318-Star Force: Fugitive Alien II

Film Year:  1987 (compiled from a 1978 TV series)

Genre:  Science Fiction, Adventure
Director:  Kiyosumi Kukazawa, Minoru Kanaya
Starring:  Jou Shishido, Tatsuya Azuma, Miyuki Tanigawa, Choei Takahashi, Tsutomu Yukawa, Hiro Tateyama
MST Season:  3

The Movie

When we last saw the crew of the Bacchus 3, they had adopted the former alien warrior Star Wolf known as Ken into their crew (with only Captain Joe knowing of his past).  Now they must survive an exploding star, then destroy a diabolical weapon, and face down the leader of the Star Wolves.

There's not a lot to say about Star Force that you can't say about the first Fugitive Alien.  If you want my two cents about the series in general, one might find it in those reviews.  What can I say about Star Force that I can't about the first?  It's a bit more inane (which is saying something).  The first three quarters of the film have a reasonable plot thread that connects before it compiles the conclusive episode of the series in an out of nowhere final act.  Given that this film isn't really the way the Star Wolf series is intended to be seen I can be somewhat forgiving of it however

I love these Japanese effects shows, and I'd hate to disappoint anybody who clicks these reviews expecting me to tear them a new one.  I don't have that anger within me.  They're fun escapism, and I give this Fugitive Alien saga a pass.

The Episode

Mystery Science Theater 3000 toyed with season arcs in seasons eight and twelve, and they did a few serials that they gave up on, but as far as the heart of the show, the movies, they never did a true multi-parter.  There were plenty of sequels, but few true "tune in next time to see what happens" continuations. The closest they got was the Fugitive Alien saga, seeing how the first film ended with those feared words "To be continued...", though this might be cheating a little since Fugitive Alien is just a Japanese TV series haphazardly edited into two "films," though technically Star Force is a continuation.  This might have been a bit of a missed opportunity for a Gauntlet type of storyline for the show, where Dr. Forrester and Frank try to force Joel through a four hour Japanese epic, which could have made a delightful scenario.  But nah, MST decided to split the two movies by eight episodes.

At least the opportunity isn't as botched as it was in KTMA, when Star Force actually aired before Fugitive Alien.  That's a guaranteed way of fucking up a two-parter!

Those who know me know that I love Fugitive Alien, and it should come as no surprise that I love Star Force just as much.  Maybe more, I dunno.  One thing I do know is they hit the ground running with this episode, likely because they've already tangoed with this movie series and they know what they're dealing with.  They already know the characters and their traits, and know what areas they're vulnerable to comedy, causing them to go right for it.  However, it does occur to me that Star Force might play weaker for those who haven't seen Fugitive Alien.  The movie just jumps into itself and the whole ordeal might seem like total nonsense.  At the very least, watching the first episode will give context to the theme songs that Joel and the Bots have lovingly titled, such as "He Tried to Kill Me With a Forklift" and "I Love Ken."

The themes leak into the host segments, which provides a memorable opera of the crew singing the movie's greatest hits.  Other host segments include the Captain Joe action figure, Servo's head exploding and resulting chaos (including a bunch of overacting from Joel), and puppet flash cards.  Invention Exchange involves engorged body parts for some reason.  The Mads have big noses and Joel has a big head.

As stated above, there are certain episodes I love unconditionally.  A few of them have Japanese films at the core, mostly because I'm a bit of a weeb at times.  I love tokusatsu and Fugitive Alien is a lot of fun for me.  So is Star Force:  Fugitive Alien II which gives me a lot of laughs and those fun hokey effects that I dig.  It's enough to make Star Force one of my favorite episodes of the show, whether people understand why or not.

Classic

The DVD

Star Force:  Fugitive Alien II was featured on Shout Factory's Volume XXIV collection, with great audio and video.  The sole special feature is You Asked For It:  Sandy Frank Speaks!, which is, of course, an interview with English distributor Sandy Frank.  Sandy Frank overviews his lengthy career, mostly in television, buying and selling television shows.  He briefly talks about MST3K, calling it "cute" and "a lark," but said he "didn't think much of it."