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Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 5

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 5

List Price: $59.95
Your Price: $47.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good stuff! But I miss Joel!
Review: In other words- Rhino, please produce more of the Comedy Central years. But this DVD has 2 of the best Sci-Fi episodes ( Merlin and Time Chasers)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This Is Where The Fish Lives!
Review: This is a set of four of the more average MST3K episodes, but it does have one excellent extra: a lengthy interview with Mike and Kevin discussing MST3K in particulars rarely heard. The writing process discussion was particularly entertaining, but the glib wackiness of the two came through in exchanges like this:

Kevin: "Mike if you could be any kind of a polymer, what kind of polymer would you be?"

Mike: "Polyvinyl chloride."

That pretty much sums it up for MST3K: odd, off-the-wall, inexplicable, and strangely funny. Of course in this set we also get four movies with brief introductions by Mike Nelson. I give the set as a whole four stars.

"Boggy Creek 2: and the Legend Continues" is actually the third Boggy Creek movie, and is one of the worst Bigfoot movies ever made, featuring some of the least attractive and most annoying protagonists in cinema history. I had no idea that you could get a degree in Boggy Creek Studies from the University of Arkansas. Watch especially for the scene of gratuitous outhouse destruction. This episode would independently get four stars; it is funny but drags a bit at times.

"Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders" is a stinker starring Ernest Borgnine and an evil toy monkey. It is somewhat divided up by the narrative device employed, but that certainly does not help matters. The guy playing the obnoxious columnist may well be the least likeable actor seen in an episode of MST3K since Coleman Francis in "Red Zone Cuba." This episode is not one of my favorites, and independently I would give it a three star rating. This is also the disc that contains the interview with Mike and Kevin.

"Time Chasers" is the true gem of the set. It is a five star episode that was made in Rutland, Vermont for almost nothing. It is one of the most amateurish of all the MST3K episodes, and in Mike's introduction he reveals that the cast was very excited they were going to be featured on MST3K until they actually saw themselves get skewered. The standout here is the writing, which seems better than in most episodes, raising this to the highest level of the MST3K food chain. This film features the least plausible hero in any film ever, and the typical evil CEO in an office that looks like a mezzanine in a junior high school. This is a true spectacle.

"The Touch of Satan" is a boring flick about love and witchcraft, both of which conspire to make a college kid's life miserable. My favorite line in the episode, and in this set, for that matter, is when the lovely young witch takes the unsuspecting doofus down to the pond on her farm, looks at him pensively, and says out of nowhere "This is where the fish lives!" This film features truly awful screenwriting and some of the most over-the-top performances on record. Despite that, I found it boring and although I have watched it twice, am unlikely to again; it's just not one of my favorites. Three stars.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "It has that guy in it...oh, and that other guy, too."
Review: Four very funny episodes which have all been adequately described by the other reviewers, so I will talk about the sit-down interview with Kevin Murphy (voice of Tom Servo) and Mike Nelson included with this set.
Kevin and Mike describe what it was like working on MST3K from the beginning to the "bitter end." They talk about the different networks they were on, how the "puppet segments" were done, the changes in cast, the loyal fan base, the importance of the Mid-Western viewpoint in their humor, their refusal to move to New York or California, the wonderful lunches they had, how the bad movies they picked were just the "tip of the iceberg", and more! They also talked about what they are doing today. Murphy plugs his book "A Year at the Movies" and Nelson plugs his "Death Rat".
A treat for MST3K fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: got it for $35.00 at Circuit City
Review: I just recently watched these episodes for the 3rd time and I'm still laughing histarically. Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders is my favortie episode of all time. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the episodes are hilarious and are some of the best. I was really excited when I saw this set for $35.00 at Circuit City. They are usually $40.00 there but, this was $35.00 for some reason. I cannot complain.

p.s. I'm eagerly awaiting vol. 6.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Collection!
Review: All four episodes included in this set are fantastic. "Time Chasers" is one of my all-time favorites, and I am glad it was released (my own taped ep was wearing out). The other episodes will not disappoint. I don't know if there's anything I can add that hasn't been said by other reviewers, except that these MST3K sets are much cheaper at Best Buy. I got this one for $42.00.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Some of the best in bad movies...
Review: This collection has some of the best of MST3K. First off, I already HAD Boggy Creek II on a MST3K tape, but I was more than willing to pay for a DVD version of it. Time Chasers and Merlin's Shop Of Mystical Wonders are PERFECT. Movies so bad they were GOOD.
The Touch Of Satan is, in some ways, truly bad, but in the end it has great moments, mostly in the skits. Tom's grandmother ALONE is worth it. The interview with Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy is a great extra.
Buy it if you are a fan. Buy it if you want to be one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why you should buy this without thinking
Review: I'm here to answer that. Hi...

