MST3K was so wrong - This Island Earth (1955) Discussion

[–] jsmuli2 19 years ago

Psh, yeah sure this film was a classic, but come on dude, the jokes from MST3K was friggen hilarious, definately one of the top 5 of just about every fan.

did u even see the MST3K version of it? If not, then be sure to do so with an open mind before making ur argument.

...We fight because we must...

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[–] Chris Beilby 19 years ago

Agreed. Also, I think one of the reasons that the MST3K crew chose it for the theatrical film was BECAUSE it was considered a classic (which it is.)

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[–] I_kennelly 19 years ago

MST3K chose This Island Earth because they wanted a more accessable movie for their big screen debut. Often times the movies that they riff on are so bad, their hilarious jokes arent enough to save them--those who arent hard core Msties have trouble sitting through.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] imdb-5072 18 years ago

If you have to ask this question, you have not seen "Manos" Hands of Fate.

The general public could not handle the Manos. MST3K was wise to choose a movie that the uninitiated could handle.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] doggans 18 years ago

To be fair, at the end of the MST3K movie, Mike and the bots say they liked it. Only Dr. Forrester ever indicates that the movie may be bad.

Riffing on a movie does not necessarily mean "mocking" or degrading it. Mike Nelson released a RiffTrax of Fellowship of the Ring, and it's one of his all-time favourite movies.

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[–] Plear 18 years ago

Out of all the movies on MST3K, this one seemed the easiest to watch w/o MST3K I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10

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[–] dutchey11 18 years ago

i liked the mst3k riffing better than the original, just cause i'm like that, i'd rather laugh than be serious in a movie, but the 1 riffed movie mst3k did that i think i could handle was the hercules one, i think it was hercules unchained, the one with the sorcerres lady that turned u 2 stone...

Murph:Were good!
Connor:Yes we are!
-Boondock Saints

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[–] scotbpens 16 years ago

Riffing on a movie does not necessarily mean "mocking" or degrading it

Exactly. We all occasionally talk back to the screen, letting a zinger or two fly even when watching a good film. One of my all-time favorites is The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but I'm not above a few wisecracks in certain scenes.

"You smell of gasoline."

"I fix cars for a living. What do you expect me to smell like? Just be glad I'm not a fisherman -- or a sewer worker!"

"Elise died last night."

"My God -- what a shock! She looked so healthy!"

[/i]All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?[/i]

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[–] Scoresby099 15 years ago

I only have this to say on "This Island Earth"

Increase the Flash Gordon noise and put more science stuff around!

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[–] ghost1807 14 years ago

I agree with you there. Just because it's a good movie doesn't mean you can't get in a few good jabs at it. My friends and I will sit around watching plenty of good movies and still find plenty of ways to make fun of them. It's not always about how bad the movie is, it's about having fun doing it

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[–] intelligiser 18 years ago

Oh man, I'm just thinking what the general public would've thought if the movie had been The Beast Of Yucca Flats or something. Man.

I also remember reading somewhere (probably the IMDB trivia for the MST3K movie) that since the film was aimed at a large audience at once (a theatre) rather than one or two people watching the TV, they had less jokes/riffs in it, or spaced them out more, so that the laughs wouldn't drown out other riffs.
If that's true, they would've wanted to pick a movie that doesn't suck balls, so that in the relatively large amount of time between riffs, the audience doesn't get so bored they leave.

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[–] HorrorweenComposerTony 17 years ago

This Island Earth was a good and famous representative of the genre of sci fi films and had a lot of depth. The MST3K bunch chose wisely with a movie that they could do wonders with and the audience would enjoy.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ivyandstone 17 years ago

"If it wasn't for the MST3K-DVD that I found by accident, browsing for some other film, I'd never have watched This Island Earth. I didn't know it existed."

Me either, although I think I have seen pictures of that Mutant before. After I watched the MST3K version, I bought the movie itself off of Amazon (the book too, though I'm saving it for later.) Now I like both the real movie AND Mike, Servo, and Crow's version, with the real movie being my favorite. MST3K cut a *lot* out, good stuff, too. I can't be mad at them for making it the backdrop for their own movie, though, since if I hadn't seen it then I never would have found "This Island Earth". Now I'm going to poke around and see what else I can grab up that Rex Reason and Jeffrey Morrow were in.

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[–] dawgpoundjohn 17 years ago

I didn't like the idea of MST3K "doing" the rehashed version of "Marooned" by some fly-by-night production company who called it "Space Travellers." I saw the original movie with my father in the theater in 1970. While walking out to the car afterwards, I asked Dad, "Could that really happen?" His reply was, "It could." A few months later, the Apollo 13 accident occured!!!

Granted, those two things weren't exactly the same, but they still had some things in common.

However, I really enjoyed what Joel and the 'Bots did with the movie. For instance, who can't enjoy Crow's imitation of Gregory Peck and then morphing into a scotch-induced version of David Janssen?

"They're wearing jockstraps on their heads!!!"

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[–] MikeAnsaraFan 17 years ago

This Island Earth is one of my all time favourites and wasnt going to watch MST3K.

However I stuck with it. Most of it was only mildly funny, however the line which really made me laugh was the arrival of the postman with the interociter book and the line was "Aah, the script's arrived".

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[–] Hancock_the_Superb 17 years ago

I disagree. As has already been said, they picked it because it wasn't as terrible as Manos and the other s*** they made fun. So you have a reasonably good movie with enough cheese to make a prime riffing target.

I liked the movie even watching it through MST3K. I could probably enjoy it on its own merits. The special effects are cool and I really like Jeff Morrow as Exeter. I give it a 6/10.

There may be honor among thieves, but there's NONE in politicians!

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Dejael 16 years ago

At first I didn't like THIS ISLAND EARTH being made fun of at all, since this was one of my all-time favorite movies of the 1950s.
The producers at Gramercy Pictures who made MST3K - The Movie in 1996, wanted a 1950s movie that was in color, not black & white, so they would have better success at the box office with their takeoff on it. They should have chosen
QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (AA,1958) or WORLD WITHOUT END (Fox,1956) instead, because these two pictures were the only ridiculous sci-fi B-movies made in color the 1950s.
However, in retrospect, I enjoyed seeing it to see what the gang would do with it and where they would go with their gags.
My friend Rex Reason was not impressed, and was very upset about this, and sued Universal Studios over it, and won a nice cash settlement out of it.
To him it was like defamation of character, and using his image and likeness without his permission or consent. I agreed with him when this movie came out in 1996.

Dejael