Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition

Director: Kevin Murphy
Actors: Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff
Studio: Shout Factory
Category: DVD

List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $39.20
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 5 reviews
Sales Rank: 1006

Format: Box Set, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 4
Running Time: 480 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 1.2

MPN: MCMDSF11072D
UPC: 826663110722
EAN: 0826663110722
ASIN: B001IO07XM

Release Date: November 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition

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Customer Reviews



2 out of 5 stars One Joel, Three Mikes, Two Stars    January 5, 2009
--Gene (Somewhere in the USA)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful

I received this as a gift from my well-meaning spouse, with whom I watched the original airings of the first few seasons. Then we moved, and didn't have cable for a few years. For us, the show began and ended with Joel. When we next tuned in, Joel was gone, Mike was there, and we stopped watching.

So we were quite disappointed to find that, for a product labeled as "20th anniversary", three quarters of the episodes were not from the period it is the 20th anniversary _of_.

Now, my spouse could have written down the titles, and checked the wikis to see what she was going to get, but didn't have the time or inclination. So she read the box, which gives NO indication of who the host of each episode was. Nor do the individual disks, *with the exception of _First Spaceship on Venus_, which specifically lists Joel*.

The bonus features and packaging are, as other reviewers have pointed out, very nice, but that's not what we were looking for.

I would like to see Shout! more clearly label these releases by host (Rhino was also guilty of "neglecting" to mention the host either prominently, or at all, on their boxes).

But that's just my opinion.

--Gene






5 out of 5 stars The best MST3K set so far    January 4, 2009
Mr. Ben (mid-michigan)
I own a number of MST3K box sets as well as the "essential collection". From my experiences with the boxsets, this is the best set so far. There are actual extras, as well as the original movie trailers, something that they have neglected in the Rhino sets, hopefully Shout Factory will continue in this vein.

The fact that these are in their own slim cases with lengthier descriptions on each case gives a little context to the episode as it pertains to MST3K (example: on the back of Laserblast it notes that it was the last Comedy Central episode.)
The bonus features are informative if a little drab, the "oral history" is predominately sit down interviews with a few shots from the show dropped in, but the KTMA footage is interesting. The extras are (as usual) really geared at hardcore fans.

But the episodes in this collection are some of the strongest work in the whole series. I prefer Mike to Joel(Joel only gets one appearence in this set), and Werewolf and Future War are my favorites of this set. But First Spaceship on Venus is very funny and Laserblast has some hilarious moments.

I don't know if a first timer is going to drop $40 on a DVD set, but if you are a "casual fan" this is a great set to start your collection with.


4 out of 5 stars "Oh Z'No!"    January 1, 2009
Andrew McCaffrey (Satellite of Love, Maryland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Introduction

As timing would have it, Shout! Factory's first release of Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVDs after obtaining the rights away from Rhino Records coincided with the twentieth anniversary of MST3k's premiere. They decided to pull out several stops for their first release (although they kept the same number -- 4 -- of actual episodes per box set as Rhino had); besides the episodes themselves, the non-Limited Edition version contains a new documentary detailing the rise and fall of MST3k and a recording of the twentieth anniversary reunion of the core cast/crew from the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con.

While extras are always welcome, it's the episodes that really matter. Here I believe Shout! Factory has done a good job. While the split between Joel and Mike hosted episodes is 3 to 1 in favor of Mike, the quality of joke telling is great and highlights MST3k at its best.


FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS

After the discovery of a message from the inhabitants of the second planet in our solar system, an international group of astronauts is sent to Venus to determine if intelligent life has evolved. In typical 1960s sci-fi movie fashion, much time is spent showing the viewer how the space program of the future works and how space travel really would seem to the astronauts. This makes the middle third of the movie extremely arduous as we are treated to long sequences of weightless (with the aid of harnesses) people and elderly scientists playing chess against robots.

I'd never seen this episode before, but I had seen the original film (although I'm not sure I was ever able to stay awake during the whole thing). I found the joking from Joel and the bots to be average at best. One factor which started to annoy me after some time was a sub-plot wherein Servo's sarcasm sequencer was set to a higher level causing him to make increasingly repetitive sarcastic remarks about the film. I found this to be a rare mis-fire from the Best Brains.


LASERBLAST

This is the story of a young man so low on the social ladder that he is actually the recipient of Eddie Deezen's bullying. However, something working in his favor is that he stumbled upon a neat piece of alien technology which attaches to his arm and allows him to fire lasers at his tormentors. On the downside, the claymation dinosaur aliens are now hunting him to retrieve their lost ray gun.

LASERBLAST was the final episode made for Comedy Central, and while the crew had hopes of the show being picked up by another channel (it eventually was) they were aware that this was potentially the last movie they would have the dubious pleasure of mocking. It seems appropriate therefore that there is a greater than average number of hilarious call-back jokes to earlier experiments. The fact that there are a fair number of recognizable faces in the cast (Eddie Deezen, Roddy McDowell, Keenan Wynn) gives the crew many additional avenues for jokes, which they duly capitalize on.


WEREWOLF

Joe "younger brother of Martin Sheen" Estevez is infected by an unknown werewolf virus. The screenplay initially makes a big deal that this is not the standard werewolf story of legend; transformations can occur between any two species. The film promptly turns into the classic cliche of actors getting fur glued to their faces and then having them howl for hours at the moon.

This film (along with FUTURE WAR) is one of the most recent films that MST3k tackled and there are several very 1990s directorial touches. It's not the worst movie ever, but it is silly, goofy and totally illogical (thus becoming an instant classic episode). The crew gets a lot of amusement over the fact that the full moon appears to last for a week, and the bad guy infects people with the werewolf virus for no reason other than that he is Evil.


