K13-SST- Death Flight

Film Year:  1977

Genre:  Disaster

Director:  David Lowell Rich

Starring:  Barbara Anderson, Bert Convy, Peter Graves, Lorne Greene, Season Hubley, Tina Louise, George Maharis, Doug McClure, Burgess Meredith, Martin Milner, Brock Peters, Robert Reed, Susan Strasberg, Misty Roe, Billy Crystal, John de Lancie, Regis Philbin

MST Season:  KTMA

The Movie

It's a TV movie that spent all of its budget on its actors, SST- Death Flight is a dream for anybody who watched a lot of TV during the 60's...or Nick at Night during the 90's.  This star studded cast mostly plays the passengers of a new model of supersonic plane that is sabotaged during its flight, while also containing a disease on board that has been accidentally set free.  Having been refused at its destination, they are forced to detour with limited fuel.

It's very clear that SST- Death Flight is mostly sold on its sizable cast, while also riding high on the success of the Airport film series by creating an airplane based thriller to be aired directly for television.  Since it's cast with seasoned professionals, we're at least given a bunch of people who will play the material to the best of their abilities.  But the majority of what takes place is people having mostly the same concerned conversation with each other over and over.  It's not a compelling script, but thankfully we're given a group of people who will try and elevate it.

Probably the most amusing thing about this movie in retrospect is that it stars Peter Graves a few years before he starred in the Airport parody classic Airplane, which has arguably lasted much longer in pop culture than Airport has, and certainly much longer than Death Flight, whose only claim to fame these days is the Mystery Science Theater episode.  I'm also watching said episode of MST during the COVID-19 pandemic, so its story about an uncontained virus does hit a little close to home at the moment.  If only Robert Reed and Burgess Meredith were here to save us.

The Episode

"Everybody form two lines!  Love Boat on the left, Fantasy Island on the right!"

Joel and the Bots are mostly starstruck during the opening of SST- Death Flight.  They can't believe all of the stars that they're seeing, and they're mostly content with just listing them off instead of telling actual jokes.  They become a bit over-eager about it after a while, as they're so in the rhythm of spotting celebrities that they misidentify Brock Peters as Barney from Mission:  Impossible.  Spoiler Alert, Brock Peters did not play Barney on Mission:  Impossible (that would be Greg Morris).  But I think they're just surprised to see this many familiar faces after so many Gamera movies, Gerry Anderson puppets, killer ants, and whatever the hell Humanoid Woman was.  They even get to see a few faces they'll see down the line, like Burgess Meredith (The Last Chase), Peter Graves (It Conquered the World, Beginning of the End, Parts:  The Clonus Horror),Robert Reed (Bloodlust!), and Doug McClure (The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core).

Once they calm their jets, they take ample opportunity to do make riffs based on previous roles of the many people we're seeing.  If you're a TV buff, this riff is ripe with references to TV history and it's one that is easily appreciated.  They're in that crude KTMA style, but there's enough fun to be had and its an enjoyable experience.  Even seeing that the film itself is a TV production adds a cozy "Sit in and watch TV with a bucket of popcorn" vibe to this episode.

Host segments are pretty light.  Dr. Forrester went to Vegas and has stories, which is a fun way to open the episode.  And Gypsy has a lady's voice for once in pre-2017 MST history.  Make-up lady Faye Burkholder plays the sexy Gypsy voice here.  This would make her the first woman to play Gypsy, beating Rebecca Hanson to the punch by nearly 30 years, but the joke of the segment is that she's Tom Servo throwing his voice.  First woman to play Tom Servo?  Joel, Crow, and Gypsy also limbo while Servo sings "Day-O," which may be copyright infringing, I'm not sure.  Also Joel experiments on the Bots to make them feel pain, and Servo wants more.

I think this is one of the more enjoyable episodes of KTMA.  The movie is relatively watchable and the pop culture riffing is a really fun underlining to it.  For those who have never seen a KTMA episode it's probably one that I'd recommend a newbie give a try.  It might not win many converts to the early days of the series, but it is a very strong example of it.

