Film Year: 1980
Genre: Superhero, Fantasy, Action
Director: Alberto De Martino
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Walter George Alton, Miguel Angel Fuentes, Sydne Rome
MST Season: 9
The Movie
*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*
In 1978, Superman made us believe a man could fly. In 1980, Pumaman made us forget.
I've loved superheroes all through my life. I lived through the Ninja Turtles mania of the late 80's (I even went to that fucking rock concert they did AND MOM BOUGHT ME THE CASSETTE TAPE). I hadn't been born yet when the Christopher Reeve's Superman films started, but boy did we ever rent them. I was there for the mega-hype of 1989's Batman (and coped with the denial of it not being very good). I also grew up with the masterpiece known as Batman: The Animated Series. I was so very much craving superhero media at a point where I taped all of the 70's Marvel TV movies off of the Sci-Fi Channel because this was a point where the only "real" Marvel movie was Howard the Duck. But as bad as those 70's TV films were, Pumaman is worse than those.
Pumaman is not the worst superhero film I've ever seen, that would be The Crow: Wicked Prayer. But the sheer lack of cohesiveness to the product puts it up there quite high on the list. Very little about the movie works, as it attempts to emulate a comic book style of storytelling without understanding it. It's made by people who obviously wanted a Superman knockoff, as it takes various aspects of that comic book mythos like making him a descendant of an alien civilization who can fly and has super strength and tries to present it in a new mythology setting that is haphazardly put together and unappealing to its target demographic.
This original storyline tells of a young professor named Tony who is pushed out of a window by a large Aztec dude and survives. This Aztec guy is Vadhino, a shaman who pushes people out of windows in search of someone who isn't horribly murdered as this would prove that the person in question is the Pumaman, an alien descendant and champion with superpowers. The movie then just brushes off the fact that Vadhino has killed many, many people in search of this guy, and bestows the power of a puma on Tony, which include the various powers pumas are known for having: such as flight, super strength, walking through walls and transporting to another location, and the ability to play dead. Having transformed into Pumaman, Tony must stop the evil Kobras (played by the awesome Donald Pleasence) from using an ancient mask to create clay heads of people and then control them through them, or some bull shit.
There are certain ideas in Pumaman that I think are kind of neat, where I can say I can genuinely see what these people were going for. I like the idea of a shaman searching for a man to awaken to his inner power. I like the theme of an Aztec civilization theme for the hero. There are moments in the film that I think are pretty decent, such as Tony pretending he has committed suicide, which for all intents and purposes is actually a pretty intense scene surrounded by a really bad movie. But when you take all these characteristics that have for the most part have been already been claimed by other heroes and throw them into a single character, then give that character a half-assed link to a whatever animal they never made a superhero out of (in this case a puma) which has nothing to do with anything then the seams are coming right out of your hero's cape and he's unraveling. Pumaman as a character just doesn't work.
That's without mentioning how poorly made the film is. The flying scenes look ridiculous, as Pumaman limps himself out and flails around as he floats in a general whatever the hell direction. To an extent these scenes almost loop around from being so bad that they almost work, as if Pumaman were new to flying and hadn't yet mastered it. But even in that case the superimposing kills it. Pumaman's costume itself is a longsleeve shirt and a pair of slacks, decked out with a split poncho. Aesthetic choices made to our villains' plan, such as the wax heads with wires, just look silly. In fact, those last two words are really the only words I need to say: this movie looks silly. I mean, they use a Jetsons ZOOM effect to accompany Pumamam's flying, for fuck's sake.
Or maybe I'm wrong and all Pumaman needs is a dark 'n' gritty reboot. PUMAMAN BEGINS! Hey, it worked for Gamera.
In 1978, Superman made us believe a man could fly. In 1980, Pumaman made us forget.
I've loved superheroes all through my life. I lived through the Ninja Turtles mania of the late 80's (I even went to that fucking rock concert they did AND MOM BOUGHT ME THE CASSETTE TAPE). I hadn't been born yet when the Christopher Reeve's Superman films started, but boy did we ever rent them. I was there for the mega-hype of 1989's Batman (and coped with the denial of it not being very good). I also grew up with the masterpiece known as Batman: The Animated Series. I was so very much craving superhero media at a point where I taped all of the 70's Marvel TV movies off of the Sci-Fi Channel because this was a point where the only "real" Marvel movie was Howard the Duck. But as bad as those 70's TV films were, Pumaman is worse than those.
Pumaman is not the worst superhero film I've ever seen, that would be The Crow: Wicked Prayer. But the sheer lack of cohesiveness to the product puts it up there quite high on the list. Very little about the movie works, as it attempts to emulate a comic book style of storytelling without understanding it. It's made by people who obviously wanted a Superman knockoff, as it takes various aspects of that comic book mythos like making him a descendant of an alien civilization who can fly and has super strength and tries to present it in a new mythology setting that is haphazardly put together and unappealing to its target demographic.
