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Post by gargonshepard on Oct 20, 2009 14:10:28 GMT -5
I want to start off and say I love all mst3k but my favorite is Sci Fi era primarily for the riffing. So Rifftrax seem like a no brainer. I mean I LOVE the Film Crew DVDs so again Rifftrax has to be great!
When Rifftrax put out their 10 DVDs and Deepdiscount had the whole set for $50 dollars I jumped up and down with excitement. I had just received that amount for my birthday and was about to buy MST3K box set 10.2. But this wasn't 4 movies this was ten for the same price! Now I really wished I would of went with the 10.2. This was in June and I have still yet to get through all the disk. This is some of the weakest riffing ever. I want so badly to love these disk but there are several that I didn't laugh once.
To be fair I have not watched any of the audio downloads (could they be as bad?). But these disk seem rushed and not well thought out. Please someone tell me I'm wrong tell me everything else they have done is the same brilliance I came to expect from them. It wasn't a total lost, I thought a few of the shorts were pretty good. Night Of the Living Dead is OK. Please help me.
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Post by Mod City on Oct 20, 2009 19:27:17 GMT -5
In my opinion, the audio downloads provide the best Rifftrax experience. Road House, Crossroads, Phantom Menace and many others are just fantastic. Especially if you're like me and you actually sync the audio yourself, which became part of the fun (and occasional frustration) for me and my buddies.
Their riffing is just like any other MST3K episode (and other post-MST3K projects), some episodes are just better than others. My opinion of MST3K might have been very different if I caught The Castle of Fu Manchu and The Skydivers (two of my least favorite episodes ever) before I saw Pod People and Rocketship X-M.
The shorts are great. I've only watched one disc's worth, but laughed hard throughout its presentation.
To be fair, I'm one of those who doesn't really care for The Film Crew releases as much - they're very good, but I've preferred their work as Rifftrax more.
Other than that, maybe the Rifftrax style just isn't your thing. I'd give some of the audio downloads a try, but maybe it just doesn't do it for you. No crime in that, either.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Oct 21, 2009 1:51:20 GMT -5
What can I say other than different strokes... even within MST3K none of us can agree 100% on what is or isn't funny.
I also didn't find the "Film Crew" very funny, many do.
For me Cinematic Titanic is incredible, the nexty best thing to MST - others nary find a chuckle from them when they watch.
I like Rifftrax a lot. Not eveything works, they have had some weak offerings - but when it does work I laugh every bit as much as I do when I watch MST or the Titans. Twilight, Matrix 2, Missle to the Moon w/Fred are 3 goodies - buuut, I can't guarantee they will light your fire as they did mine.
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Post by BoB3K on Oct 21, 2009 9:35:14 GMT -5
They're pretty good at tearing through summer blockbuster slog.
I'm not a kid anymore, and most of that stuff that comes out now isn't worth trudging through just for some cool special effects, but with a RiffTrax, it becomes a 2-for-1. Fun action/special effects plus mocking of crappy plot/dialoge/etc.
Some examples of movies I never bothered seeing for real, but watched with RiffTrax and would suggest:
Battlefield Earth
Fantastic Four 2
Day After Tomorrow (no Mike, but I found that just Kevin and Bill do a great job)
Also, I never got into the whole syncing thing--I'm too lazy. But then I discovered this thing called the internet, and there are ways to, shall we say, come in to possession of the movies with the RiffTrax already synced. So, what I do now is find the RiffTrax I want already synced, and then still go buy the mp3 from RiffTrax, never download them (I wonder if they notice that), and then watch my synced version. I know there' s a donate button at RiffTrax, but I like doing the actual purchase, so that their sales figures are more accurate, you know, the whole vote with your wallet thing.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Oct 21, 2009 10:02:07 GMT -5
I love Rifftrax, but there are a lot of releases I'll never end up purchasing or listening to. In my opinion, their best work is as good as MST3k, but you just have to wade through so much more material to get to it. I'll add to the recommendation for the shorts, though - there are some lesser ones, but by and large, but in general, they're the best riffing experience since the show went off the air.
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Post by gargonshepard on Oct 24, 2009 9:11:26 GMT -5
I'm going to give them one more try. Planet Of the Dinosaurs looks to good to pass up! I just finished watching Plan 9 From Outer Space and thought it was not to bad.
as far as CT I went to see them live and it was one of the best experiences I have had at a live venue. I also have Frankenstein castle of Freaks (signed by the Titans!) and enjoy that allot. I also had them sign my 20th Anniversary tin!! Yeah!
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Post by dangfish on Oct 24, 2009 15:43:28 GMT -5
I'll just add to the opinions already stated that overall the audio downloads have been better than the DVD releases. Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet: Star Trek V, X men, Glitter, Next, Grey's Anatomy, Fellowship of the Ring, and Beowulf.
