47
Nanite
I'm weird — which results in creativity!
Posts: 48
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Post by 47 on Sept 18, 2018 1:18:16 GMT -5
Not to pull the topic too far on a tangent, or anything, but though I do pretty much agree with you there, you can't compare it to, for example, Parts: The Clonus Horror. Compared to that, which has arguably better characterization and a tidier plot, TIE makes for smooth viewing — even considering the scenes where they assemble the Interociter. Clonus Horror would've been in my list above if it weren't for its rough production quality which rather … actually, maybe I should've done so. Eh.
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Post by zombiewhacker on Sept 19, 2018 0:22:15 GMT -5
I know I'm going to blow everyone's minds here, but I honestly don't think Bride of the Monster was that bad of a movie.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a good movie, but the original screenplay, written by Alex Gordon (not by Wood, as the Tim Burton movie had us believe) wasn't that bad. It was more your typical 1950s B movie mad scientist silliness.
Ed Wood's staging, editing, and cheap use of stock footage, on the other hand...
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Post by hippiecop on Sept 19, 2018 18:51:46 GMT -5
Don't think anyone's mentioned "Revenge Of The Creature" (unless I missed it). Think that one is my favorite one they've done. "Mole People" is very good in it's own right, although the first time I saw it was actually in the original 1997 run, so the first time I saw it without the wise-cracks, the one-liners kept creeping into my head...
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Sept 23, 2018 18:24:34 GMT -5
It almost goes without saying, but I really like This Island Earth. It's considered classic sci-fi for a reason, after all (Dr. Forrester probably cut it a bit to make it worse, at least that's my head canon.) I know they cut a bit from the movie, but I don't believe it was anything that made the movie worse, in the sense that it made the plot not make sense or have characterizations jump around without purpose, etc. The thing that I think makes This Island Earth considered a "classic" is how gorgeous it looked for a SciFi movie in 1955. Take a look at the average SciFi movie made in 1955, even limiting it to just color movies, and This Island Earth just looks tremendous. I can imagine it blowing away audiences similar to how, say, Star Wars did with its special effects. The shallow plot that didn't really lead anywhere or the weak characterizations or the dropped subplots didn't make a dent in how exhilarating a viewing experience it was for the audience then. You can watch forty years later when MST3k riffed it and not appreciate the context of someone watching it when it was brand new. At least, that's the way I read it. I do think they made the movie worse with their cut, personally; you miss out on certain moments of characters gaining knowledge which informed some of the decisions, some of which Mike and the bots even commented on (most of the notable examples I can think of come from the movie's "second act" where the scientists are at the facility and before the plot moves into space.) I forget why exactly (been about six years since I watched it uncut) but even moments like the ones that led to lines like "So they're sneaking out under cover of afternoon in the biggest car in the county?" started seeming like sensible character choices. Having said that, I do agree that even without those moments if you just compare it as a work of cinematography it's pretty gorgeous in comparison to the other films of the time.
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Post by Caedmon on Sept 25, 2018 21:51:50 GMT -5
Don't think anyone's mentioned "Revenge Of The Creature" (unless I missed it). Think that one is my favorite one they've done. "Mole People" is very good in it's own right, although the first time I saw it was actually in the original 1997 run, so the first time I saw it without the wise-cracks, the one-liners kept creeping into my head... How did I forget Revenge of the Creature? I'm a huge Universal Monster movie geek, so I agree with you on that one.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Sept 26, 2018 23:32:47 GMT -5
I agree. Kinda wish they'd done more standard Universal-style monster movies like that.
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47
Nanite
I'm weird — which results in creativity!
Posts: 48
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Post by 47 on Oct 6, 2018 11:20:01 GMT -5
Oh, and I've got a soft spot for Quest of the Delta Knights. It's not a cinematic masterpiece, but it has its charm. Yeah. That one could've been a good movie, if it wasn't such a bad movie.
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Post by continosbuckle on Oct 6, 2018 17:06:52 GMT -5
I have to admit that after watching Larry Buchanan's Creature of Destruction, I have a new appreciation for the level of competence shown in The She Creature. Buchanan released four films that were remakes of 50s films, and Creature of Destruction was a remake of The She Creature. Attack of the the Eye Creatures was a remake of Invasion of the Saucer Men, and Zontar: The Thing from Venus was a remake of It Conquered the World. If you want to see how bad the originals could have been, watch Buchanan's versions.
Anyway, it was amazing to me just how obvious The She Creature's solid narrative focus, coherence and good acting (from everyone but Lance Fuller) became once I saw Creature of Destruction. And it's not even a good movie!