This original storyline tells of a young professor named Tony who is pushed out of a window by a large Aztec dude and survives. This Aztec guy is Vadhino, a shaman who pushes people out of windows in search of someone who isn't horribly murdered as this would prove that the person in question is the Pumaman, an alien descendant and champion with superpowers. The movie then just brushes off the fact that Vadhino has killed many, many people in search of this guy, and bestows the power of a puma on Tony, which include the various powers pumas are known for having: such as flight, super strength, walking through walls and transporting to another location, and the ability to play dead. Having transformed into Pumaman, Tony must stop the evil Kobras (played by the awesome Donald Pleasence) from using an ancient mask to create clay heads of people and then control them through them, or some bull shit.
There are certain ideas in Pumaman that I think are kind of neat, where I can say I can genuinely see what these people were going for. I like the idea of a shaman searching for a man to awaken to his inner power. I like the theme of an Aztec civilization theme for the hero. There are moments in the film that I think are pretty decent, such as Tony pretending he has committed suicide, which for all intents and purposes is actually a pretty intense scene surrounded by a really bad movie. But when you take all these characteristics that have for the most part have been already been claimed by other heroes and throw them into a single character, then give that character a half-assed link to a whatever animal they never made a superhero out of (in this case a puma) which has nothing to do with anything then the seams are coming right out of your hero's cape and he's unraveling. Pumaman as a character just doesn't work.
That's without mentioning how poorly made the film is. The flying scenes look ridiculous, as Pumaman limps himself out and flails around as he floats in a general whatever the hell direction. To an extent these scenes almost loop around from being so bad that they almost work, as if Pumaman were new to flying and hadn't yet mastered it. But even in that case the superimposing kills it. Pumaman's costume itself is a longsleeve shirt and a pair of slacks, decked out with a split poncho. Aesthetic choices made to our villains' plan, such as the wax heads with wires, just look silly. In fact, those last two words are really the only words I need to say: this movie looks silly. I mean, they use a Jetsons ZOOM effect to accompany Pumamam's flying, for fuck's sake.
Or maybe I'm wrong and all Pumaman needs is a dark 'n' gritty reboot. PUMAMAN BEGINS! Hey, it worked for Gamera.
The Episode
Considering how saturated today's blockbuster market is with superhero films, it's easy to forget just how rare they were back when Mystery Science Theater was originally on the air. While most of the superhero films that were made were "less than good," not very many of them wound up on the series. The Wild Wild World of Batwoman, Samson vs. the Vampire Women, Prince of Space, and Invasion of the Neptune Men are all partially superhero movies, and in some cases only in the loosest of terms as they were all catering to different genres while doing so (Batwoman was a very bad comedy, Samson was a horror film, Prince of Space and Neptune Men were both sci-fi). There's no mistake that Pumaman is a superhero movie down to the bone, and mostly made to cash off of the success of Superman. Because I'm such an avid fan of superhero media myself that makes Pumaman a special episode for me.
"Prepare the Effeminate-mobile!"
First thing I think most notice about this episode is that as bad as the movie is, it's endearingly cheesy. I think even for those who watch the show just to hear the jokes it's easy to let this episode coast by just based on the goofy movie alone. Pumaman is such a wonderful film for the show that I think that even if this movie had been riffed in the KTMA years this episode would have become a fan favorite. Here in season nine, our riffers are at the top of their game and ready to throw some A material at it. The Bots especially have fun with Pumaman's wacky theme music, which is oddly catchy, and make up they're own lyrics to it ("Pu-maman-he flies a moron..."). As the film gets odder and stranger, the riffs just get stronger, anywhere from lampooning the alien spaceship gods all the way to an airheaded leading lady with some really strange facial expressions. Donald Pleasence of course gets riffed, though I feel the jokes in his direction tend to be a bit more inconsistent, with some generic "bald" jokes and just okay impersonations. Because of that inconsistency I sometimes feel Pumaman as an episode doesn't quite pack the punch it should, but when I'm watching the episode it hardly seems to matter.
The host segments are fair. I quite liked Mike visiting Shelli the Nanite for a haircut again, inadvertently pissing her off as he asks for "the dry look." The resulting sight gag is excellently handled. I also like Tom Servo's denial of being short in the opener. Movie related segments are a bit ho-hum, as the Bots try to turn Mike into Coatimundi Man and then try to use their Aztec mask to take over the mind of folk singer Roger Whitaker. Down at Castle Forrester, Pearl tries to break the new place in by throwing a ball, but everyone just wants to watch Sliders in Observer's room (which was another show that was saved from cancellation by the Sci-Fi Channel, with a new season set to debut about two months after this episode aired).
