Rating: 
Summary: We've got movie sign...and giant grasshoppers!!!!
Review: One of my favorite MST3Ks: a great example of the mid 1950s "atomic monster" genre, with laughable special effects. Giant mutant grasshoppers attack the mountains and deserts of central "Illinois," before moving on to destroy Chicago by crawling up picture postcards of the Wrigley Building and being lured into Lake Michigan by electronic grasshopper mating calls made by a young Peter Graves ("Hi, I'm Peter Graves. Tonight on 'Biography'..."), ironically the nuclear scientist responsible for the whole giant-mutation thing, not to mention his deaf-mute assistant Frank's gruesome dismemberment and death at the chomping mandibles of one seriously big mother of a locust. America's finest fighting force (the Illinois National Guard) is powerless against this giant hopping threat. Another 1957 monster classic from infamous science fiction filmmaker Bert I. Gordon, the undisputed master of movies about giant animals attacking California cities masquerading as the midwest. Don't miss the riveting post-opening credits scene: an apparently endless car-approaching sequence (Mike: "Folks, we'll start the movie as soon as our ride gets here."), and the incessant, earsplitting, marching-band music soundtrack. An early Mike Nelson episode, it's a great example of classic MST3K: bad sci-fi flick, hilarious riffing on the film by Mike and the bots, including a *seriously* weird host segment where rubber grasshoppers attack postcards Mike just happens to have lying around. I actually saw this one week before I moved to Chicago, which is all-but-destroyed in the movie, and it seriously creeped me out for a while, though I've never been able to drive by Champaign-Urbana without looking over my shoulder for giant grasshoppers.
Rating: 
Summary: My little nit to pick...
Review: I think there's already enough reviews on this complaining about the lack of DVD features, the quality, and the awfulness of the movie (that's the POINT, people!!!). But I LOVED IT! It was hilarious! Except...my roommate and I were disappointed that there was no making out at the end...only the beginning, which was COMPLETELY irrelevent to the rest of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: good, quintessential mst3k
Review: As a pretty well-versed fan, i tend to get more easily bored by the typical mst3k-type movies. you know what i mean: black and white, 50s, mutants/radiation/radar-something-or-other. i prefer the more unusual movies like manos or skydivers or catalina caper even! but for what it is, the beginning of the end is a funny episode featuring one truly genius skit: "peter graves at the university of minnesota." if you're new to mst3k and want to experience the show in it's purest form, this is it. a bad sci fi movie augmented by classic riffing and funny skits. if you're already experienced in the realm of mst3k, try something else first, but of course buy this to add to your collection!
Rating:
Summary: A fine episode of MST3K...next time on "Biography."
Review: "I'm Peter Graves. This week on Biography, the story of how I defeated a horde of radioactive mutant grasshoppers who invaded Chicago." "The Beginning of the End" (episode #517) is a typical episode from the Mike Nelson years of the classic TV show "Mystery Science Theater 3000": in other words, it's hysterical, satiric, and pop-culturally sharp from beginning to end (even when the End is just Beginning!). The movie itself isn't horrendously awful -- certainly not on the level of some other flicks screened on the program, like "Eegah!" and "Manos: The Hands of Fate." But it is the perfect kind of stuffy, quickly slapped together "B" Atomic horror movie of the 50s that people associate so closely with the show. And at this point Mike and the 'Bots were firing on all cylinders, and the comedy is non-stop. Mike had only recently taken over the role as host from Joel Hodgson, and it is with this episode that he finally seems completely at ease with his role. If you're unfamiliar with this amazing comedy show (known as "MST3K" to fans), here's what you need to know: a human (Mike Nelson or Joel Hodgson) and his two mechanized pals, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, appear in a silhouette of a theater seats projected in front of a bad movie. The three hosts provide sidesplitting commentary to the film, filled with popular culture references and smart-aleck bitterness. The movie-watching sequences are occasionally interrupted with comedic sketches and musical numbers, making for an all-encompassing comedic experience: a humorous puppet-show sitcom with cynical wisecracks that turn rotten movies into fabulous entertainment. "The Beginning of the End" was released in 1957 by independent director-effects technician Bert I. Gordon, who rivaled Roger Corman in this period as the top creator of 'B' science-fiction cheapies. Gordon was obviously trying to copy the success of the classic giant-ant movie "Them!", only with giant grasshoppers instead. The film's tagline is a classic of ridiculous overstatement: "So Big...we had to coin a new words for it...NEWMENDOUS!" It's all downhill from there, folks. Peter Graves plays the stock scientist character who discovers that the recent vanishing of an Illinois town was caused by giant locusts, who mutated after they consumed some of his radioactive-treated plants in his laboratory (good one, Peter!). He and perky female reporter Peggie Castle try to warn the