Release Date: December 10, 2013
Episodes Featured:
Moon Zero TwoIt's been five full years since Shout Factory started their epic run of the series with the 20th Anniversary Edition box set. So naturally we need a 25th Anniversary Edition now! And to celebrate we have a bonus disc of the host changeover episodes, Mitchell and The Brain That Wouldn't Die, so this set actually has two more episodes than your average box set, and they're two good ones too! And even though they've already been released on DVD, the Rhino editions had long since been out of print, so this was a good buy.
Unfortunately the new-to-DVD episodes are all over the map. There is a great one, a really good one, an okay one, and my least favorite episode of the series. The additional episodes sway the rating of the set, but if we ignore that bonus disc, the episode selection is kind of a snoozer. Mitchell is by a good margin the best episode of the set, while The Day the Earth Froze would be if we didn't factor Mitchell in at all. The Leech Woman is a fairly solid third, while Brain That Wouldn't Die tails it by a fraction. Finishing off these episodes, Gorgo is too humdrum to be in the same league as the others while Moon Zero Two is just bad. Moon Zero Two has a fanbase calling it the best episode of its season...yeah, I can't back that. That episode just lulls me and makes me wish I were doing something else.
Average Rating (out of 4): 2.833 (2.5 without the bonus episodes)
The audio and video is mostly good, though Brain That Wouldn't Die is notably a lesser transfer than it's Rhino counterpart and Leech Woman was spotty. Highlighting the bonus features is the three-part Return to Eden Prairie documentary, which focuses on little aspects of the MST legacy that most might not be familiar with, like crew, locations, and minor characters. MST related bonus features also include The Last Flight of Joel Robinson, in which Joel Hodgson reflects on leaving the series, and Life After MST3K: Mary Jo Pehl, where Mary Jo discusses her post-MST career (this was filmed before she and Bridget (Jones) Nelson started their own series of riffs on Rifftrax, mind you). On the movie end, we have a documentary on the making of Gorgo, a discussion on Moon Zero Two by Hammer film historian Constantine Nasr, and an interview with Marilyn Neilson, who had a small part in The Brain That Wouldn't Die. Rounding out the set are MST Hour wraps for The Day the Earth Froze; theatrical trailers for Moon Zero Two, The Day the Earth Froze, The Leech Woman, and Gorgo, and finally a small cameo by Gorgo guest star and professional film critic Leonard Maltin wishing MST a happy anniversary.
The set is a little unique for box sets, as it was packaged in a tin, which wasn't unusual in itself. What was unusual was that there wasn't a cardboard box for easy display inside it, however a cardboard box was offered for free on Shout Factory's website for those who wanted it. Both the tin and the box have the same art, which is a detour from the normal stock art usually used for these sets. This art features the MST logo much smaller and in the top right corner, while the Satellite of Love is mostly centered against a starry backdrop hovering over the title Mystery Science Theater 3000: 25th Anniversary Edition. At the bottom are the theater seat silhouettes from the series. As usual for a Shout Factory box set, original art by Steve Vance is used for individual cases and accompanying mini-posters. Moon Zero Two features Crow and Tom Servo in space suits on the surface of the moon getting into a laser gun fight. The Day the Earth Froze features Servo as the hero Lemminkainen being iced over by the witch, played by Crow. The Leech Woman features Servo as a native woman about to strike explorer Crow with his deadly ring. The last case is a bit of an oddity, as it is split between three different art pieces, as this case featured three episodes spread across two discs. Gorgo's art has Servo and Crow cowering in fear from an inferno in which Gorgo is emerging from. Mitchell features Crow as the title character holding Servo, dressed as Linda Evans while a helicopter hovers behind them. The Brain That Wouldn't Die has Servo as a mad scientist looking down on the disembodied head of Crow. The only one of these that is given a mini-poster is Gorgo, which is flipped on its side since the art is of different dimension than the usual art piece seen with these releases.
Disc art is the traditional starry backdrop with the movie logo, though the menus are still delightfully creative CGI skits with stock quotes from the episodes. Moon Zero Two has Joel, Crow, and Servo work on a rocket tied to an asteroid and chase off a space racoon. The Day the Earth Froze features Crow and Servo being harassed by the witch as they try to forge a Sampo. The Leech Woman features Crow and Servo as native guards escorting Mike to be sacrificed to make a woman young again. In Gorgo, Crow and Servo run the show that is showing off Gorgo to...mostly just Mike. The Mitchell/Brain That Wouldn't Die disc breaks from the norm, which features both Mitchell and Jan in the Pan conversing between two separate comic book panels.
25th Anniversary Edition gives us four good-to-great episodes, which is the best one can ask for in an MST box set. But the problem is that two of those episodes are episodes that long-time collectors already had on DVD. If you didn't have Mitchell and The Brain That Wouldn't Die then this set was a no-brainer. The new-to-DVD episodes are much more inconsistent, even though The Day the Earth Froze and The Leech Woman are both well worth having. But one thing to keep in mind about this set is that it's six episodes for the price of a regular set, which is an excellent value. If you're starting to collect them, this might be an enticing place to start. Just don't set hopes too high that everything here is a winner.
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