Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXVII DVD Review

There are a lot of movies out there, and some of them are just awful. Those are the movies that Joel and Mike, along with their robot pals Tom Servo and Crow, are forced to watch. That’s right: forced, as part of an evil experiment by their bosses on Earth (and then later by a mad woman in a space van). And that’s what Mystery Science Theater 3000 is all about. The guys ease their own suffering – and ours – with lots and lots of jokes, taking terrible films and turning them into something completely enjoyable. Volume XXVII features four episodes never before available on DVD: The Slime People, Rocket Attack USA, Village Of The Giants and The Deadly Mantis. There are also special features on each of the four discs.

Disc 1: The Slime People

The Slime People is a Joel episode from 1989 (back when Josh Weinstein was doing the voice of Tom Servo). Besides the feature, the guys watch an episode of Radar Men From The Moon. And during a break, the gang puts Commander Cody on trial for “failure to follow a proper flight plan,” “breaking the laws of physics and gravity” and “simply bad acting.”

When the title of the feature comes up, Tom Servo says, “The Slime People – the story of Hollywood in the early days.” One of the opening credits lists two actors: Susan Hart and William Boyce, leading Crow to quip, “Hey, Boyce and Hart. I wonder if they did the music.”

In the film, Los Angeles has been evacuated due to the slime people. Pretty much everyone is gone, except for a professor and his two daughters. (I’ll take the one in the sweater.) And a pilot, Tom Gregory, who is also a news caster. They also run into Calvin Johnson. This is a particularly stupid movie, in which a wall of fog encloses the city. The Professor asks Cal if he actually saw the wall. Joel answers for him: “No, I saw them on the Dark Side Of The Moon tour.” Cal likes the sweater sister too, and he kisses her, then immediately regrets it. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done that,” he says. Crow adds, “Give me back my gum.”

Basically the whole movie is in fog. Joel says, “I can’t tell, but I bet it’s really action-packed under all this fog.” Then Crow says, “Boy, I bet that’d be scary if we could make out what it was.”

There is a Richard The Third reference. At end when slime people are dying, two of them are stumbling, and the gang shouts, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a –“

Special features

The first disc includes a new interview with Judith (Morton) Fraser (and she’s wearing a sweater in this too). About her Slime People experience, she says, “There were times they forgot the camera. There were times when they didn’t have film.” Oh boy. About seeing the film she says, “It was so painful to watch.” And: “It would have been better if we’d had a director.” Perhaps. This disc also includes the theatrical trailer.

Disc 2: Rocket Attack USA

Rocket Attack USA is also a Joel episode, this one from 1990 (with Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo). The film has narration, which the gang makes fun of. Tom Servo responds to a bit of voice over by saying, “You can’t really tell from this shot, but that’s exactly what he was thinking.” As always, I love the music references. Like this one: “R-O-C-K-E-T in the USA.”

A long boring scene in a restaurant is made hilarious by their constant quips about how the spy, our hero, is not getting any service. The spy says, “In this business, I have to do a lot of things I don’t like to do.” Tom Servo adds, “Like this scene.” Later, when one actor mumbles, they joke: “Spit it out, man. You sound like a manure salesman with a mouth full of samples.” The female actor in the movie is particularly awful. Tom Servo responds to her delivery, “Could you say that a little more woodenly?”

There’s a scene all in Russian, leading Tom Servo to say, “And just when we need the voice over, it’s nowhere to be seen.” So they add their own dialogue. This episode has a couple of great Dr. Strangelove references. But one of my personal favorite jokes is when some military guy in the movie says, “If we can’t come up with something better within a reasonable time this country is going to witness the most frightful disaster it has ever seen.” Joel quips, “You mean an actor becoming president?” Amen.

Special Feature

This disc has one special feature, “Life After MST3K: Trace Beaulieu.” This is a seven-minute interview in which Trace talks about leaving the show and moving to Los Angeles (“because that’s where I thought work might be”). The most surprising information in this interview is that he had an audition for Jar Jar Binks. He talks about Freaks And Geeks and his moment on West Wing, as well as various other projects, including a book, a comic book and Cinematic Titanic.

