Top Five: Essential MST3K Episodes
6 Aug
With the latest RiffTrax LIVE coming up on August 17th, I thought I’d get those who still haven’t embraced “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ up to speed. Here are the Top Five episodes everyone should watch:
5. Manos: The Hands of Fate (Episode 424, Short: “Hired!: Part 2″)
This is arguably the most iconic episode of “MST3K”, but I put it at #5 because it’s often a hard one to watch for newcomers to the series.
A vacationing family loses their way and decides to stop at an ominous estate inhabited by a Satanic cult. The most interesting part of the film is its back story. The movie was essentially conceived as the result of a bet between the producer/writer/star Hal Warren and screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Warren was convinced he could make a movie for a minimal amount of money. He gathered $19, 000 and a handful of stage actors and ended up with Manos: The Hands of Fate. The production was plagued by problems – the camera had to be hand-cranked and could only shoot for 32 seconds at a time, all of the dialogue had to be dubbed in post-production, and a minor subplot of a couple making out in a car is never addressed after the opening scenes. In addition, the character of Torgo (John Reynolds) was intended to be a satyr, but Reynolds accidentally wore the metal rigging for his legs backwards, giving the character the appearance of having swollen knees. The rigging was extremely painful to wear, which caused Reynolds to rely on prescription pain medication and ultimately lead to his suicide a month before the movie’s premiere.
Joel and the bots do a good job riffing on the movie, but even they seem to be befuddled by how bad it is.
Best Riff: “Every frame of this movie looks like someone’s last known photo.”
http://youtu.be/HagbeOoUxxg
4. The Final Sacrifice (Episode 910)
Troy McGreggor is on the run from the cult that killed his father. He joins forces with ex-cult member Zap Rowsdower to defeat the cult and its leader, Satoris.
Like Manos: The Hands of Fate, The Final Sacrifice was the vanity project of an amateur filmmaker. The film was made for $1500 and none of the actors were paid for their work.
Mike and the bots have a seemingly endless supply of jokes about Canada and rip the Rowsdower character to shreds. They get in some especially good jabs about “hockey hair.”
Best Riff: “Rowsdower!”
3. Mitchell (Episode 512)
Detective Mitchell (Joe Don Baker) is a rouge cop on the trail of influential men with mob ties. To the dismay of his superiors, Mitchell uses several unorthodox tactics to bring the fugitives to justice.
This episode sparked ire from Baker, who threatened the cast with physical violence. Taking the threats in stride, the “MST3K” crew continued to skewer Baker by referencing him in other episodes (particularly by comparing him to other unsavory characters) and riffing on Final Justice, another of his films. The episode itself is notable for being creator Joel Hodgson’s last (and the first to introduce Nelson as Mike Nelson).
Best Riff: “Stop, or my heart will explode!”
2. Prince of Space (Episode 816)
Originally a Japanese television show called “Planet Prince”, the show was edited and cut together to create a TV movie for release in America. The plot centers on the Prince of Space and his battle with Ambassador Dictator Phantom from the Planet Krankor.
The episode’s best jokes come from the stilted dubbing and Phantom’s odd chicken-like appearance.
Best Riff: “We like it very much.”
1. Space Mutiny (Episode 820)
The Southern Sun, home to hundreds of people, is in danger. Kalgan and his followers plan to take over the huge ship and divert it to the Corona Borealis system to meet up with his nefarious cohorts. Only Dr. Lea Jansen (daughter of the ship’s captain) and rescued renegade pilot Dave Ryder can defeat them and return The Southern Sun to its original course.
Space Mutiny was a low-budget South African sci-fi film. The space station scenes were filmed in a large warehouse (evident because several scenes include shots of windows) and there are many continuity errors, as well as “exterior” space shots lifted from the original “Battlestar Galactica” television series.
Overall, it’s one of the most consistent “MST3K” episodes. It is an excellent starting point for newcomers.
Best Riff: The litany of nicknames for Dave Ryder, including “Big McLargehuge”.
Follow Me!