The 1st Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review (MST3K Special)

Mystery Science Theater only made one half hour comedy special at Comedy Central, which was done at the tail end of their tenure.  While that special wasn't particularly great, they revisit the idea and try their hand at a different format this time around to much greater success.

With the 1st Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review (say that three times fast) gives a bit of a treat to the fans.  First of all, we get to see inside of the theater for the first time.  Second we get to see fleeting glimpses of the riffers taking on big budget blockbusters, of which many fans have dreamed of since the inception of the series.  Unfortunately all we get are promotional material, but that's all our little show can afford.  And it's better than nothing.

So join us as we take a look at five of the gargantuan summer movies that littered cinemas in 1997, including some that most are desperate to forget!

The Fifth Element (later riffed by Michael J. Nelson at Rifftrax)

I haven't seen The Fifth Element since it first came out (which will probably change by the time I get to reviewing more Rifftrax entries).  While I remember enjoying it at the time (I was 12, okay?) I remember literally nothing about it except how weird a lot of people looked.  If you're looking for me to go in-depth on this film, I'd hate to sorely disappoint you.

Servo and Crow introduce a trailer for the film, mocking the visual style and adding double-entendres to the taglines.  After that we get mocked interviews with star Bruce Willis and director Luc Besson, followed by a clip where Bruce Willis delightfully sexually assaults Milla Jovovich.  The riffing is fairly strong throughout, closing with one of the great lines of the special:  "If you like injecting LSD into your eyes you'll like this film."

The Lost World:  Jurassic Park (later riffed by Mocktails at iRiffs)

Well, let's face it.  If you were a kid my age in 1997 then you were excited about returning for Jurassic Park.  I personally enjoy The Lost World quite a bit (a lot more than I enjoy Jurassic Park III or Jurassic World, for the record), but it does lack the innovative ideas and the imagination of the original.  However I'd very much like to point out that I grew up on monster movies, and taking The Lost World as a pure monster movie ride it's probably just as good as the original, but in a different way.  Mileage may vary on that, but that's my perspective.

Johnathan Frakes AKA Mike joins the duo for this one, but rarely leaves a comment.  Crow starts off by trying to describe the plot based on clips from the trailer (one does love how he describes Jeff Goldblum and Pete Postlethwaite falling in love) and then we are treated to a montage of "Signature Steven Spielberg Scenes of People Looking."  After that we finally get some traditional riffing as the trio watches behind the scenes footage from the movie.

Men in Black

Probably arguably the best film featured in this special, Men in Black is a movie about those guys in suits who cover up alien activity spawning many a conspiracy theory.  The film is a comedic sci-fi romp that mostly rides on the chemistry between stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, while building a quirky and wild world to get lost in as the duo go on a wacky adventure.  Men in Black is a quality blockbuster that spawned a franchise that never quite lived up to that first film (though quite a few people tend to enjoy Men in Black 3, though I find it a bit closer to the level of the lesser Men in Black II personally).

Professor Bobo invades the theater to sit in with our riffers as they watch the trailer for Men in Black.  The segment is devoted to Bobo being a loud and obnoxious movie patron, which is a strange joke to have when you have a TV show devoted to talking during the movie.  Eventually Bobo is kicked out and Servo introduces behind the scenes footage.  Finally is some behind the scenes footage with some steady, funny riffing.

"Okay, who let one in the headpiece?  Very funny, guys."

Contact

I have not seen this fairly popular Jodie Foster film, which sees her making contact with an extraterrestrial being from space.  At the time it was the type of film that didn't interest me, and while I'd probably be more into it today I've never really cared enough to look back on it and see if it was anything special.  It's very possible that one day I might give this movie a gander, but it likely won't be soon.

Observer pops in and watches the trailer to Contact with the group, which features some fairly strong riffing on a quiet scene of Jodie Foster listening to an alien signal in headphones.  But the trailer is cut short when Pearl invades the theater and insists on seeing the movie her "fiance" George Clooney made this summer.

Batman & Robin (later riffed by Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett at Rifftrax)

Probably the most infamous superhero film ever made (though it might have been topped by the 2015 Fantastic Four movie, though time will tell), Batman & Robin is the fourth installment of Warner Brothers' Batman series, which sees the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder do battle with Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy as they plot to freeze all of Gotham.  While considered one of the more unwatchable films of 1997, I've never had much of a problem watching it.  But I grew up on camp and kitsch, which makes Batman & Robin easier to digest for me.  While I struggle to think of any film from 1997 that might have been worse (hey, 1997 was over twenty years ago), I've always found the supposed "unpleasantness" of this film to be hyperbole.

"You know in the last one George Clooney was played by The Saint and in the first two George Clooney was played by Beetlejuice.  Listen up all you studio dumbbells up there!  George Clooney should only be played by George Clooney!  Period!"

Featuring brief clips and behind the scenes footage, Batman & Robin is probably the funniest segment of the special, with a lot of Pearl's fawning over George Clooney taking centerstage as as Mike expresses horror at Joel Schumacher's "macho" stance.  Crow then taunts Pearl by promising George Clooney but then delivering footage of non-George-Clooneys closes out this special quite amusingly.

It's probably worth noting that Pearl's observation that she wouldn't kick Arnold Schwarzenegger "out of bed" either proved to be somewhat ironic in retrospect, as Batman & Robin was the film Schwarzenegger was making when he had the affair which resulted in his illegitimate child.

The special closes with Bobo returning to the theater and recommending movies to be featured in the special, all involving apes (coincidentally he brings up Mighty Joe Young, which was set to be remade and released the following year).  And as we exit this special, MST certainly seemed to have created something fun with this half hour format that I think they could have sustained in the future.  They would go on to do two more specials after this, including a second Blockbuster Review, but if this were any indication, there really should have been more.