Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 DVD and Blu-Ray Retrospective


Release Date:  April 17, 2018 (around November, 2017 for Kickstarter backers)

Buy the DVD Edition Here!

Also included:
Bring Back MST3K Kickstarter Bumpers (Collector's Edition only)
2015 Turkey Day Bumpers (Collector's Edition only)
2016 Turkey Day Bumpers (Collector's Edition only)

During my many, many years as a fan a lot of us lamented "Wouldn't it be nice to have seasonal DVD sets, like every other TV show?"  I've also seen a few disgruntled fans blame Rhino and Shout Factory for this, seemingly unaware how complicated rights issues were and releasing an entire season of the series at the same time would have been both expensive and damn near impossible.  Shout Factory eventually did complete entire seasons, episodes separated of course, when they completed the entirety of the first season with Volume XXX.  Impressively Shout also completed seasons five, six, seven, and ten (there is a chance season nine could be completed once further rights issues clear up, but we'll just have to keep an eye on that for now).

Could they do full seasons of those now?  Considering episodes are already dropping from Shout's licensing (including tenth season episodes Soultaker and Squirm), I wouldn't bet on that.  It would be nice, but you'd be better off constructing your own DVD sets from the discs that have been released.

But due to more foresight with negotiation tactics, Shout Factory can finally offer an entire season in one collection.  It's of the relaunch era, so if you're purely a classic MSTie then you'll have no interest in this set, but we've finally achieved the dream.  I'll save my opinions of the episodes and season itself, just check my retrospective out here.  But if you want a box set with the most episodes, Season 11 is the one to get, with a grand total of fourteen episodes (three and a half times the average).

Average Rating (out of 4):  2.714

Audio and video are fantastic across the board, since the series was filmed in HD and didn't rot in a storage shed for twenty years or wherever they kept the old show (maybe they kept it in a broken down refrigerator on the side of the road, I don't know).  Obviously, for videophiles, the blu-ray is going to be the better option, with crisper picture and more popping colors.  Those who just barely graduated from VHS to the next level will likely just buy the DVD set and say "good enough" (and those who haven't made it that far will want to seek out the Kickstarter Reptilicus VHS).

Now, whether you collect the series on DVD or blu-ray, it's important to note that there are two separate editions of this season on each format.  The first is the standard edition released in stores, while the second was called the #WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Edition which was offered as a Kickstarter reward during the season's crowdfunding campaign in 2015.  Backers who pledged above $200 (or did an $80 add on reward outside of Kickstarter) were able to have this edition of the box set mailed to them about six months earlier than the retail release.  As far as the episodes themselves, the two sets are identical, and each disc holds two episodes instead of one, which was the old norm (save for the Mitchell/Brain that Wouldn't Die double feature on the 25th Anniversary Edition).  However, both sets had a bonus disc that housed a ninety minute documentary on the making of the new season, but the Collector's Edition also had exclusive bonus features that were also featured on this disc.

The key difference between the two sets is that while each contains a bonus disc, on the basic set of Season 11 the only thing it contains is the documentary A New Test Case.  This seventy minute doc briefly discusses the history of the show before diving into the Kickstarter that helped launch the new MST and the production of the new series.  It's a pretty excellent deep dive into the production of the revival.  But what does the basic retail version not have?  Well, to kick it off, it has a special thank you intro by Joel Hodgson, who thanks all the backers and congratulates all the backers who chose hard copy physical media in case Netflix eventually goes down (though Netflix soon "corrects" his stance on this).  In addition to this is a ton of concept art and set photos for behind the scenes enthusiasts.  After that is a four minute blooper reel, which isn't as gargantuan as the Poopie! tapes, but gets some solid laughs (Felicia and Patton are fantastic).  We then get some archival stuff from the Kickstarter, including the bumper videos that Joel made to sell the concept of a revival, the 2015 Turkey Day segments, a Funny or Die sketch featuring Servo and Crow, and highlights from the concluding telethon, which has been edited from a gargantuan four hour plus runtime to only a half hour, though a lot of the core stuff remains and a lot of the filler and technical difficulties are left out.  There is one last section devoted to post-Kickstarter highlights, headlined by Joel and Jonah's appearance at the 2016 Rifftrax Live MST3K Reunion show where they riff on a short about barbers called "Americans at Work" (this, to my knowledge, is the only time all three MST hosts have shared a stage together).  Unfortunately, the concluding free-for-all riffs that Joel and Jonah participated in are not included (you'll have to purchase the entire show from Rifftrax's website to see those...oh DARN! Lol).  Also included are a Comic-Con panel in 2016 where Joel shows off concept art, a promotional Q&A at Camp Corwin, the 2016 Turkey Day bumpers, and Q&As from Reptilicus screenings,

I would like to point out there are no specific featurettes devoted to the movies themselves, which is disappointing as the movies are a very important aspect of the show and there are undoubtedly discussion topics that can be said about them.  That being said, a number of these films have blu-ray discs out there with special features, and Shout even offers a pretty loaded unriffed edition of Starcrash, so that might be worth picking up.