Apparently the old adage needs a codicil: If you want to criticize a bad movie, make a good movie. If you want to praise a bad movie, make an even worse movie.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Oct 11, 2018 3:20:41 GMT -5
I think one of the unfortunate truths of all this is that solid effort by competent professionals can still result in a bad movie. Or if not a bad movie, a "cheesy movie" to cite the MST3K theme song. A lot of these movies are less "bad" and more "weird" in one way or another, which is probably why the mads didn't just start off with a bunch of 0-star films way back in Season K.
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Post by discomoonmusic on Oct 13, 2018 0:33:01 GMT -5
I actually have a few DVD movies of the unriffed features as well...
Alien From L.A. I actually had this one well before I got the mst3k boxed set with the movie riffed, and I watched it and it was stupid and cheesy and all that but there was a certain nostalgia to it. One it was playing on my player while I did some housecleaning and there was a calm vibe to it. So the memory of that will stay with me but also the nostalgic feel of what the California beaches were like back then. I supposed they're still the same, but that vibe as a long time ago. And I always thought Kathy Ireland was pretty so even though they have her being this weird person, I liked the way it was shot, the way they made her look and how she pulled off her character. There was something very endearing about her and the film. But yeah, it was bad film. I kept it regardless. Then I realized mst3k riffed it and so I waited till the box set came out with that one. I never saw it on the TV series when it was aired.
Squirm This one had potential but failed so miserably, however I do like the song at the end. No I don't have this on DVD and I would probably get it if it was available and right there. Otherwise can live without.
Hangar 18 This was a movie that we went to see when it was first released in theaters. And afterward, around 1985, the family owned the VHS copy of it. This is a cult classic that never really came to be, but it was loosely based on a true story. I liked it. So this would be one I'd get on DVD if I could find it.
Moon Zero Two I never saw this unriffed but I liked the sets, it brought back so many memories of the 1970s, the way things looked back then, and the silly dancing for what passed as entertainment for moon visitors. Even when watching this in this day and age, there's something fresh about the look of it. And any movie about living on the moon are some of my beloved favorites. I loved Pluto Nash (cheesy Eddie Murphy movie) because of the moon landscapes and the scenery, even if the story is bad, and I will always love so much that one moment in the film "Boss...battery...low" with the music and the view of Earth on the horizon...that is a moment! And the sci-fi thriller simply called Moon. With Sam Rockwell. One of the best films ever made imo. So Moon Zero Two, when I finally got to see the mst3k episode of it, I loved it immediately. No I don't own it unriffed.
And because I have yet to see all the MST3K episodes ever aired, I can give honorable mentions of the movies I would own as is, and that would be: The Magic Sword The Magic Voyage of Sinbad I love movies about anything medieval and anything Sinbad, but you can thank Ray Harryhausen for that. All 4 Hercules movies they featured I love Greek mythology even if it's badly done, but really for the time, these were very well produced. Outlaw (of Gor) Again the look and vibe of the film. Nicely done, I think, despite its abysmal plot.
I have been waiting to watch a lot of the episodes I'd never seen, like Hamlet and 12 to the Moon, and so on.
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Post by whenfatkillsfat on Oct 21, 2018 23:29:34 GMT -5
Kitten With A Whip
And by movie I mean “like to stare at Ann Margaret.”
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Post by continosbuckle on Oct 31, 2018 20:00:24 GMT -5
I think one of the unfortunate truths of all this is that solid effort by competent professionals can still result in a bad movie. Or if not a bad movie, a "cheesy movie" to cite the MST3K theme song. A lot of these movies are less "bad" and more "weird" in one way or another, which is probably why the mads didn't just start off with a bunch of 0-star films way back in Season K. Well, the AIP movies they did were full of competent professionals in their cast and crew. So there's a level of sustained quality in them that doesn't exist in the worst independent movies they did. The problem with those movies is that everyone who worked on them went in knowing that they were throwaway films. They weren't supposed to be anything but matinee filler. So they did their jobs and they did them reasonably well, but nobody was thinking what they were doing was significant, or their life's work. The films were just paying the bills. Compare that to, say, Coleman Francis with the themes he used in Beast of Yucca Flats. There was definitely an ambition there, but almost nobody who worked on that production knew what they were doing. Red Zone Cuba as well. The movies were junk, but you could certainly take the themes he tried to use and make a movie from them that's better than any of the AIP films if everyone was good at their job.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Oct 31, 2018 20:10:15 GMT -5
Heh. Fair point; in the former case I'd say it was professional grade movie "craft" happening, even if the film itself wasn't going to be phenomenal. And then you get folks like Coleman Francis who skimped on the craft in the name of the movie's "art". I'd almost always prefer to watch the former kind of "badness" than the latter, I think.
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