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Post by Commander Kalgan on Jan 1, 2015 16:20:27 GMT -5
...if they had gone with the idea of a "prequel" to the series? Don't get me wrong- the movie is funny, but it's only a regular episode of the show. And it's cut down so short. Maybe instead, they could have done a movie (even a TV special) where they showed Joel working at the Gizmonic Institute, getting kidnapped, and finding his way around the SOL for the first time, and discovering the parts to build the bots. Then they could show Joel and the bots getting to know each other, and maybe at the end they could show them going in to riff on their first movie? Seems to me this would be infinitely more interesting than a high budget version of a standard episode of the show. I know there are practical limitations on why that wouldn't have happened, but I can dream, can't I?
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Post by Diet Kolos on Jan 1, 2015 17:35:50 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure I remember it being said HBO/Comedy Central wanted to do something like that with them when the idea for a movie first came up (early '91, before the the third season started). But they preferred to go the big budget Hollywood route.
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Post by Commander Kalgan on Jan 1, 2015 19:02:39 GMT -5
Maybe that's asking for too much acting on the part of the crew. These guys are great at what they do, but are they actually able to act on the level it takes to make a movie? I'm seriously asking- do any of them have any acting experience? Maybe that's the reason they decided against this kind of thing...
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Post by Ford Prefect on Jan 5, 2015 10:16:39 GMT -5
...if they had gone with the idea of a "prequel" to the series? Don't get me wrong- the movie is funny, but it's only a regular episode of the show. And it's cut down so short. Maybe instead, they could have done a movie (even a TV special) where they showed Joel working at the Gizmonic Institute, getting kidnapped, and finding his way around the SOL for the first time, and discovering the parts to build the bots. Then they could show Joel and the bots getting to know each other, and maybe at the end they could show them going in to riff on their first movie? Seems to me this would be infinitely more interesting than a high budget version of a standard episode of the show. I know there are practical limitations on why that wouldn't have happened, but I can dream, can't I? The idea of a movie based on the series was being quietly peddled back during the Joel Era. When BBI was in talks with Paramount, Brandon Tartikoff and his people had an idea for an "origins" movie, in which viewers would see how Joel was first blasted into space, and movie riffing would have been downplayed. However they turned that deal down because everyone at BBI agreed that any movie should stay true to the basis of the series, and that movie riffing should remain the focus. |
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Post by Who Let Servo Drive on Jan 5, 2015 18:00:12 GMT -5
It's interesting, this lack of faith the Brains and other cast had in our affection for the backstory. I remember hearing Trace talk once about all the effort put into the host segments and about how no one really cared about them and I almost jumped out of my seat. Was he crazy? The host segments were my favorite part of the show. They created such a charming little world, not to mention the context for all the riffing. I mean, your friends making fun of a movie is awesome. Strangers who sit and make fun of a movie through the whole thing are just assholes.  |
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Jan 8, 2015 16:02:32 GMT -5
You know, I've been working on my script writing a bit this last year, and... honestly, while I was originally sad that they didn't do the prequel movie, I think that I'm finally okay with them not doing it. You want to get to the action as soon as you can, and the "action" of an MST3K plot is them riffing on the movie. If they'd had, like, a half hour special exploring Joel first getting to the SoL without a film? Sure, maybe that'd work. But if you're going to go feature length and still want to stay true to the TV show, you've gotta get to them watching the movie quickly.
You're right, though, that it's weird that The Brains seemed to care less about the lore of their world than the fans did. Though that's also something that seems to be true for lots of other science fiction shows. It's just more noticeable in MST3K due to the vastly different content to worldbuilding ratio.
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Post by Who Let Servo Drive on Jan 8, 2015 22:27:37 GMT -5
Actually, what Trace was talking about was all the effort they put into the host segments. He was saying that the viewers by and large did not care about the host segments, so it was a wasted effort. I can assure Trace that his work (and the work of the rest of the team) was NOT wasted. I completely love the host segments!
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Post by Mike Flugennock on Jan 15, 2015 19:54:32 GMT -5
Maybe that's asking for too much acting on the part of the crew. These guys are great at what they do, but are they actually able to act on the level it takes to make a movie? I'm seriously asking- do any of them have any acting experience? Maybe that's the reason they decided against this kind of thing... Well, of course pretty much all the cast had experience performing stand-up, but as I recall, Nelson was the only one who'd actually studied drama and had some acting chops. They were all really fine as sketch comedy performers, but I don't know if they were able to do any real actual acting. |
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Post by brandonakaxerxes on Apr 27, 2015 10:52:58 GMT -5
I think what would have made MST3K: The Movie far more awesome is if they bothered to riff "Plan 9 From Outer Space", and just came up with some excuse like Dr. F was too "good" to roll the movie out to them, but only pulled it out, due to desperation.
Oh yeah, and no executive meddling of course.
Kinda like how AVGN saved a review of the E.T. Atari game for his theatrical movie.
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Post by crowschmo on Apr 27, 2015 17:49:36 GMT -5
But...all the backstory is in the opening theme song.  |
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Post by kmorgan on May 6, 2015 0:14:16 GMT -5
I have to agree that whatever backstory is needed is right there in the theme song, which #$%^&*%$# Grammercy/Universal didn't think was a good idea. Basically, the best way the movie would've been better would be if they just gave BBI a reasonable budget and said, "OK, make the movie, call us when you're done." Actually, more or less the initial treatment they got on TV.
Failing that, they could've not cut so much of "This Island Earth" and left in the deleted host segments.
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Post by BoB3K on May 9, 2015 15:34:12 GMT -5
I'm glad to hear some love for the host segments. I've also always thought the show wouldn't have been nearly as good without them.
I think there could have been a middle ground between what Cmd Kal suggests and what we got. And it could easily have been just a 'special' ep and not a big movie. If you think to the Sci Fi era where they often did (were forced to) do continued stories, you could easily have just had the regular shorts for one ep be flashback eps of the capture of Joel and his first days on the SOL. You could even have some humorous reason for it in the intro sketch (like Joel getting hit on the head and then having 'life flashes before his eyes' flashbacks).
Although, I also agree that these sketches would just be extended versions of what you get in the intro song--Joel sweeping, Joel getting shot into space, Joel putting the bots together.
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Post by TV's Cowboy on May 9, 2015 20:07:08 GMT -5
short answer - no
somewhat longer answer - i'd rather they riffed on the entirety of This Island Earth
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