MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 COLLECTION, VOL. 5

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 5

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Format: Colour, Box set

Number of discs: 4

Movie: * * * ½
Discs: * * ½

Volume 5 of the now defunct cult TV show that someone once tagged as “pathetic” because it’s for people who don’t have any friends (the net effect of the show is like sitting in a cinema behind some people making wisecracks right throughout the entire movie).

That may be true – after all, the show does spare one bother of getting some friends over to make fun of a bad video - but to be honest my friends aren’t as funny as Mike and his ‘bots (the guys making the wisecracks here).

If you haven’t seen any of the show’s episodes, then this volume of four episodes culled from the show's later years circa late 1990s on the Sci-Fi Channel is as good a place as any other to begin (Volume 4 is also highly recommended) . Some long-time fans have expressed disappointment that the DVD box set doesn’t focus on the earlier shows from the Comedy Channel years featuring Joel Hodgson instead of Mike Nelson.

Apparently some of the episodes in this collection can still be caught on the Sci-Fi Channel in the States, but for the rest of us any MST3K (as the show is know to its fans) is always welcome since the European version of the Sci-Fi Channel no longer carries the show.

Anyway, the movies being lampooned here are:

BOGGY CREEK II: THE LEGEND CONTINUES – Atrociously bad nepotistic movie (it stars the director’s family!) which makes for a funnier episode than a lot of MST3K on Amazon.com makes it out to be.

MERLIN'S MYSTICAL SHOP OF WONDERS - One of the funnier episodes. Two horror short stories being dressed up as family entertainment. Whatever you were expecting from that title, this movie isn’t it!

THE TOUCH OF SATAN – This bad 1970s “horror” film with its long drawn-out Painteresque pauses in dialogue drove me up the wall.

TIME CHASERS – Bad early 1990s movie about a time traveling Cessna and the most mundane cast imaginable (“the adventures of the average people,” is one of the quips made).

THE DISCS: Extras on the discs include an interview with show host Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy who were involved right from the show’s very start. Interesting for long-time MST3K fans. (By the way Mike Nelson mentions THE GIRL IN GOLDEN BOOTS as one of his favorite episodes.) An original trailer for THE TOUCH OF SATAN. No original versions of the movies as was the case with Volume 1 though.

WORTH IT? Yes.

RECOMMENDATION: Newbies can start here or with Volume 4 or better still, Mystery Science Theater 3000 – the Movie (which is unfortunately very expensive to come by). States-side fans who regularly see these episodes on TV might want to skip it though. So when are they going to bring out PRINCE OF SPACE, one of my favorite episodes on DVD then? (No, I don’t have it on video either.)