Film Year: 1955
Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Joeseph M. Newman
Starring: Vic Morrow, Rex Reason, Faith Domergue, Russell Johnson, and Coleman Francis in the role of a lifetime
The Movie
*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*
After a series of strange events, including a glowing airplane and building a some-assembly-required communications device, a group of scientists find themselves invited to take part in a secret project. They are rounded up by aliens from the planet Metaluna, who sneak them back to their planet for no reason other than to stare at them and send them back while a planet explodes and a giant mutated insect attacks for no reason.
One of the most controversial film selections in Mystery Science Theater history, half because it’s somewhat well regarded as a science fiction classic and half because the film had one-fifth of its runtime edited out due to studio insistence. For years I had held off on having an opinion on This Island Earth until I had a chance to watch the film in its uncut glory. Will my various questions be answered? Will we have an explanation as to why Ruth doesn’t remember Cal? Does the third act still render the entirety of the film completely redundant?
The answer to all three is yes. It’s not a terrible movie, but in all honesty it’s really not all that great.
The film is a colorful science fiction film full of ideas, and maybe if it went anywhere it would seem far more worthwhile. We are supposed to dazzle at the amazing technology on display and be intrigued by the mystery behind the aliens’ motivations, and for a while it works. I love the tech and the effects bringing it to life, and the alien plot is easy to get involved in. It’s as soon as the film reveals it’s going nowhere with this that it starts to become tiresome. The third act to this movie is a mess as our human leads are reduced to gawkers, taken to an alien planet for no reason at all other than to see it blow up before the aliens’ plan can be executed (rendering any conflict in the movie completely pointless, I might add), and given a final obstacle in the form of a monster that has nothing to do with anything that just kind of dies after doing nothing. It makes the whole movie in retrospect less interesting.
That said, I do quite enjoy the first two acts of this movie. It’s intriguing science fiction with pleasant eye candy. But in the end the movie collapses because it has nowhere to go.
The "Episode"
Mystery Science Theater 3000 makes a leap to the big screen and for the most part it’s bittersweet. Their creative freedom is gone, causing a lot of riffs to be changed and the film to be heavily edited and altered. In many ways This Island Earth is the biggest victim here, though for the most part the film remains mildly coherent. But this should have been their chance to riff an uncut film in it’s full length glory, and it has been stolen away.
While it’s easy to write this riff off because of how neutered and safe it feels at times, that wouldn’t entirely be giving it enough credit. I admit being worried early on during Cal’s introduction scene, in which a minute or two seems to go by without a “real” riff other than mock laughter, and there are spaces where the film gets talky and the crew can’t get a word in. However when Mike and the Bots get the ball rolling the laughter and amusement reaches peak points. The movie is ripe for playing with, with things like the alien forehead designs, impressions of Cal’s heroically deep voice, and all of the crazy designs all over the place prompting creative commentary. The riff of MST3K: The Movie is just fun, with a colorful but sluggish movie being energized by an enthusiastic group of riffers. It’s hard not to delight at Cal’s crappy plane flying (“Should we be seeing this?”), his wormy sidekick (“Into the Weeniemobile! Weenie-Man away!”), and the lackluster romance (“Shrinky Dink! Remember?”). As the film gets into it’s horridly mizcalculated third act things seem to start settling down as it’s hard to have fun with the film at this point...until we meet the Mutant. This creature revealed out of nowhere to create finale conflict gives the riffing a shot of adrenaline, and it pushes them through to the inane final confrontation where Ruth screams at it for several minutes and it just lays down and dies, leaving the viewer mystified to the point of it all and without breath in laughter. The riffing on this scene is solid gold, and they stay pumped up straight until that “The End” text is seen.
“Hey, I’m experiencing a sensation altogether new to me! And quite frankly, I LOVE IT!”
I also quite like the host segments for the most part. Crow breaching the hull in his attempt to “tunnel” his way to Earth gets the film off on the right foot, as it’s deliciously wacky and the final solution is hilarious. Another favorite of mine comes in Mike’s attempt at steering the Satellite of Love only to find up crashing into the Hubble satellite. They aren’t all winners, as Servo’s Interocitor sketch is mediocre and the finale is pretty weak. But the good ones are gold.
I was anticipating saying something similar about MST3K: The Movie as I say about The Simpsons Movie (the film version of my other favorite show) in that in the context of the series it’s just pretty good, though compared to most comedy films I’d dare say it’s outstanding. But upon further review I have to say, even if the production was troubled, this movie is hilarious. It says something that I’ve watched this film as many times as I have and still laugh at to this day. Is it inconsistent? Sure. A little tempered and too mainstream? Just a tad. But when I laugh at something I have to trust that I’m laughing for a reason.
Classic
The DVD and Blu-Ray
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie has been released on home media many times. It’s initial release was an early DVD by Universal with a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer with no special features. I don’t own this one, since it was out of print for the longest time and was being sold for outrageous prices.
Luckily Universal re-released it a few years down the road through their Rogue banner. This disc featured a nice anamorphic transfer and good audio. However, one small irritant is that they edited in the more modern Universal logo at the beginning of the movie, when it should have been the logo from the early 90’s. Edited logos are a pet peeve of mine, and they’re pointless. There were no special features on this disc either.
The definitive way to own this movie is the blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Shout Factory. The video is about as crisp as you would expect it to look in high definition while the audio is as good as it ever was. Unfortunately the logo replacement is still intact.
Special features are loaded, leading off with a vintage behind the scenes preview. Some of the set videos are neat, but if you want the real meat and potatoes of what went on behind the scenes I recommend the extra beneath it, Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie: The Motion Picture Odyssey. This 35-minute documentary interviews Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Trace Beaulieu, and Jim Mallon about the origins and execution of the feature film, as well as the constant battle with the studio over the final edit. If you ever wondered why there wasn’t a sequel, wonder no longer.
Meanwhile we’re also offered another 35-minute documentary called 2 ½ Years in the Making, chronicling the making of This Island Earth and it’s legacy. The documentary is interesting, though it becomes bitter when Mystery Science Theater is brought up, one interviewee even claiming the guys at MST were the ones who edited the film and states the studio should have stopped them, which is about as far from the truth as one can be.
But for those who also wish there was more in this film, the deleted scenes might satisfy you. There is quite a bit of extended theater segments as well as two deleted host segments.
Finally there is a trailer for MST: The Movie.
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