Doc Steve's Random Rifftrax Reviews

[docsteve]

They're not truly random, as I'm trying to list them in the order of release. (Since I'm not particularly interested in the order I viewed them, I couldn't imagine anyone else would be.) However, I haven't seen them all by a long shot, so bear with me.

[docsteve]

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Mike Nelson & Kevin Murphy, August 18, 2006

This was one of my more recent purchases. I was in middle school when this movie was first released. Like most moviegoers, I wasn’t in a huge hurry to ever see it again. Ironically, this sort of worked against me the first time through the riffed version, because I kept stepping on their jokes by making my own. Older, casual Trekkers may want to watch this for the second time ever unriffed first. You’ve probably forgotten how bad this film really was.

That said, I had a blast the second time through the riffed version. Think about this for a moment…what ever happened to David Warner? He went from making mainstream films like The Omen, Cross of Iron, and Age of Innocence, to niche or cult films like Time Bandits, and finally wound up here. After Star Trek VI, it’s been the like of Quest of the Delta Knights, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and voice-overs for video games. Basically, I’m trying to say that Mr. Warner couldn’t buy his way onto the Love Boat at this point.

At any rate, this is a very solid Rifftrax and fairly representative of what to expect from their treatment of the Lucas and Roddenberry franchises. In other words, if you don’t like this Rifftrax because you are a Star Trek fan, I wouldn’t expect you to care for the other Star Trek releases, for example. In case you’ve forgotten, this is the one that Shatner directed. You know, “…but why would God need a starship?”

**** (4 out of 5 stars). Unlike some of the other Star Trek and Star Wars riffs, this one doesn’t have as much “repeat” value.

[docsteve]

Crossroads

Mike Nelson, September 15, 2006

One of the great tragedies of Rifftrax is that there are literally thousands of so-called men out there that think they are too “cool” to rent, buy, or borrow Crossroads for the Rifftrax. Here’s a hint guys: you already spent that nickel long, long ago; you might as well enjoy the funniest Rifftrax to date.

I’m just old enough to have come into this with very little knowledge of Britney Spears or her music. I knew she was popular, then had a baby, shaved her head, went batpoopie crazy, and didn’t put out another album until recently. (Actually, the last album came after I saw this one, come to think of it.) I had a general impression that she wasn’t that great of a musician, etc. I am a big fan of classic rock, British Invasion, and the like. Based on what little I heard, I knew I wouldn’t like her music. I bought this Rifftrax on faith; too many people who otherwise seemed reasonable raved about it to ignore it forever.

Bottom Line: Even if you know nothing about Britney Spears, love her, or hate her, it doesn’t matter. Crossroads, is roughly in the same league as an Ed Wood joint; it’s hilarious on its own. To give you a sense of the carnage, let's put it this way. A somnolent Dan Ackroyd gives by far the best dramatic performance in this rotten little turd.

The movie builds from one ridiculous anti-climax to the next. Just for example, a "triumphant" moment is the girls' scraping up travel money by winning a karaoke contest in New Orleans. First off, this was before Katrina, so you con't blame FEMA. Second, I have lived in New Orleans and Gretna, Louisiana. To my knowledge, there has never been such a thing as a karaoke bar in that part of the state. Almost forgot: ascribed competency out the ying-yang. "They sure were great!" I guess not if you have to tell me that, Cletus.

***** (5 out of 5 stars). Again, probably the best (funniest) Rifftrax to date.

[Skyroniter]

I like the way you think. I've been extolling the virtues of Crossroads since its release.

[Captain Hygiene]

I think Crossroads is pretty much as good as the Mike solo riffs got, but I haven't rewatched it since the Mike/Kevin/Bill riffs became really frequent. I'm curious how it holds up to those, there's obviously something missing compared to the chemistry between multiple riffers.

[Trumpy's Magic Snout]

I rewatched it after one of the finest efforts Transformers and I thought it held up. I'd give both 9/10.

[docsteve]

Thanks guys.

[docsteve]

X-Men

Mike Nelson and Bill Corbett. September 22, 2006


IIRC, this was the first Rifftrax to feature Bill Corbett. Since I first saw it in August of 2008, this was sort of irrelevant to me.

In general, this Riff tends to get very high reviews, but the careful critic will note that these tend to date back to 2006. While I have no doubt that this was one of the better early Rifftrax, it hasn't aged well in my estimation. The "Magneto - Cerebro" riff gets very tiresome. It reminds me of one of those annoying SNL skits that go about three repetitions too far.

The film itself is rather leisurely paced for an action flick, so the long introduction and exposition scenes before the fight on the train provide a lot of "dead air" for riffing. While some of this is quite good, a lot of it is repetitive and predictable. I was also saddened when exact parallels to The Final Sacrifice were ignored. Didn't Rogue pull a Troy by stowing away in a beater pickup?

For the record, I read X-Men comics as a kid, but that was over twenty years ago now. I neither particularly loved nor despised the movie when I first saw it in 2000. I don't think my feelings about the X-Men (if any) have biased this review in any way. While the film was not a perfectly accurate adaption, it is probably one of the better mainstream comic book films made to date. Admittedly, I don't think that is a very high bar.

I would definitely recommend picking up this Rifftrax if you already own the movie or can borrow it from a friend. I would recommned many other titles first if you are going to have to rent or buy the film.

*** (3 out of 5 stars). So far, the Spider-Man Rifftrax have been considerably better than the X-Men series.