Post by vanhagar3000 on Jan 25, 2008 13:51:31 GMT -5
201- Rocketship X-M
MST3K starts strong in it’s second national season. Things are different. Gone is Dr. Erhardt. Tom Servo has a new voice. The Satellite of Love has ditched it’s yellow scheme for a lighter grey. Additionally the walls are adorned with various household items, from toilet seats to a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. There is also a new viewscreen to receive messages. Deep 13 has a staff change when Dr. Erhardt goes “missing.” In his place is subservient TV’s Frank (fresh from Arby’s) and Mole people named Jerry and Sylvia. (named after the producers of super marionette series like Thunderbirds and the first MST episode ever in Invaders from the Deep)
As always though, the most important thing is what happens in the theater. The feature of the week is Rocketship X-M. A well respected sci-fi drama at the time, it doesn’t hold up well by the time it got on MST, let alone today. The story follows the first scheduled trip to the moon. Things go haywire part way through and due to a calculation error, leads the rocket to Mars. The movie features your typical stock characters: the hero (the original Mike Nelson, Lloyd Bridges), the token woman (Osa Massen), the spare hunk (Hugh O’Brein), and the comic relief (Noah Beery Jr.).
This movie is considered by some to still be a great movie because it was the first adult Sci-Fi film. Of course, they’re ignoring the fact the only reason this movie went into production, was to copy (but to release first, so to make it look the opposite) the upcoming Destination Moon. The movie has proven years later to be very scientifically inaccurate and as an adult Sci-Fi that’s detrimental to the quality. Cinematically it would have been bad even in it’s day. You have all the cliched characters, like the big newspaperman press conference, stock scenes from other action movies, and still clinging to a few of the juvenile Sci-Fi motifs. The special effects are pedestrian at best. The narrative of the movie is dull and slow, despite a good start and end. The movie doesn’t hold up well today, but even in 1950 this looks rather disappointing.
The crew from the Satellite of Love tend to agree with that. They get off a good amount of barbs. Some focusing on Bridges’ later, more high profile career, mocking the conventions that the film follows, and the stock Carmel corn “asteroids” among other things. There are some parts where they slip up. It seems they didn’t know how to handle comedy characters well, something they’d figure out by the time Sid Melton appeared on Lost Continent. Some of the riffs just aren’t too good and there were some spots consistent with no decent riffs. They weren’t doing as many observational riffs to the movie, and just more of throwing out anything that could sound funny. The benefit from that, is they were saying something, as opposed to long silent periods heard in season one. The movie while dull, has it’s own entertainment value and helps the episode a bit.
Meanwhile, outside the theater we adjust to the changes. Kevin starts out here sounding deeper than usual, perhaps in an effort to mimic Josh’s deep voice. In the theater, he is noticeably quieter than usual. He was still trying to find the character, and would by the time of Catalina Caper. The new set design is brilliant and the best of all the sets used on film. It serves as the perfect backdrop to a series of good host segments featuring the group. Highlights are the salute to reporters and Joel’s “Funny or Not Funny While Floating” presentation/game. Mike makes the first of many funny appearances as Valeria (from Robot Holocaust) on the hexfield viewscreen. Ironically, much like Rocketship X-M, it doesn’t hold up well after time, given how many better appearances he made. The best segment maybe Joel’s BCG-19, in what looks to be the most expensive prop ever used on the show. Hilarious concept of trying to make the drummer a charismatic front man, likely a loose parody of the infamous 1980s keytar.
Down in Deep 13, we get a cast of three to replace Dr. Erhardt. First are the Mole People, who are non speaking characters mostly there to “control” the camera. The more important and better addition is TV’s Frank, a dim witted, cheery, and slow thinking lab assistant fresh from Arby’s (a sly inside joke, as it was Frank’s real life previous gig). Frank is mostly there for abuse to Dr. Forrester and a punchline to Joel’s jokes. He would soon evolve into one of the most endearing characters of the series.
While this is the beginning of what would turn out to be the first great era of MST3K, it was truly a beginning. They had all the ingredients here, they just were still figuring out the recipe. It still an improvement compared to season one in some respects. There are some slow spots in the theater, but it’s forgiven with a movie that is at least coherent and watchable. RXM is not the tight machine MST would become within a years time, but it has all the markings of what was to come. Still better than some average stuff from the post season three era.
