Besides obviously making money?
I mean MST3K the Movie was no different than the TV show. It was just like watching an average episode of MST3K, which is fine, it's OK, but...why didn't they try to do something different with the Movie?
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I remember being disappointed when I first saw this years ago and I just watched it again and I'm left with the same feeling. I don't really see what the point was?
The MST3K live shows were pretty successful, so the cast and crew felt that a big screen theatrical movie could be a good idea. They figured MST3K's brand of comedy was more infectious with large crowds, making it perfect for theaters.
If it makes you feel any better, the final product is apparently nothing at all like Best Brains originally intended. Kevin Murphy I remember talked about how it was supposed to show them I think at conventions and he even mentioned something about a cameo by Kim Cattrall. They discuss the making of it on the retrospective documentary on the Blu-Ray.
Gramercy kept cutting their budget to fund BARB WIRE (1996), and not only that but major cuts were demanded. Some of these deleted scenes are also on the Blu-Ray, like when the bots have to turn the oxygen back on before Mike suffocates. Over 20 minutes of THIS ISLAND EARTH was cut, though some of the cut footage honestly wasn't that necessary anyway. A lot of jokes were changed because Gramercy feared major audiences wouldn't get them. And to twist the knife deeper, Universal really had no idea who to market it towards, and only released the film to certain cities. I assume they also cut back on the promotion because apparently a lot of fans didn't even know it was released.
Despite all the crap they went through, and the film being really nothing special over the series, I still enjoy it.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/
I don't see how fans could have not known it was released, I remember when it came out ads for it were on TV constantly, especially on whatever channel it was that showed the TV show then, that's what made me want to see it. I can't recall if I saw it in the theater or not though.
It's not bad, but like I said it just seems like a mediocre episode of the show.
I don't see how fans could have not known it was released, I remember when it came out ads for it were on TV constantly, especially on whatever channel it was that showed the TV show then, that's what made me want to see it.
I recall having to travel to a small arthouse theater to see it. And I remember leaving, thinking that was cute.
And as for the whole movie thing, that was entirely Mallon's goal for the show from the beginning. He had aspirations of taking the program from its humble roots to the big leagues. Joel had no desire for such; he felt that Mallon was taking undue command of the show. The tension between the two over this very issue is now the stuff of legend. Suffice it to say, it is the reason that Joel left the show. Frank and Trace bailed over Mallon's actions later.
The movie served no purpose. It didn't garner the show a larger audience. It didn't spawn sequels. It didn't make Mallon the Hollywood player he dreamed of. And it didn't endear him with the remaining cast and crew. In fact, the experience of making a major studio production at his insistence infuriated them beyond belief. The later show storyline involving the ill-fated greenlighting of Crow's Earth Vs. Soup script satirizes their dealings with and impressions of corporate film-making. When asked what was the worst film the show ever did, Trace once said, "MST3k: the Movie".
Let's see who takes the bait.
One thing they wanted to do was riff on an actual GOOD film. This Island Earth is considered one of the classic sci-fi films from the 1950s.
Sure, it's cheesy by today's standards, but it isn't anywhere near the level of "bad film" that MST3K usually riffs on.
Actually, they never wanted to riff on it. The reason TIE was chosen was because Universal felt that there was no way that a mainstream audience would be able to handle something truly terrible like Manos: The Hands of Fate or Hobgoblins.
http://houstonrambler.blogspot.com/
Actually, they never wanted to riff on it. The reason TIE was chosen was because Universal felt that there was no way that a mainstream audience would be able to handle something truly terrible like Manos: The Hands of Fate or Hobgoblins.
Oh.
http://houstonrambler.blogspot.com/
But really, any film can be riffed! I think even tho TIE wasn't a typical "bad" movie, it still worked for this film.
Look at RiffTrax now and how they are riffing tons of mainstream and big budget movies with lots of laughs.
As to the OP original question -- should people not take chances in life or try out ideas? Should they play close to the vest all the time? Just for that, We are sending a mutant your way to fight you --- but we aren't saying when!!!
"what's this? A doorknob? Good show!" -- the easily impressed Dr. Bartley
> As far as I know MST3K had riffed THIS ISLAND EARTH before during live shows, which is probably one of the reasons it was chosen.
Hmm, that totally contradicts what the MST crew said years after the fact in interviews, which was that part of the movie deal with Universal was they were forced to pick a movie from the Universal vaults, so they ended up settling on TIE; they claimed it never would have occurred to them to riff on it otherwise.
Edit: I just re-watched the making-of retrospective on the blu-ray. And you're absolutely correct, they actually did riff on TIE live before the movie came out.
~But~
It was because after going through Universal's vaults they had chosen TIE to be their target in The Movie, but the suits at Universal didn't think TIE was a good fit. So, Mike & co. invited them to come watch it being riffed on to a live audience thinking that was the best/fastest way to change their minds. And it worked.
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