This show is the funniest show ever televised. I don't really know what else to say. The funny stays on throughout the episodes, so much so that you want to give it a big hug.
MST3K is also the most underrated show ever televised. And its stars, I feel, are underused. They should be writing funny and giving that funny to a factory, where the funny would be widely distributed... but enough about factories...

The show shouldn't have left the air in the first place. I'm growing up in what is chuckled at by old school teachers as "The Short Attention Span Generation". Here is why I bring that up: People my age (17) always refer to this show I hold dear as "You mean the one where the guys sit in front of the movie?" Idiots.
I think it is these ignorant jackasses that played a major part in the show's departure. They don't even watch the show, or see how funny it is. All they want is lots of color and action and Carrot Top gyrating. So, I say, give them a kaleidoscope... and, I guess a picture of Carrot Top gyrating... but keep MST on the air!

All things aside, these episodes will not disapoint even the most skeptical of people... "The Touch of Satan" is filled with enough pauses to project a pause-powered ship into the sun. There is also a plot...or something...

"Merlin..." is about the wizard Merlin openning a shop in the present day... the man's shop seems to make no money, but he does nearly get a small boy killed. Ernest Borgnine tells the tale of Merlin to a small boy who can't become interested... And I think some copies have Ernest Borgnine scent that you can sprinkle around the room...my guess is that it smells like a bloated man filled with tacos.

"Time Chasers" has the most uninteresting people you will ever see in a motion picture. A man invents a program that, with the aid of his plane, can send people through time. He flies through God knows what to arrive at the future. Apparently, the low-budget future contains chubby, ink-covered boxcar drifters.

"Boggy Creek 2"...possibly the most uninteresting film you'll ever come across. A chubby man, two young teens, and I think one breadstick all go looking for a hairy beast who lurks around causing very little havok.

All of these are great and you should buy them now now i said now



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The greatest TV show of all-time
Review: This is definitely my personal favorite MST3K collection yet. I didn't think it'd be possible to top Vol. 4, which had 2 of my all-time eps (Space Mutiny & Overdrawn...), but it also was bogged down with a very average ep (Girl in Gold Boots) and one that is generally recognized by most Misties as being one of the worst Mike-era shows (Hamlet). On the other hand, all 4 episodes here are equally hilarious, with Time Chasers being the clear stand out (pink-suit guy and the bland leading man are hysterical). I laughed so hard watching it and Merlin that my stomache ached for about 2 hours. I would definitely say that overall as far as selection is concerned, this is the most cohesive and entertaining of all the collections. My main problem with them has been that a few have 2 or 3 or even 1 excellent ep and the rest suck (Collection 1 being a good example). Plus I am a bit biased because I prefer Mike over Joel by a long shot, and I would honestly take an average Mike ep over a good Joel one. I just don't find Joel very funny in the theater and his riffing is lame in my opinion. So hopefully after Vol. 6 we can get some more Mike eps!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some Good Episodes
Review: "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Vol. 5" contains "Touch of Satan," "Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders," "Boggy Creek 2," and "Time Chasers." These episodes all have some pretty good riffing ("Merlin" being my favourite), although overall, this is my least favourite MST3K boxed set yet. Most of the episodes have stretches where the jokes just aren't very funny, and like most sci-fi era MST3K episodes, the host segments are very lame (with the exception of "Time Chasers"). Still, there are a lot of good moments in these episodes, and die-hard MST3K fans are going to want it anyway.
On DVD, the host segments look bright and sharp, and are probably a little better than on TV (and a lot better than the bootleg copies that have been circulating). The movies look faded and scratchy, although that doesn't matter (and since most of these are relatively recent movies for the series, they look better than the movies in the other boxed sets). Unfortunately, it seems that Rhino Home Vidoe has discontinued putting the uncut versions of the movies on these DVDs for good, which is a shame because the price has remained the same. In compensation, there is a pretty good interview with Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy that covers the history of the show, as well as a theatrical trailer for "The Touch of Satan."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: All very funny episodes
Review: All of these are good choices from the SCIFI years, but the absolute best of all of these is with out a doubt, Boggy Creek II. I never get tired of watching that one and often times show it to friends. Even people from Arkansas laugh at it.

What gets me the most about this film is that the director, who also wrote and stars in it along with half his family, really truly believes he is cool, but comes off as such an ass.

It's also funny that the state of Arkansas helped fund this film, because it makes never ever want to visit there.


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