Rating: 
Summary: Bad Quality!!
Review: This is a quick review to serve as a warning. Rhino has shown once again that they dont care about MST fans? Why? Becuase the picture quality on Merlin's Shop is sooooo dark.You cant even see the theater seats....the boxed set is overall nice, and Boggy Creek, Time Chasers and Touch of Satan play perfectly, and the interview is well worth a purchase, but Rhino needs to be more careful when making transfers.
Rating: 
Summary: Yay, Rhino...BOOOOOO, Rhino !
Review: Okay--another great collection of MST episodes. I'm a long -time fan-- no stranger to the old "Best Brains" shop in the industrial park in Eden Prarie. Congrats to Rhino for keepin' 'em coming. But. MY copy of the set has TWO disks of Disk 1 ("Boggy Creek") and no Disk 2. Great. So I have Disk 1, Disk 1, Disk 3 and Disk 4. I wouldn't complain, but this is not a new problem to Rhino. Complaints of similar problems haunted Talking Heads' box set last November. People shelling out big bucks to find mutliple copies of the same disk. So Rhino, if you read this, be more careful with your Quality Control and packaging. And while you're at it, send me a Disk 2. cyberyukon@yahoo.com
Rating: 
Summary: The horrors of Charles B. Pierce
Review: A solid collection from the Sci-Fi era. Only one really great episode, but the remainder are worthy of Mike and the 'Bots -- and your money. 1) Time Chasers -- Truth be told, this isn't a horrendous movie. It was made on a shoestring budget, and the idea that "8 5 1/2 floppy disks contain the secret to time travel" is just silly, but the director is competent, and the script is decent. These sort-of-good movies often led to the best episodes on MST3K (think "The Magic Sword" or "The Girl in Lover's Lane"), since they weren't outright "bad" but had some profoundly weird moments or characters the theater trio seized upon and beat into the ground. The riffing on this one is hilarious, with some excellent skits about Crow traveling back in time. 2) The Touch of Satan -- Weird movie about a traveling 20-something (c. 1971) who ends up romancing a witch. Slow and incomprehensible -- who's the old couple living with Melissa? Her parents? Parents' siblings? -- but good commentary, especially surrounding Melissa's 127-year-old-looking sister. "Where's my bike? I reported it stolen 87 years ago." 3) Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders -- Ernest Borgnine helms this incompetently tailored combination of an old TV episode with what looks like a contemporary tale of a couple whose efforts to conceive a child are sidetracked by the husband's consorting with demons. When Merlin's on screen and the bots are doing dead-on imitations of his sleepy voice, you'll roll over laughing, and the jokes directed at or flowing from Ernest are great, too. The movie itself is roughly edited, slow-moving and poorly-acted, and it's hard to get through. There's an amusing series of jokes about a psychic browbeating a character, though. 4) Boggy Creek II -- "We're going camping and you're going to watch." Mike's summary of the movie is sadly apt -- Charles B. Pierce made the first installment of this series a year after a supposed creature seen in the bogs in Arkansas was proven to be a fraud. Ten years later, and after a sequel he apparently didn't get involved with, he made "Boggy Creek II," more a paean to Arkansas than a film. Despite the, ahem, "pace," the crew comes through with a solid commentary, focusing most of their rage on Charles B. Pierce's immeasurably self-satisfied character ("I am so much better than this barn.") If you're looking for an introduction to the series, try Vol. 2. But for anyone else, this is a worthy addition to your MST3K collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Job Rhino
Review: I just want to point out that, in addition to four very funny episodes, this DVD also has a complete 30-minute interview with Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphey. In the interview they talk about the show's birth, the process of writing and producing an episode and they even talk about movies that were too repulsive to be used in the show. Mike and Kevin are hilarious and they discuss things about the show that even the hard-core MSTies might not have known. Thank you, Rhino for the extras. I already have most of the old episodes on tape, so these interviews and introductions help me justify dropping the extra $40 or $50 bucks on the new DVD sets (even though I'd buy them without the extras). I would also like to see rhino include the non-MST'd versions. I would have love to seen Red Zone Cuba or Manos in it's purest form. Thanks much Rhino and keep the MSTs coming.
Rating:
Summary: BRING THEM ON!!!!!!
Review: Say what you will about the episodes I think Rhino is ONLY allowed to release, I'm just so happy that they are releasing episodes that have never been available in any form except telelvision.
I too would love to see more Joel episodes make it to DVD or VHS even, but one has to consider the fact that the MST3K crew didnt buy the rights to those movies exclusively. I believe they rented them for awhile to do the show then have the time elapse, and they havent the right to the content they got material from. That said I still think the public domain Joel episodes shoudl appear.
All in all this volume looks to be great. Ive seen these episodes over and over thanks to my recording them in poor fedelity off the SciFi channel when they aired them at 9am on Saturdays. I didnt mind waking up early for this show 12 years ago and I didnt to get these great episodes.
Touch of Satan (does anyone wonder how the heck they find these) is a true blue 70s stinker about a young man who traveling across country runs into witchs and demonic possession. Mike and the Bots are in true blue form in this one and it is also my favorite offered on the set.
Time Chasers with "Bob Evil" which is summed up simply with a guy who travels in time but has to go back in time to change what he did in the future. This one seems like a really really bad Bond film (so yeah the Brosnan ones).
