Rating: 
Summary: Put them all on DVD!
Review: As a rabid MST3K fan, I ran right out and bought this DVD set. Of course the movies are great. You have to be a Mistie fan to want to see them in the first place. I assume only Mistie fans will be reading this review anyway. I have to say the Creeping Terror is my fave out of this group. Truly horrifying, in the worst way, but also hysterical. I guess my favorite MST3Ks are when they watch old sci-fi. Also there are no extras whatsoever on the DVDS. Clearly Rhino doesnt want to spend any more money than they have too since only fans would want to buy it and they would buy it regardless of any extra bonus material. I wish they would release more episodes.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not special
Review: Don't get me wrong, I love MST3K and I'm glad to have DVD copies, but that being said... Rhino is just rereleasing the stuff they already put out on VHS with no real extras. But all and all it's nice they finally put out a 4 in 1 boxed set. Creeping Terror is worth the price of this DVD alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Yeah!
Review: Finally, boxed sets of "Mystery Science Theater 3000"! This set has "Catalina Caper," "Creeping Terror," "Bloodlust!", and "Skydivers." They're absolutely hysterical (especially the shorts, "Why Study Industrial Arts?" and "Uncle Jim's Dairy Farm.")
The DVD presentation is just about the same as any of the MST3K videos. The movie segments look terrible, but that's how they've always looked. The host segments are sharp, show good colours, and sound fine too.
The real value are the extras. Each one of these has the uncut version (something I don't exactly advise you to watch) and the theatrical trailers, which are all, and this is putting it mildly, very goofy.
So buy this, just for "Why Study Industrial Arts?"
Rating:
Summary: GO Rhino!
Review: Finally, Rhino is coming out with new DVDs, it's been along time, but they pulled it off. And what's more exciting to know is that I did a little math last night, and then something clicked. There happens to be 16 of the videos not yet out on DVD. Funny, happens to fit into Four sets... As for the movies in the boxed set, all are good except Creeping Terror, which is just not funny, and annoying. Bloodlust is so-so, and the other two I've never seen. But I'll be sure to per-order it.
Rating:
Summary: Catalina Caper is worth it alone
Review: First let me say that I've seen (and have on tape) every episode from the cable run, and all the KTMA (local UHF station in MN) episodes available...no, that doesn't make me special, just adds emphasis to this: Catalina Caper is my favorite episode. Just nudges Manos and several others. It's terrific. A thing of beauty. Just don't watch the uncut version unless you're a masochist. The others in the set are definitely some stong eps - this isn't one great show and some filler. But Catalina Caper...Oh, Creepy Girl...
Rating:
Summary: Of all the MST3K DVD box sets, this one's the first.
Review: First of all, this is a fine and long overdue entry from Rhino. The price for these is steep, but if you're a MST fan, this is the best way to get them (aside from circulating the tapes, of course.) The set features quirky, pop-up packaging that fits the nature of the series. The films themselves are fine selections - while none are "Manos" good, the set features a wide variety of genres. They're great for showing to someone who isn't familiar with the series: Bloodlust: More in the Mad Scientist genre than anything else, "Bloodlust" features a crazed big game hunter/taxadermist who finds a group of Scoobyesque teens shipwrecked on his island. It's basically an hour-long setup for a 20 minute "The Most Dangerous Game" scene that never pays off. More enjoyable than the film itself is the preceding 15-minute short "Uncle Jim's Dairy Farm". Catalina Caper: "Beach Blanket Bingo" meets "Laugh-in" in this kooky answer to 50s sexual repression. Probably the most fun film in the set, "Catalina Caper" features the hunt for a missing museum artwork, which quickly takes a backseat to vapid dance sequences. The brightest star is a guest spot by a young Little Richard - one which he surely denies today. The Creeping Terror: Your standard Creature From Beyond Attacks Amorous Teens entry. The creature itself looks like a massive quilt, so viewers can never tell if he's devouring his victims or copulating with them. A campy b/w film made better by the SOL crew. The Skydivers: Basically lots of skydiving footage woven together by an awkward plotline, "The Skydivers" features a mom-and-pop skydiving operation with numerous inexplicable love affairs going on. It's a really bad movie getting mocked really well - the best kind of MST. A novel addition is the original set of films before they were MST3Ked, in case you want to have your own "MST3K home version", or just see them in their original format. Later volumes seem to have dropped this feature. All said, this isn't going to be the last box set you'd ever want - it's called Volume 1 for a reason. With its wide variety of films, and the originals for home mockery however, it's a good sampling for the uninitiated, or just those nostalgiac for the glory days of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for Vol. 2 !
Review: Great selection, nice packaging; includes the uncut versions as well for extra punishment. Promises to be worthwhile buying them in 4 packs as long as they avoid repackaging the ones already available as singles. Rhino, if you're listening, how about MIGHTY JACK, BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, DANGER DEATH RAY and TIME OF THE APES for Vol. 2?
Rating:
Summary: great gift
Review: I bought this as a gift to my brother, so I haven't seen it. But he said that he is still watching it and I bought it 6 months ago, so I guess that should mean something.
Rating:
Summary: "Like Manos, but without the lucid plot"
Review: I bought this collection just so I could get the Coleman Francis epic "The Skydivers", and I was not disappointed. That episode alone is worth the price of the entire box set, and certainly ranks up there with any MST3K movie treatment I've ever seen. Not only is the movie itself horribly, jaw-droppingly awful, with a nearly nonexistent plot, staggeringly wooden acting (especially by Tony Cardoza, who looks like he's in dire need of a personality transplant), and appalling continuity errors (like a boat changing into a different boat in the middle of the same scene), but the riffing is first-rate. Usually, a good MST3K episode has one or at most two moments where I fall off my seat laughing; this one had at least a half-dozen. You know the movie is boring when Mike and the 'bots have to invent a whole new subplot involving an imaginary talking plane named Petey to keep their attention up. And on top of this, the opening host segment featuring Tom Servo as "Tom Starshow, planetarium!" and Crow making constant wisecracks about Uranus is also hysterically funny. So if you like this sort of thing at all, this is exactly the kind of thing you'll like. And you also get a valuable moral lesson: people who pour acid on other people's parachutes get killed and then rained on!
Rating:
Summary: Bring on the cheese!
Review: I have been a fan of this show since it was on Comedy Central. I have always been more partial to Joel over Mike, this batch being more heavy on the Mike side is not my favorite, is still really good. Most Mystie fans I know will buy this, as they are happy to have any episodes on DVD. Catalina Caper is probably my favorite in this set, while Manos tends to be my all around favorite (not in this set, but available separately.) As I said before, most Mystie fans will buy this, regardless of their preferences, and as I write this, Rhino has recently released the third set. I really hope they get around to releasing more, but I think it's hard to get all the legalities in order to do so....maybe if they understand how many fans out their are willing to spend thier money for more episodes on DVD, Rhino will work harder towards procuring more, but until then, I still have my VHS tapes. This is such a unique show, and I tend to find new things with each viewing of the episodes. As with anyone familiar with how many episodes were made, this set tends to whet your whistle, rather than satisfy your apetite. Here's hoping more come out soon.
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