Disc 3: Village Of The Giants

Village Of The Giants is a Mike Nelson episode from 1994. Toni Basil is listed toward the end of the cast in the opening credits, leading Crow to say, “And just a hint of Toni Basil.” (She did the choreography too, of course.) This movie was produced by Joseph E. Levine, the man who brought us The Producers. And it stars Beau Bridges and Ronny Howard, with an appearance by the Beau Brummels. This movie should be much better than it is. But of course the gang on the Satellite of Love improves it tremendously by ripping on it.

The movie begins with the scene of an accident, leading Mike Nelson to quip, “Senator Kennedy, you all right?” Then they see girls in the car, and Crow says, “Oh, this is where Thelma and Louise landed.” Three couples climb out of the car and dance. The scene goes on a long time. Mike jokes, “Beau still has nightmares about making this film.” Meanwhile, Nancy and Tommy are kissing on a couch, and Ronny Howard, Nancy’s younger brother, is experimenting with chemicals. There is an explosion, and Nancy rushes in to see Ron Howard’s glasses covered with red goo, leading Crow to joke, “I blinded me with science.” There are lots of music references in this episode (as in most episodes). In addition to the Thomas Dolby reference, there are references to The Doors, The Beatles, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, The Crickets, The Who and James Brown. Anyway, eating the red goo causes animals to become giants.

The kick drum at the club announces the band as The Beau Brummels. The gang jokes, “The Beau Bridges Brummels” and “The Beau Brummels Bridges Of Madison County.” And there is more dancing, leading Crow to wonder, “Hey, isn’t there a movie in here somewhere?” There’s an Asian extra dancing, so Tom Servo jokes, “Hey, isn’t that the Asian performance artist that broke up the Beau Brummels?” Soon, giant ducks are suddenly dancing at the club. When one teenager starts singing, they joke, “This part is very true to the H.G. Wells book.”

Well, some stupid teenagers, on a sort of dare, eat the goo and grow. And then dance again. When they shrink back to normal size at the end, Tom Servo points out, “But think of their bladders. They’d really have to go to the bathroom when they shrink, you know?” Crow adds, “Yeah, they should have exploded.”

Special Features

This disc includes an interview with actor Joy Harmon, who talks about getting her start, and about being a giant in the movie. She now does craft service. This disc also includes the film’s trailer.

Disc 4: The Deadly Mantis

The Deadly Mantis is a Mike Nelson episode from 1997. This is a late one, with Pearl and the apes. There are lots of shots of maps, and narration about radar at the beginning of the film, leading Tom Servo to shout impatiently, “So how does the bug fit in?” A female scientist talks about some piece she’s putting together for a magazine, “Showing the progression of prehistoric creatures from the jelly fish to the dinosaur to primitive man.” The guys joke, “It’s a very simple three-step evolution.” One of the scientists is really old and looks confused, and the gang has a great time making up dialogue for him – “Who are you men, and where’s my soup?” and “Who’s going to drive me home?” When the scientists are trying to figure out what insect it could be, one of them says, “I’ve narrowed the field to one.” The gang jokes, “Should we narrow it further?”

There are lots of music references, including Talking Heads, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Billy Joel and Steppenwolf. But perhaps the best is a reference to a Kenny Loggins song. The guys sing, “Highway to the cheap stock footage.” And remember: “You don’t need to salute the paleontologist.”

Special Features

This disc has few special features, including an introduction by Mary Jo Pehl, in which she talks about what she loves about the film. (This is approximately four and a half minutes.) The main special feature is Chasing Rosebud: The Cinematic Life Of William Alland, a twelve-minute documentary about William Alland, who was part of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre and was the reporter in Citizen Kane. This documentary also mentions the use of stock footage. This disc also includes the film’s theatrical trailer.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXVII is scheduled to be released on July 23, 2013 through Shout! Factory.