Given the fact that the riffing can reach a few dead ends and the host segments aren't anything to write home about, I'm on the edge of whether or not I want to give this episode my highest rating or not. Of all things what put this episode over the top for me was hearing the Pumaman theme song during the climax fight, when I found myself baffled by how delighted I was at hearing it. I realized then that even if the episode had a few rough spots it held a special place in my heart. It made me feel warm, welcome, and at home. As bad as the movie is, I embrace it like an old friend. The riffing makes the package complete, because synergy is on display between the movie and the episode, and not all episodes can claim that. Yep, Pumaman is definitely a favorite.
"Prepare the Effeminate-mobile!"
First thing I think most notice about this episode is that as bad as the movie is, it's endearingly cheesy. I think even for those who watch the show just to hear the jokes it's easy to let this episode coast by just based on the goofy movie alone. Pumaman is such a wonderful film for the show that I think that even if this movie had been riffed in the KTMA years this episode would have become a fan favorite. Here in season nine, our riffers are at the top of their game and ready to throw some A material at it. The Bots especially have fun with Pumaman's wacky theme music, which is oddly catchy, and make up they're own lyrics to it ("Pu-maman-he flies a moron..."). As the film gets odder and stranger, the riffs just get stronger, anywhere from lampooning the alien spaceship gods all the way to an airheaded leading lady with some really strange facial expressions. Donald Pleasence of course gets riffed, though I feel the jokes in his direction tend to be a bit more inconsistent, with some generic "bald" jokes and just okay impersonations. Because of that inconsistency I sometimes feel Pumaman as an episode doesn't quite pack the punch it should, but when I'm watching the episode it hardly seems to matter.
The host segments are fair. I quite liked Mike visiting Shelli the Nanite for a haircut again, inadvertently pissing her off as he asks for "the dry look." The resulting sight gag is excellently handled. I also like Tom Servo's denial of being short in the opener. Movie related segments are a bit ho-hum, as the Bots try to turn Mike into Coatimundi Man and then try to use their Aztec mask to take over the mind of folk singer Roger Whitaker. Down at Castle Forrester, Pearl tries to break the new place in by throwing a ball, but everyone just wants to watch Sliders in Observer's room (which was another show that was saved from cancellation by the Sci-Fi Channel, with a new season set to debut about two months after this episode aired).
Given the fact that the riffing can reach a few dead ends and the host segments aren't anything to write home about, I'm on the edge of whether or not I want to give this episode my highest rating or not. Of all things what put this episode over the top for me was hearing the Pumaman theme song during the climax fight, when I found myself baffled by how delighted I was at hearing it. I realized then that even if the episode had a few rough spots it held a special place in my heart. It made me feel warm, welcome, and at home. As bad as the movie is, I embrace it like an old friend. The riffing makes the package complete, because synergy is on display between the movie and the episode, and not all episodes can claim that. Yep, Pumaman is definitely a favorite.
Classic
The DVD
Pumaman flies onto DVD with Shout Factory's Volume XXIX collection, sporting good audio and video, as well as a juicy selection of bonus features.
This disc is one of the few Shout Factory discs that contained an unriffed version of the film itself, which seems fair since Pumaman has a very lackluster release history on home video. The film is in full screen, and features very fuzzy and blemished picture quality, there are also tape hits that seem to get worse as the film goes on to the point where the end credits are littered with them. Audio is washed out, and tape hits can affect it as well.
This disc is one of the few Shout Factory discs that contained an unriffed version of the film itself, which seems fair since Pumaman has a very lackluster release history on home video. The film is in full screen, and features very fuzzy and blemished picture quality, there are also tape hits that seem to get worse as the film goes on to the point where the end credits are littered with them. Audio is washed out, and tape hits can affect it as well.
Also included is an interview with Pumaman himself, Walter George Alton. It's pretty lengthy, going on for about twenty-five minutes. He details how he went from being a lawyer to being an actor back to being a lawyer again. He shares a lot of stories about the making of the movie, including personal objections to the original Pumaman costume and concerns over the way flying was portrayed (he reveals that Pumaman is supposed to be "swimming through the air," hence all the flailing about), and has positive things to say about working with the cast. He does talk about Mystery Science Theater, and unfortunately he says he found the lampooning offensive though he's happy the film found a bigger audience through it.
Finally is a little featurette devoted to the Nanites, the little nanobots that inhabited the Satellite of Love during the Sci-Fi era. Kevin Murphy, Mary Jo Pehl, Patrick Brantseg, and Beez McKeever discuss the construction of the little guys and their characterization. Like the Nanites themselves, this bonus is very tiny, running less than four minutes, but we get more than enough info on them.
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