Good

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXII DVD Retrospective

Release Date:  March 24, 2015

Buy It Here!

Episodes Featured:

Radar Secret Service

San Francisco International

Hercules

Space Travelers

It's weird to think that a volume featuring my all-time favorite short, Last Clear Chance, and an episode that is so immensely chill and enjoyable as Hercules could be dogged down as much as Volume XXXII is, but for my money both San Francisco International and Space Travelers are among the most boring episodes of the series.  Even Radar Secret Service, which is coupled with Last Clear Chance, is a fairly inert movie as well.  That episode has stronger riffing to elevate it, but the movie selection in this volume is a bit of a dog.  Hercules does the heavy lifting, because it's the most lively and fun film/episode in the set, which I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that he is the strongest man who ever lived!

Average Rating:  2.25

The audio and video is pretty good on this release.  Bonus features include a making of featurette for Space Travelers called Marooned:  A Forgotten Odyssey and a career overview on producer Joseph E. Levine called Barnum of Baltimore.  MST related features include Sampo Speaks!, which is an interview with Satellite News contributor Chris Cornell, and MSTUK, which shows Trace and Frank touring in England.  Frank also contributes intros for Space Travelers and Hercules and there are also trailers for both of those films as well.

The box art is Shout's basic stock cover, featuring the MST logo in the upper right hand corner and theater seats at the bottom, while the roman numeral "XXXII" is painted in yellow in the center.  But as usual, the real artwork are the individual case covers on the inside by Steve Vance.  Radar Secret Service features Crow and Tom Servo as secret service agents in dapper outfits with guns at the ready as a radar tower looms above them.  San Francisco International features features Crow as the villainous priest holding lady Tom Servo hostage as airplanes fly above the airport behind them.  Hercules features Crow as Hercules, whipping a chain at an army in one had and holding Tom Servo as Iole in the other.  Space Travelers has Crow as an astronaut in a space capsule reaching for astronaut Tom Servo, who is adrift in space.

Disc art is also Shout's stock design, with episode logos against a starry backdrop.  The disc menus feature a bit of a change-up from Shout's norm though, as they've dropped the computer generated menus they've been commissioning since the 20th Anniversary Edition set and instead employ the same basic idea of mini-skits using audio from the episodes, but this time they are performed by miniature puppets.  It's not a drastic change and they're kinda cute.  I think the CG menus are more expressive, though these can be charming.  Radar Secret Service features Crow and Tom Servo communicating with a radar dish through conventional and unconventional means.  San Francisco International has Crow and Servo jamming out with the hippie from the film.  Hercules features the demigod harassing Crow and Servo while they're playing Connect 4.  Space Travelers has Crow and Servo as Houston control trying to communicate with Gene Hackman in space.

Like Volume 2 and Volume XXX before it, there are some aspects to this volume that help lift it up from being a skippable collection.  The best corners of it feature's the show at its most lovable, but it's a bit of a slog as a whole, which makes it low on the totem pole of MST volumes.  Last Clear Chance and Hercules are definite recommends from me though that I feel every MSTie has to watch at least once.

502-Hercules

Film Year:  1958

Genre:  Fantasy, Adventure

Director:  Pietro Francisci

Starring:  Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina, Gianna Maria Canale, Fabrizo Mioni, Arturo Dominici, Mimmo Palmara, Lidia Alfonsi, Gina Roveri

MST Season:  5

The Movie

Given that Hercules is something of an iconic mythological figure, it's funny to think he hadn't been very prominent in film until the 1950's.  The earliest film featuring Herc as a prominent character is a comedy called The Warrior's Husband from 1933, directed by The King and I's Walter Lang, which featured him as an cowardly antagonist to a group of Amazons.

Then there was a lot of nothing.

And suddenly Steve Reeves.

Hercules became a template for the musclebound hero on a fantasy quest in Italian cinema.  Sweeping tales featuring Maceste, Colossus, Samson, and many loinclothed kin would follow suit, as well as many more adventures starring Hercules himself.  This particular film features Hercules joining the quest of Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece and reclaim Jason's right to a stolen throne.