FUTURE WAR

This was an episode that I hadn't watched -- despite having a VHS recording of it -- since its original broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. The reason for avoidance was my memory of the film was so dire that I simply couldn't handle another viewing. My sole memory was a scene of the Jean-Claude Van Damme looking guy kickboxing Robert Z'Dar in a warehouse of empty cardboard boxes.

So watching this episode brought me two surprises. One, the riffing from the crew was much better than I had remembered (my theory is that in the ensuing years I've become much more strengthened against bad films and am therefore now able to pay more attention to the jokes). Two, the only memory I had of the film was wrong, because that scene never occurs in quite that way I had recalled.

I had completely forgotten about the terrible special effect dinosaurs, the mini-skirted nun, and the two huge guys in the halfway house. You can really smell the 1990s odor coming off of this one, right down to its flannel. Another case where a movie pitches up softballs to the crew and they hit home run after home run.

Extras

The new documentary is an interesting look at the history of the show, although I doubt there is too much new information that devoted fans don't already know. However, I did find it informative in its telling of the program's very early days at KTMA.

The panel from the San Diego Comic-Con was hosted by Patton Oswalt (for what reason, I am not privy) and I found it to be slightly disappointing in that the moderator talks too much and the sound quality is not always great. Still, its nice to see them all together again and I really got a kick out of Frank Conniff asking whether the urban legend about Joe Don Baker wanting to beat up the writers of MST3k was actually true.


Stinger

So I would judge Shout! Factory's first release as a success. Even ignoring the extras, they've given us one solid and three great episodes. They've already announced the next release and I can't wait.


5 out of 5 stars Great Set and way cheaper then the 20th Anniversary Edition    December 17, 2008
MMAfan (USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

As a MST3K fan, i'm glad to see they are still going to continue releasing these 4 movie sets. I won't be the only one to admit that you can't get enough of this show. It IS, no doubt, one of the best shows and has one of the most loyal fan bases of any show out there. This 4-disc set features 4 GREAT episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and includes Laserblast, Werewolf, Future War, and First Spaceship on Venus. Special features include "The Oral History of MST3K" feature in three parts, 2008 Comic-Con MST3K Reunion Panel, featuring Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, and more, original film trailers, "Variations On A Theme Song"

BUY IT NOW!

Oh and just so everyone knows the next set is coming out February 3, 2009!
Episodes will be 103 - Mad Monster, 413 - Manhunt in Space, 1001 - Soultaker, 1008 - Final Justice


5 out of 5 stars Four great episodes from MST3K!    November 24, 2008
Valnastar (Deep 13, USA)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

This set is apparently the DVD-only version of the 20th Anniversary set from Shout Factory. That means that it does not include the tin case, plastic Crow figurine or episode lobby cards. It does contain four great episodes of everyone's favorite cow-town puppet show.

This set features one episode with Joel Hodgson as host and three with Mike Nelson hosting. Two episodes are from the Comedy Central years while two are from the Sci-Fi Channel shows.

211- First Spaceship on Venus
Originally called Der Schweigende Stern and made in 1960, this international cast film about the first astronauts to land on Venus is a hoot. Filled with wonderful ideas about international cooperation, yet strangely dated in its science even for when it was made, this movie's vision of the future is fun, action-filled and nearly breaks the goofy meter! The jokes are endless, non-stop and really top-notch from the MST3K crew. "What's a herring weigh? Oh, about a pound." "Everything's better in the crawler copter." Just the endless jokes about the robot in the film, Omega, will keep you laughing throughout. The host segments are just awesomely funny. When the planet has it's "brown explosion" near the end you'll be rolling with laughter and the jokes fly really fast at that point. This is a sometimes overlooked, underrated classic that is too funny to describe. I love it and never get tired of watching it no matter how many times I see it.

706- Laserblast
This 1978 feature comprises the final episode from Comedy Central and is an odd little feature that received 2.5 stars from Leonard Maltin, a fact that is the source of endless wonderful wisecracks as the credits roll. Hilarious throughout in spite of the fact that everyone working on the show knew it might be their last one ever. The host segment wrap-up with great 2001: A Space Odyssey references is terrific.

904- Werewolf
This 1996 feature with Richard Lynch is even more ridiculous than most stories based on lycanthropy. The goofy meter breaks in the first reel of this film and never gets repaired. An archaeologist gets cut by the skeleton of a werewolf and so, predictably, becomes one. The acting, bad foreign accents, and other low-budget silliness in this film are hammered mercilessly by MST3K. The host segment where Mike and the 'Bots are a girl group singing a teen tragedy song, a sort of like "Leader of the Pack" type number, is absolutely killer funny.

1004- Future War
This 1997 video feature is so bad it is beyond words. The huge headed Robert Zdar appears in his second film done on MST3K (the other was Soultaker) and his acting is just as stiff as in the other movie. The film features terrible looking rubber dinosaurs, mediocre martial arts-style action sequences, a hackneyed formulaic plot and acting so bland that calling it wooden would be a compliment! Fortunately, it has enough movement and scene changes to at least fuel a barrage of great jokes from MST3K. It's fun, but only thanks to the MST3K treatment. By itself, this film would be unwatchable.

The extra features on the DVD discs include the 3-part history of MST3K and a video of the reunion panel from Comic-Con 2008. These are very informative and entertaining, even for long-time fans. Great stuff all around.