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Featured Episodes:
Lost Continent
Crash of Moons
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Jack Frost
Release Date: July 13th, 2010
If there is one word to describe the episode selection of Volume XVIII it would be consistency. There's not a bad episode in the bunch. The only drawback is that there isn't a great one either, though others seem to think more highly of certain episodes than I. It's certainly a set that has episodes with some sort of iconic stature, with the "rock climbing" in Lost Continent, "Flag on the Moon" in Beast of Yucca Flats, and just the general weirdness of Jack Frost. If I were to personally choose a favorite I'd say I most admire Yucca Flats, while Lost Continent and Jack Frost are about neck and neck for runner up.
Average Rating (scale of 1 to 4): 3
The video tended to be a very controversial subject on this release, sparking debates of the degrading masters of the series and how/if they could be cleaned up and whether Shout should release episodes this degraded. Lost Continent is the big offender, offering up fairly large video flaws that interrupt the presentation of the episode at quite a few moments. Beast of Yucca Flats is also consistently flawed, though far less troublesome. Crash of Moons and Jack Frost both look fine. Other than Lost Continent, which has a few hiccups, audio is quality.
If you want extras Volume XVIII's got 'em! We got intros for two episodes by MST cast members: Frank lovingly introduces Lost Continent while Kevin has delightful memories of Jack Frost. The only movie related special features really pertain to Beast of Yucca Flats, offering up a documentary on the making of the film called No Dialogue Necessary: Making an "Off-Camera Masterpiece." There is also an interview with Coleman Francis collaborator Lee Strosnider, who discusses working with the infamous director. We also have a stills gallery and a theatrical trailer, while the only other movie related feature that doesn't belong to Yucca Flats is another trailer for Lost Continent. The set closes out with a set of MST Hour wraps for Crash of Moons.
Once again Volume XVIII follows the trend of stock covers for MST releases, providing the generic starry backdrop with the theater silhouettes on the bottom looking up at the roman numeral "XVIII" with the logo in the upper left corner. The color primarily featured on this set distinguishing it from the others is a sky blue. Also normal for a Shout set is the stellar interior artwork for the four slim cases within. Lost Continent features Crow and Tom Servo running from a killer Brontosaur, which is standing next to a fallen rocket. Crash of Moons (titled on the set as Crash of the Moons) has Crow and Servo standing on one of the titular moons looking up at another, while a space station is in orbit in the corner. Beast of Yucca Flats has the duo of bots running from the titular Tor Johnson beast. Finally Jack Frost has Crow as a frozen Nastenka while Servo is dressed as Ivan, who tries to fend off a bunch of angry trees from harming his beloved.
Disc art is standard as well, with Shout's fallback of starry backdrop and film logo. The menus take the idea that they started playing with in the previous set by inserting audio clips from the show into the CGI animation and evolve them into almost new host segments. I love the menus that Shout has developed from here on out, and they're always fun to see what they create next. Lost Continent features Crow and Servo on a safari, occasionally stumbling on a Triceratops. For Crash of Moons Crow enters the SOL bridge and discovers Servo and Gypsy watching Crash of Moons on the Hexfield and isn't happy about it. Beast of Yucca Flats has the irradiated Tor Johnson crashing the bridge and trying to kill Crow and Servo. Finally Jack Frost features the mushroom wizard invading the bridge and annoying Crow and Servo.
Taking all of this in the big caveat is the picture quality on Lost Continent and Yucca Flats. Which both feature some of the weakest presentation of any episode of the series on disc to date (in fact Lost Continent is arguably the worst). If this is a deal breaker then the bottom line is that you shouldn't pick up this set. But there are four funny episodes waiting for fans here, including some that might wind up being your own personal favorites despite not being some of mine. Despite it's harmful video, Volume XVIII is amazingly satisfactory in episode selection and special features and they are episodes a MSTie will want, just maybe not in this condition.
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