Release Date: July 23, 2013
Featured Episodes:
Also Included:
Don't touch that dial, because another volume of Mystery Science Theater is here for our enjoyment! And enjoyment shall be had from myself, as it has not only one of my favorite episodes from the series, but also the episode that made me a fan! For my money, The Deadly Mantis is the must own episode of the set and I couldn't hit the preorder button on this one fast enough! Backing it up is the rock solid Rocket Attack U.S.A. and the mostly enjoyable Village of the Giants. The Slime People closes out the set, and it's fine but no highlight. This is also the last box set that featured a sampling of all four eras of the classic series, which is always an A+ in my book!
For those who ordered the set through Shout Factory's website received a bonus shorts disc titled the Serial Variety Pack. This disc collected the non-Commando Cody series featured on thr show, including The Phantom Creeps and Undersea Kingdom, also with the segments of General Hospital thrown in because why not? It's a pretty good pack of shorts, more consistent than Commando Cody at least. Not too diverse though.
Average Rating (out of 4): 3
For the most part, audio and video is fair. The most notable exception is unfortunately Deadly Mantis, which has some larger picture flaws and is even missing a commercial bumper at one point. The centerpiece of the set is a documentary called Chasing Rosebud: The Cinematic Life of William Alland, who was the producer on Deadly Mantis as well as a number of Universal International monster films of the 1950's. Extras also include interviews with actresses Susan (Morton) Frasier and Joy Harmon, while Mary Jo does an introduction for The Deadly Mantis. Also included is Life After MST3K: Trace Beaulieu, which chronicles Trace's career.
The box art is the standard Shout Factory art, which features the MST logo in the upper left-hand corner and the theater seats at the bottom, while the roman numerals XXVII are painted in maroon in the center against a starry backdrop. As always, the real treat are the disc cases with artwork by Steve Vance. The Slime People features the image of Crow and Tom Servo being surrounded by the titular monsters. Rocket Attack U.S.A. shows Crow and Servo looking in horror as a missile is being launched. Village of the Giants features a large Crow holding a small Servo in his hand. The Deadly Mantis has Crow and Servo looking up at the towing monster. The bonus Serial disc case is just a generic starry backdrop with posters for each serial displayed, while the theater seats sit down at the bottom. Disc art is the normal movie logos against a starry backdrop.
Moving on to the DVD menus, The Slime People features Crow and Servo entering a butcher shop ran by Slime People (and apparently humans are on the menu). Rocket Attack U.S.A. has the Crow and Servo helping a blind man into a fallout shelter, only to get locked out in the process. Village of the Giants shows Crow and Servo auditioning the dancing giants. The Deadly Mantis features Servo communicating with fighter pilots Mike and Crow as they combat the giant mantis, which is climbing the Washington Monument. The menu for the Serial Variety Pack just has the posters for each serial against a starry backdrop, leading to each collection of shorts.
It's hard for me to not recommend this set on the basis of just how great Deadly Mantis is on its own. There are some good backup episodes, but none that live up to it. While I'd consider the other episodes to be "mood episodes" more than anything, I'd guarantee at least a few laughs from picking this set up, so definitely check it out.
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