Next we have Boggy CreekII which is about as intriguing as watching a National Geographic Episode backwards(think about it) and lastly Ernest Borgaine tells his grandson about the twisted sadist world of Magical Merlins shop of Mystical Wonders(I think thats the title)
Mike and the BOts I think really finally to hit a consistent stride for the final years. Perhaps you can see some added hate for their jobs too but 10 years of painful film watching experiences will ruin ones moral for exsistence. All in all the final episodes were some of the best they ever made and you will NOT be disappointed in this set whether you are a Joel fan or Mike fan they are still great. We were lucky to have them when they were still making them so lets take what they can offer us!
Rating:
Summary: Put on your Chinderwear!
Review: It shouldn't matter to most MST fans that these are Sci-Fi Channel episodes - we are grateful to have ANY EPISODES released on DVD! Of all the movies that Mike and the 'Bots have riffed on, Time Chasers continues to be one of my favorites. I can promise you that the cheesy special effects (spirograph on an apple IIe) and ridiculous time-jumping plot will certainly make you laugh! Then again, I have a soft spot for cheesy low budget movies that try to use the mezannine at a Vermont Community College as the office for an Executive at a powerful company!!! (Rumor has it that the makers of 'Time Chasers' were very excited to have their movie showcased on MST3K, and rightly so!) Boggy Creek II: The Legend Continues is a delightful movie, some of the sketches in this episode are truly inspired! Anyone remember: "Just tendin' to my fires!!" Same for Touch of Satan and Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders, AKA "Ernest Borgnine Bookends". Even if you're sick of Sci-Fi Channel Episodes for now, grab this one at the current low price of $41.96 and save it for a rainy day!
Rating:
Summary: A solid example of the Sci Fi years
Review: A couple of things. First, the episodes featured here are all solid entries from the Sci Fi years, with the highlights definitely being Time Chasers and Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonder. As somebody else pointed out, all four of these movies aren't nearly as god-awful as some other MST entries like Manos or even volume 4's Space Mutiny. Don't get me wrong, they're bad movies, but not *punishingly* bad, meaning, they're light-hearted fun episodes, good for the uninitiated. A lot of people seem confused or angry at the episodes Rhino has been deciding to release. I'll avoid the whole Mike/Joel debate thing entirely, and say this is simply a matter of buying the rights to the movies. Remember, Rhino doesn't own the actual movies, at least not originally, so they have to go out and get them. Some current owners of these movies simply do not want to give Rhino permission for various reasons, or might be asking for too much of a price (I believe, for example, I read somewhere that Sandy Frank was horrified at the "treatment" done to his Japanese movies, so alas, don't expect to see MST versions of Gamera anytime soon). This is why the idea of releasing MST by season is impossible. Basically, I'm glad Rhino is able to get anything, and I look forward to in earnest any future releases. The selection on Volume 5 is probably one of the strongest yet for Rhino.
Rating:
Summary: Reviewer in New York?
Review: Return to the planet, please, reviewer in New York. MST3K's run on SciFi ENDED as of January 31, 2004, and yet here you are claiming that the Volume 5 releases are still airing. Maybe the signal travels more slowly to the planet Krankor. The volume 5 collection is entirely SciFi material, as was volume 4. Rhino has offered assurances that this is not necessarily a sign that no more Comedy Central episodes are forthcoming and I see no reason to panic that all of those Hercules movies, Santa Claus movies, etc., are "gone" forever. As for the Mike-Joel "controversy," that discussion is as pointless as it is tiresome. These are four solid MST3K offerings. "Merlin's Magical Shop" is a little weak (hence the 4 stars); I would rather have seen "Jack Frost." That's a minor quibble since we each have our own tastes when it comes to MST3K. "Time Chasers" is tremendous as the woman from plaid and Mr. Castelton chase themselves and J.K. Robertson, aka Bob Evil, through time, using a Commodore 64 as their portal to time travel. Yes a com-pu-ter! I just hope Rhino keeps 'em coming now that the show is gone from TV. That's right, GONE from tv.
Rating:
Summary: Kevin
Review: Like most everyone else here, I too would like to see more releases other than those that have been constantly repeated on the Sci-Fi Channel. While it's great to have them permanently encoded on DVD, a bit more diversity would be great. What everyone needs to try to remember (an I'm kindly referring to the ones who can't understand why Rhino releases some and not others) is that Rhino doesn't have the rights anymore to some of the shows. "Puma Man" is a perfect example. That was pulled last year from Sci-Fi's line up because they no longer had the rights. "The Touch of Satan" I think is the best of the bunch. It's hilarious, and was the episode that turned me onto this great show. The witch stands by the lake with the loser dude and says "This is where the fish lives." The dude promptly starts to kiss her and Crow mumbles, "This is where my tongue lives." I rolled! "Boggy Creek II" is another funny gem. Charles B. Pierce is beyond comical in trying to pass himself off as an actor. I haven't seen the other two, so this should be a treat in itself. Here's hoping that "Prince of Space" and "Invasion of the Neptune Men" soon find their way into these boxed sets. And it's nice to see that Rhino is releasing these rapidly (unlike "The Simpsons", which is going to take us to the next Millenium to complete our collection, with 2 releases a year). Keep it up, Rhino! I've got hernia surgery scheduled for the second week of March, and this set is going to keep me company during my recovery. I hope Iwon't rip out the staples in my stomach while LMAO!!!
Rating:
Summary: More titles still running on Sci-Fi ; -(
Review: Yes, all of these episodes are fun but, like the selections from Vol. 4, these are STILL running on the Sci-Fi channel! A boxed set should be a special treat: there are scores of episodes rarely seen (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Fire Maidens, Wild Rebels, etc.) but Rhino seems content to take the lazy approach and box titles still in reruns.
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