Let's switch discussion to box art.  The basic package is probably the one most are familiar with, which has a promotional photo of the entire cast against a starry backdrop, with the MST3K logo in the upper left corner, and an orange bar in the upper right that says "Season 11."  The #WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Edition uses a far more radical design illustrated by Steve Vance for a slip box, which sees Crow as a mad scientist and Servo as his hunchbacked assistant bringing a sort of Frankenstein Monster to life, which is presumably Jonah, who is covered with a sheet but we can see his glasses.  At the top of the cover are the words "It Moves!  It Breathes!  It Riffs!  Mystery Science Theater 3000 Lives Again!"  At the bottom, it designates it the #WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Edition and in an orange bar at the bottom it specifies "Season 11."  For the record, this art is also the same art as the Steve Vance illustrated poster that was offered in the Kickstarter.  The interior art for the disc case is the same as the artwork for the basic edition, only with the words "#WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Edition" on it.  On the inside of the case for the Collector's Edition is a booklet, that has some cool art as the exterior featuring the new moon MST logo connected to the Satellite of Love through the Umbilicus, hovering over a landscape.  Throughout the landscape and the sky are familiar MST characters such as Godzilla, Santa Claus, Ro-Man, even new MST highlights like Reptilicus and Yongary, and many others.  It's worth looking through this art to see how many episode references you can spot.  Inside the booklet is a letter from Joel that thanks the backers, episode summaries, and a list of Kickstarter backers with some concept art spread throughout.  My name is on page 11!  Cool!  On the back of both sets are logos for each movie.

Now, for the disc art, I can only speak to what I have in front of me.  If the basic edition has different disc art, I haven't seen it.  The art on this set each has a very basic design, with a grey surface that looks to be emulating a coarse metal, though the color isn't metallic.  Episode movie logos are found on each disc on the top and bottom, while on the right side we see the MST logo and the words #WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Edition.  If I were to make an assumption about the basic set, I'd say it were exactly the same, except without the Collector's Edition designation.

Disc menus are interesting, as each is that of the bridge of the Satellite of Love, and each has a drawing of Crow and Servo by Steve Vance featured, which may mean he was commissioned to make posters for these episodes but they're not featured, or just the Crow and Servo models.  Whatever the case, the menus are interestingly different from the norm, though they're a bit samey.  Reptilicus/Cry Wilderness features Crow as an army general with Reptilicus behind him, while Servo is dressed as Bigfoot.  The Time Travelers/Avalanche features Crow dressed up in the future duds with Servo dressed like Rock Hudson, as future cave men try to break through the doorway and soon become covered in snow.  The Beast of Hollow Mountain/Starcrash has Crow dressed up as a cowboy with a pet dinosaur while Servo is dressed up like Emperor Christopher Plummer, and they dance to the Wild Rebels song.  The Land That Time Forgot/The Loves of Hercules features Crow dressed as Doug McClure ducking away from a pterodactyl and Servo all dolled up like Jayne Mansfield.  Yongary, Monster from the Deep/Wizards of the Lost Kingdom features Crow as one of our main Korean astronauts as Servo plays Bo Svenson's character fending off Yongary with a sword.  Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II/Carnival Magic has Crow dressed as a portly wizard and Servo dressed as a portly redneck, while Alexander the chimp drives a truck behind them.  The Christmas That Almost Wasn't/At the Earth's Core features Crow as Santa and Servo as Doug McClure in underground warrior garb, while the doors open to reveal a giant drill.  The bonus disc is just the SOL bridge.

There are several ways to break this down.  Do you want the most episodes in a single purchase?  This is the set to buy.  Do you want great looking transfers of the episodes that look pristine on your HD TV?  This is the set to buy.  Do you want the most quality episode balance?  Probably look somewhere else.  Do you prefer original MST to new MST?  Definitely look somewhere else.  Are you willing to give new MST a shot?  Check these episodes out.  Unfortunately the retail set has less bonus features than the Kickstarter exclusive, but very few of those features are things you can't find anywhere else.  As far as the first "seasonal box set" of the show on home media is concerned, there is very little wrong here except those minor nitpicks of bonus features.  Here's hoping it's the start of more seasonal sets in the future, be them of new or old.
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