Lavish, lush, and full of energy, Hercules starts the endless Italian Hercules franchise with style.  Hercules goes on his adventures and accomplishes his amazing feats, and the movie never slows down to bore the audience.  There is always a new location and a new foe to keep the adventurers on their toes, from soldiers, to Amazons, and even dragons (who stole Godzilla's roar!).

There is no real artistic value to the movie, but the movie is primarily an entertainer first and foremost.  Hercules's primary ambition is to get children into seats and watch the oily and muscular hero wrestle the bad guys to the ground and even tear down an entire structure using only a pair of chains.  In its modest ambitions Hercules is more successful than most, and even for a non-demanding adult the movie is addictively playful.

Hercules would go on to star in many more Italian films, with Steve Reeves only reprising the role for the direct sequel, Hercules Unchained, which was featured earlier on Mystery Science Theater.  Once the box office dropped, all good things must come to an end, though Herc did pop up from time to time.  Following in Reeves' footsteps, other musclebound stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson all took a crack at the role.  There was a TV series series in the 90's that was produced by Sam Raimi and also spun off into the even more popular Xena:  Warrior Princess.  Walt Disney's animation studio took a crack at it, albeit with a loose interpretation of the mythology (but they've all been loose to one extent or another).  Hell, even the Three Stooges went up against their own version of the demigod.  But as far as pure entertainers go, Steve Reeves set a high bar that very few have been able to match

The Episode

I've always really liked this one.  First of all, this movie is wildly entertaining and it's easily the best of all the Hercules movies featured on the show.  The movie is so fun to watch that the only thing that could sink this episode is a lackluster commentary, but by season five everyone is truly firing on all cylinders and failure is not an option.  While there are probably episodes with bigger laughs out there, what Hercules has going for it is its variety.   Most Hercules movies stay stationary for good long portions, while this one is more episodic, moving from location to location.  The riffers are constantly on their feet keeping up with the film and they always have something up their sleeve for every scenario.  Probably the most fun they have with it is when the crew of the Argo bumps into a group of Amazons, who contrary to the myths of Amazons, are less noble warriors and more sexy, flirtatious nymphs basking in the attention they get from the men.  Joel and the Bots have a lot of fun with the film's sexual tension and let it ride.

The ending host segment does point out that the Amazons of the film bear little resemblance to the myths that inspire them, as Servo and Crow daydream of being waited on hand and foot by them before Joel comes in and corrects them.  This sets up a pretty wonderful cameo by Bridget Jones and Mary Jo Pehl as the "modern" Amazons, who are basically a traveling group of soccer moms.  Probably the most memorable of the remaining segments is Crow's little riff on Match Game, which is admittedly a bit odd, though anybody who has ever watched classic Match Game can appreciate the work that went into it.  Servo also comes up with new constellations and Joel tries to explain Hamilton Joe Frank and Reynolds to the Bots, both to middling laughs.  The Invention Exchange is fun, offering up the Cellular Desk and Instant Karma, which are both fun visual props.

Hercules does rely on a lot of jokes we've heard before, like Herc being a muscle-headed jerk and men wearing skirts and the like.  But there is so much confidence in this riff and the movie works so well in this format that when I'm in to mood for MST taking on Hercules I usually pop this one in.  This was nearly the last time they showed Hercules on the show, until the series was rebooted and they featured The Loves of Hercules anyway.  But if it had been Herc's final bow then it would have been a grand sendoff.  It's funny, it's engaging, and you get to see Steve Reeves slap people with chains.  I might be overrating this episode, but I've always been honest about how I feel about every episode and I'm not about to stop now.

Classic

The DVD

The might of Hercules was featured on Shout Factory's Volume XXXII box set, featuring good audio and video.  Bonus features include an introduction by Frank Conniff, who discusses the entire Hercules series and how they were suited for the show.  Following that up is Barnum of Baltimore:  The Films of Joseph E. Levine, which chronicles the career of the producer who brought the original Hercules film to the United States, as well as a host of other foreign films such as the original Godzilla, and also had a hand in the creation of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  Finally is a trailer for the film.