military in time, but soon the flightless locust plague descends on Chicago. Can anything stop them? Well, yes, since they're obviously just normal-sized grasshoppers optically matted over the footage, an effect that never looks good and lacks the magic and fun of stop-motion or suitmation techniques. Some of the effects are unbelievably rotten, such as the scenes of grasshoppers climbing Chicago "buildings" that are obviously just postcards or large photographs with real grasshoppers walking on them (the grasshoppers keep "stepping off" the building). The MST3K boys have great fun with this gag, doing a sketch where they have grasshoppers attack various postcards: Oldenberg IN, The Beatles, Earl Hines, etc. Graves manages to do very little in the movie except tell the military all the things they CAN'T do, instead of offering any real suggestions. The wisecracks are great, as usual for this season of the show. It's especially fun listening to them make cracks about Peter Graves as host of "Biography," Albert Glasser's hysterically overblown musical score, and the grasshoppers 'touring' Chicago. ("Hey, we're in the famous Loop now, Harry!") Between segements, Crow puts on a play based on Peter Graves's life at the University of Minnesota, all done in his "Biography" voice ("I'm Peter Graves, and I'm in the right class.") As a dubious 'bonus,' you can watch the un-cut version of the film on the flip side of the disc. Well, it's not that awful a film, but there isn't any reason to watch it without the MST3K commentary once you've experienced the comedy and laughs of this all-around fine episode. Recommended for newcomers and long-time fans alike. It's typical of the show during the excellent fifth season and shows Mike easing into his new role and the program format changing toward its more sharp-tongued and fast-moving later seasons.
Rating: 
Summary: One of my least favorite episodes...
Review: Look...to be fair, one man's BOTE is another man's "Manos". What I mean by that is some people may love this ep, but I personally didn't find it very funny and the movie is so bad that the sub-average riffing doesn't save it. The best lines that Mike & the robots make are when they speak for a character and add a line to something a person says. Unfortunately, the feature's horrible pacing, slow dialogue scenes, and atrocious acting are not enough, and it seems like the writers took a break on this one. Of course, even weak MST3K is better than pretty much any other show, but I must say this is certainly my least favorite episode from season 5 and at times feels like a Season 1 episode (the riffing is sparse and not really funny). If you are a newcomer and would like to see this show at it's best, get either "Manos: Hands of Fate" or "Red Zone Cuba".
Rating:
Summary: We've got movie sign...and giant grasshoppers!!!!
Review: One of my favorite MST3Ks: a great example of the mid 1950s "atomic monster" genre, with laughable special effects. Giant mutant grasshoppers attack the mountains and deserts of central "Illinois," before moving on to destroy Chicago by crawling up picture postcards of the Wrigley Building and being lured into Lake Michigan by electronic grasshopper mating calls made by a young Peter Graves ("Hi, I'm Peter Graves. Tonight on 'Biography'..."), ironically the nuclear scientist responsible for the whole giant-mutation thing, not to mention his deaf-mute assistant Frank's gruesome dismemberment and death at the chomping mandibles of one seriously big mother of a locust. America's finest fighting force (the Illinois National Guard) is powerless against this giant hopping threat. Another 1957 monster classic from infamous science fiction filmmaker Bert I. Gordon, the undisputed master of movies about giant animals attacking California cities masquerading as the midwest. Don't miss the riveting post-opening credits scene: an apparently endless car-approaching sequence (Mike: "Folks, we'll start the movie as soon as our ride gets here."), and the incessant, earsplitting, marching-band music soundtrack. An early Mike Nelson episode, it's a great example of classic MST3K: bad sci-fi flick, hilarious riffing on the film by Mike and the bots, including a *seriously* weird host segment where rubber grasshoppers attack postcards Mike just happens to have lying around. I actually saw this one week before I moved to Chicago, which is all-but-destroyed in the movie, and it seriously creeped me out for a while, though I've never been able to drive by Champaign-Urbana without looking over my shoulder for giant grasshoppers.
Rating:
Summary: One of my least favorite episodes...
Review: Look...to be fair, one man's BOTE is another man's "Manos". What I mean by that is some people may love this ep, but I personally didn't find it very funny and the movie is so bad that the sub-average riffing doesn't save it. The best lines that Mike & the robots make are when they speak for a character and add a line to something a person says. Unfortunately, the feature's horrible pacing, slow dialogue scenes, and atrocious acting are not enough, and it seems like the writers took a break on this one. Of course, even weak MST3K is better than pretty much any other show, but I must say this is certainly my least favorite episode from season 5 and at times feels like a Season 1 episode (the riffing is sparse and not really funny). If you are a newcomer and would like to see this show at it's best, get either "Manos: Hands of Fate" or "Red Zone Cuba".