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Post by winharrison on Oct 26, 2009 19:26:02 GMT -5
While I do sometimes think in my heart of hearts that Mike & co. should consider adding an additional writer to the company, perhaps someone with a female perspective - I find that when RiffTrax is good, it's perfect. I find that the library system (depending on where you live) can be a helpful way of ordering the actual movie, then syncing it to the riff. I doubt I will watch all the rifftrax on offer, as there are some movies I just don't want to see. ("The Matrix" could have great riffs, but I find that trilogy unbelievably obnoxious.) And while I would love them to take something on like "Commando Squad" or "Willow", how many people actually own those films. "Titanic" sounds promising, as the film is unbelievably pretentious.
Episodes that didn't work for me:
"Jaws" - hey they tried, but the movie is too damn good! I always end up turning the riff off and the movie up.
"The Grudge" - not much dialogue to make fun of in that movie, plus it's actually disturbing...
"Star Trek V" - didn't work for me.
"300" - way too violent and seedy a movie. The commentary was good, though. Hmm. Call it a draw.
"Troll 2" - just seemed lacking to me. Plus I'm not too keen on guest riffers. I really do like it Mike, Kevin & Bill.
Back to the positive!
"Twilight" - just wonderful.
"The Happening" - hilarious, and the movie really DID get what was coming.
"Dragon Wars" - a lot of fun.
"Eragon" - slight but fun.
"Battlefield Earth" - exactly what I wish I'd heard when I saw the original film in a theater. A completely empty theater on a Saturday night.
"The Room" - an additional writer might have helped on this one, but it works pretty well.
"Reefer Madness" & "Plan 9 From Outer Space" - solid, and easier to find on a DVD/VOD.
"Cloverfield" - violent, but the riffs made it all kind of fun.
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Post by pablum on Oct 26, 2009 20:41:28 GMT -5
After having watched several movies with Rifftrax and having collected all the Cinematic Titanic DVDs to date I believe I'm going to nearly give up on the current riffing projects and stick primarily with MST3K. I've come to the conclusion that you need a bigger workforce to produce a riffed film that is funny enough to be truly enjoyable.
I will still pick and choose random episodes from Rifftrax and CT from time to time to watch if they pique my interest (like Transformers 2 since its such a bad movie on its own), but I'm going to be doing so on a lesser basis than before.
I also can't stand Disembaudio. To me he's the Jar Jar Binks of the riffing universe.
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Post by winharrison on Oct 27, 2009 0:50:27 GMT -5
Disembaudio can be obnoxious when he gets lengthy lines, but I can see why it's there. They needed a voice that was trebly and "unnatural", so that when Disembaudio cues a line you can definitely tell it's not a riff or a line from the movie. A necessary evil?
Having said that, I REALLY could have done without Disembaudio's thoughtless extended singalong at the end of "Eragon." And his lengthy excruciating lines in "The Room" would have been better replaced by Mike reading selections from "Death Rat" to Kevin & Bill.
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Post by callipygias on Oct 27, 2009 1:54:15 GMT -5
How can anyone be really bothered by Disembaudio? He barely says anything. Other than the occasional end credits the only time he's done much is in The Room, and I love that. Other than being funny as hell it also lets me know when I can turn back to the tv, because while the Disembaudios are talking it's what's on the screen that's "excruciating."
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Post by winharrison on Oct 27, 2009 2:21:11 GMT -5
True - it's only in "The Room" that Disembaudio really sticks around. I understand why - I doubt Mike & co. felt comfortable at all describing the sex scenes. There are a whole lot of them.
I am disappointed sometimes with Rifftrax, but I am often in ecstasy. And the important thing is, I'm glad they're around. Cinematic Titanic as well. I remember the 8 year gap following the Sci-Fi years - and it wasn't fun at all. (Although Kevin did write a great book...)
So let's support this venture and steer with our comments toward the proper direction. You know, they just might be paying attention.
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Post by mrtorso on Oct 28, 2009 22:34:49 GMT -5
Dis had a lengthy rant in the 5th Element. My favorite Dis bits are when he chimes in with a riff. His surprise Riff in Crossroads was a classic.
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Post by doctorz on Oct 29, 2009 9:54:27 GMT -5
I also have become rather picky with Rifftrax. I have found, as with MST3K, if I can't enjoy the movie on some level no amount of fine riffing is going to get me to slog through the entire movie. On the plus side some movies I would never have paid to see in a theater I have enjoyed because Rifftrax did a commentary and I tried it out. As for Disembodio, I like his stuff. I really liked his extended bits for "The Room." His rendering of "Night Train to Mundo Fine" at the end of Voodoo Man is a classic in my opinion. I play it at parties to get people out of my house similar to John Waters clearing his house by playing the audio of Jim Jones exhorting his followers to drink poisoned Kool Aid.  |
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Post by Skyroniter on Oct 30, 2009 19:56:36 GMT -5
I have not been picky with Rifftrax. I've bought every one of them and have enjoyed each release. Obviously some I like more than others but they each have redeeming qualities. Plus I want to have them all. It's just the compulsive nature of my personality I suppose.
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