into pure energy and explore the galaxy.  The episode ends with a bizarre parody of 2001:  A Space Odyssey, which leaves me cold.  But I don’t care for the movie, so that’s just me.

Mike and the Bots would eventually survive Laserblast, but even if they didn’t it’s a fine episode.  Would it have been the best finale?  Probably not.  But as an episode in general it lives up to the standard of the fairly consistent seventh season, even if it is one of the weaker ones.

Good

The DVD

Laserblast was brought to disc in Shout Factory’s 20th Anniversary Collection.  Picture and audio were both exceptional.

Special features kick off with part two of The History of MST3K, which covers fairly well the switch from KTMA to the Comedy Channel/Comedy Central.  The primary topics brushed upon are the writing process and working with a network, and also brought to light are the hiring of Mike Nelson and Paul Chaplin and the eventual resignation of Joel Hodgson and Josh Weinstein.

Also featured is a trailer for the movie.