***½
MST3K starts strong in it’s second national season. Things are different. Gone is Dr. Erhardt. Tom Servo has a new voice. The Satellite of Love has ditched it’s yellow scheme for a lighter grey. Additionally the walls are adorned with various household items, from toilet seats to a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. There is also a new viewscreen to receive messages. Deep 13 has a staff change when Dr. Erhardt goes “missing.” In his place is subservient TV’s Frank (fresh from Arby’s) and Mole people named Jerry and Sylvia. (named after the producers of super marionette series like Thunderbirds and the first MST episode ever in Invaders from the Deep)
As always though, the most important thing is what happens in the theater. The feature of the week is Rocketship X-M. A well respected sci-fi drama at the time, it doesn’t hold up well by the time it got on MST, let alone today. The story follows the first scheduled trip to the moon. Things go haywire part way through and due to a calculation error, leads the rocket to Mars. The movie features your typical stock characters: the hero (the original Mike Nelson, Lloyd Bridges), the token woman (Osa Massen), the spare hunk (Hugh O’Brein), and the comic relief (Noah Beery Jr.).
This movie is considered by some to still be a great movie because it was the first adult Sci-Fi film. Of course, they’re ignoring the fact the only reason this movie went into production, was to copy (but to release first, so to make it look the opposite) the upcoming Destination Moon. The movie has proven years later to be very scientifically inaccurate and as an adult Sci-Fi that’s detrimental to the quality. Cinematically it would have been bad even in it’s day. You have all the cliched characters, like the big newspaperman press conference, stock scenes from other action movies, and still clinging to a few of the juvenile Sci-Fi motifs. The special effects are pedestrian at best. The narrative of the movie is dull and slow, despite a good start and end. The movie doesn’t hold up well today, but even in 1950 this looks rather disappointing.
The crew from the Satellite of Love tend to agree with that. They get off a good amount of barbs. Some focusing on Bridges’ later, more high profile career, mocking the conventions that the film follows, and the stock Carmel corn “asteroids” among other things. There are some parts where they slip up. It seems they didn’t know how to handle comedy characters well, something they’d figure out by the time Sid Melton appeared on Lost Continent. Some of the riffs just aren’t too good and there were some spots consistent with no decent riffs. They weren’t doing as many observational riffs to the movie, and just more of throwing out anything that could sound funny. The benefit from that, is they were saying something, as opposed to long silent periods heard in season one. The movie while dull, has it’s own entertainment value and helps the episode a bit.
Meanwhile, outside the theater we adjust to the changes. Kevin starts out here sounding deeper than usual, perhaps in an effort to mimic Josh’s deep voice. In the theater, he is noticeably quieter than usual. He was still trying to find the character, and would by the time of Catalina Caper. The new set design is brilliant and the best of all the sets used on film. It serves as the perfect backdrop to a series of good host segments featuring the group. Highlights are the salute to reporters and Joel’s “Funny or Not Funny While Floating” presentation/game. Mike makes the first of many funny appearances as Valeria (from Robot Holocaust) on the hexfield viewscreen. Ironically, much like Rocketship X-M, it doesn’t hold up well after time, given how many better appearances he made. The best segment maybe Joel’s BCG-19, in what looks to be the most expensive prop ever used on the show. Hilarious concept of trying to make the drummer a charismatic front man, likely a loose parody of the infamous 1980s keytar.
Down in Deep 13, we get a cast of three to replace Dr. Erhardt. First are the Mole People, who are non speaking characters mostly there to “control” the camera. The more important and better addition is TV’s Frank, a dim witted, cheery, and slow thinking lab assistant fresh from Arby’s (a sly inside joke, as it was Frank’s real life previous gig). Frank is mostly there for abuse to Dr. Forrester and a punchline to Joel’s jokes. He would soon evolve into one of the most endearing characters of the series.
While this is the beginning of what would turn out to be the first great era of MST3K, it was truly a beginning. They had all the ingredients here, they just were still figuring out the recipe. It still an improvement compared to season one in some respects. There are some slow spots in the theater, but it’s forgiven with a movie that is at least coherent and watchable. RXM is not the tight machine MST would become within a years time, but it has all the markings of what was to come. Still better than some average stuff from the post season three era.
***½
), Mr. Atari!