Rating:
Summary: Hi, i'm peter graves, and i'm in the right class
Review: Unfortunatley every time I watch this I become less interested. I think I need to keep an open mind. I love the short of Crow's movie "Just plain Peter:the U of M years,or "Peter Graves goes to the University of Minnesota". I think by the title, you know what happens in the skit. Not as absolutley funny as it could be, but who am I to critize MST3000?
Rating:
Summary: The attack of the superimposed giant mutant grasshoppers
Review: There is a level on which you have to admire the sheer audacity, not to mention the budgetary value, of putting grasshoppers on postcards of Chicago landmarks and filming them as images of giant mutant grasshoppers attacking the Windy City. Certainly there is no more enduring image in the cinematic career of Bert I. "B.I.G." Gordon, the shlockmeister who directed "The Amazing Colossal Man," "Food of the Gods," "Empire of the Ants," and even lesser efforts. If you can name another B-movie as noteworthy for superimposed monsters, then you go right ahead and knock yourself out. The plot is standard B-movie fare. A couple of wacky teenagers are out in the lovers' lane of a small town in central Illinois when the chirping of the insects gets a tad louder and then there is screaming and stuff. The state police discover not only the wrecked and bloody car, but the fact that the nearby town of Ludlow has been completely destroyed and there are no bodies. The next thing we know intrepid girl reporter Audrey Ames (Peggy Castle) is hot on the story about giant mutant grasshoppers courtesy of an Illinois State experimental farm. This is where Dr. Ed Wainwright (Peter Graves) has been experimenting with the use of radiation to grow giant tomatoes the size of basketballs and thereby feeding the world. The good doctor tells the reporter that things have going pretty well except for the fact that his partner Dr. Frank Johnson (Than Wyenn) is now deaf and mute because of accidental exposure to the radiation and that grasshoppers have been eating the tomatoes. Well, gosh, darn it, Ed feels just terrible about everything when the giant grasshoppers eat his partner and defeat the U.S. army troops sent out to try and keep things under control. Fortunately, General Hanson (Morris Ankrum) lets Ed tag along as his scientific adviser (think of it as the mob of townspeople asking Dr. Frankenstein for advice). When the grasshoppers decide that the agricultural expanses of America's breadbasket are not as appealing as the skyscrapers of Chicago, General Hanson fears the end of the world, or at least the beginning of the end, and orders up an A-bomb to save the day. However, Ed, who knows a little something about the deleterious side effects of exposure to radiation, things nuking Chicago is a bad thing and has to come up with a better plan pretty darn quick. Ed's solution is too good to give away and despite it being so laughable it is indicative that the group of screenwriters responsible for this film were trying to connect all the dots with something scientific. Once again, the science might be suspect, but you have to admit that the solution is a lot easier and cheaper to film than an exploding atomic bomb. "Beginning of the End" is another example of the fact that size is always important in one of B.I.G.'s movies, as well as extending the giant mutant monster trend from ants ("Them!") to spiders ("Tarantula") to grasshoppers (I know, they are really locust, but grasshoppers sounds funnier). The idea of having a giant swarm of mutant monsters overwhelming a small town, the U.S. army, and whatever is put in their way is compelling. But carrying it off requires the CGE technology that produced "Starship Troopers" and instead we have a movie that Steven Spielberg could have made in 1957 (i.e., when he was only 11 years old and making movies in his backyard with his friends). Once again, my rating for "Beginning of the End" is based more on the entertainment value of the film rather than its aesthetic quality. How can you not enjoy superimposed grasshoppers or Peter Graves suggesting doubts about the nuclear destruction of a major American city? I would not say this is the best of Gordon's films; indeed, I am loath to actually pick one under those conditions. But I would contend that this is the one of his films that I would give "must see" status to for those who enjoy 1950s black & white science fiction monster movies.
Rating:
Summary: How Do You Sign "AAAAHHH!"?
Review: Hello.
This offering from Best Brains offers an offering that's sure to offer your fair offering of grasshoppers. They eat a small city, kill people with forced perspective process shots, climb postcards, and die at the end. Nobody buys a MST3K'ed movie FOR the film, really... if you did, you'd HATE MST3K.(Plus you'd be psycho, and don't come near my house or give me any more literature. I gave at the office.)
This is a mediocre episode of MST3K, actually..It's a Mike episode which is great, but I really have no pref over Mike or Joel.. I like both of thier senses of humor.
If I'd have to submit my personal favorite single-offered MST3K DVD, get 'I Accuse My Parents". It's alot more funny, all around.
Trust me. I've followed MST3K since I was in Junior High and i have all the dvds..and about 65 episodes on vhs tape. Love ya
cya
buh bye
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