The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 2 (Angels' Revenge / Cave Dwellers / Pod People / Shorts, Vol. 1) [DVD]

This is Rhino's second DVD collection of four episodes of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," and it's excellent. It has three great episodes from various seasons, and a fourth disc of hilarious short subjects. And it comes in a nifty package with moving parts!In case you're new to the world of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (MST3K for short, that's what us fans -- "Misties" -- call it), this is the famous TV show where a silhouette of a man and two robots in theater seats provide running commentary for some of the worst movies ever made. The ninety-minute episodes are scattered with sketches and songs and amount to some of the smartest, most pop-culture savvy, side-splitting comedy ever made.This DVD contains three episodes, plus a compilation of short subjects from different episodes. The episodes cover a wide spectrum: two are from early in season three, when Joel Hodgson was the host and the show was just kicking into high gear. The third is from late in the sixth season, when the show had developed a much more slick and sarcastic approach with host Mike Nelson. People new to the show will get a good chance to compare the styles of the show. Personally, I love both, but they are quite different. The Shorts are brief films that the host would sometimes make fun of before the movie. Originally, they watched episodes of old movie serials, but when those quickly became tiresome, they turned to educational, commercial, and industrial filmstrips (you know, those annoying things you had to watch at school assemblies in sixth grade?). They contain some of the funniest riffing in the series, and are favorites of the fans.Here's what's on this collection:ANGEL'S REVENGE. Episode #622. A 1978 film originally titled "Angel's Brigade," this is an hysterically awful rip-off of the TV show "Charlie's Angels," only it's worse, if you can imagine that! A group of attractive and not-so-attractive women decide to wage war on L.A.'s drug dealers by dressing in white jump suits. The female leads (including Playboy Playmate Susan Lynn Kiger) are horrendous actresses, but what's really embarrassing is the presence of well-known guest stars slumming at the pits of their careers: Jack Palance, Jim Backus, Pat Butrum, Alan Hale, and in a depressing performance, Peter Lawford. Poor Peter appears to have been drunk for the entire filming. Mike and the `Bots have an absolute field day making fun of the relentless 70s style ("Entertaining was a lot easier in the 70s!") and the poor, unfortunate guest stars ("Do you think Peter knows where he is?"). This is one of my favorite Mike Nelson episodes, and it's the best disc in this package.CAVE DWELLERS. Episode #301. This film was originally released in 1984 as "Ator the Invincible" and then as "Blade Master" on video. It's a sequel to "Ator the Fighting Eagle," and is one of many cheap-o copycats of "Conan the Barbarian." This stinker stars Miles O'Keefe as beefy warrior Ator, who also knows lots of sciencey stuff (like how to manufacture a hang-glider in two minutes with just sticks). Ator travels to the Ends of the Earth to stop some John Saxon-like villain from obtaining some vague object with a funny name that might do something really bad. Or whatever -- the film is just fantasy of the worst kind. It's so cheap there are no special effects, and the only monster is an immobile velour snake. This is first episode of season three, and this is really when the show entered its golden phase. Joel and the `Bots have some good times here, especially at the outlandish finale, and there's a hilarious parody of the movie's opening credits. A good episode, and the start of great things.POD PEOPLE. Episode #303. The poor dubbing in this film automatically marks it as foreign, but since it's obviously trying to pass itself off American, it's tricky to figure out where it was really shot. Mystery over: this is a 1983 Spanish film called "Los Nuevos Extraterrestres," released in America as "The Unearthling." It's an awful attempt to copy "E.T." and combine it with a horror film. Aliens that resemble miniature two-legged versions of Snuffleupuggus from "Sesame Street" invade the mountains. A high-pitched little kid befriend one of the aliens, Trumpy, while the rest start killing people for no reason. There's an awful pop band on a trip (their performance in a recording studio is one of the highlights of the episode), some poachers, and a dysfunctional family up in a cabin. None of it fits together, but Joel and `Bots create some classic running gags. It's the perfect kind of film for the MST3K treatment. You'll love their re-creation of the incomprehensible "song" performed by the band in the move. ("It stinks!")SHORTS, VOL. 1. These come from many seasons, and all are great. Tom Servo does a joking intro for each one. "The Home Economics Story" (from episode #317) is a 1950s film for high school girls that encourages them to study home economics in college, implying that they aren't destined for anything other than being housewives. "Junior Rodeo Daredevils" (from episode #407) tells how a group of kids in a tiny town set up their own rodeo, and then broke all their limbs and snapped their spinal chords -- all in good fun! "Body Care & Grooming" (from episode #510) informs college students how to spend all their time grooming their hair and skin, because people will only like them if they're pretty! "Cheating" (from episode #515) tells the tragic story of Johnny, who cheated and rose to power, and then fell into the pits of despair not unlike a Kafka novel. "A Date with Your Family" (from episode #602) is the best of the bunch: a nightmare about the perfect 50s family having a perfectly repressed 50s dinner. The riffing here is as sharp and satiric as anything ever done on the show. "Why Study Industrial Arts" (from episode #609) is the reverse of "The Home Economics Story," encouraging young men to risk sawing off their limbs in shop class. And finally, "The Chicken of Tomorrow" (from episode #702) explains breeding techniques to create meatier chickens. It's very depressing.(In a bit of a mistake, two of the shorts are already available on other DVDs: episode #609, "The Skydivers" is on the first Rhino DVD collection, and Episode #515, "The Wild World of Batwoman," is available as a single DVD, so you might have already seen two of these shorts.)This is another awesome collection from Rhino. There's more laughs here than you'll find in a year's worth of Hollywood comedies. A must for MST3K fans and newcomers alike!

This MST3K collection is the perfect set for both die-hard fans and viewers who are new to the show. The movies are bad in a ripe, juicy way, making it easy to squeeze every last drop of possible humor out of their horrendous dialogue, lame-duck plots, and trapped-in-a-paper-bag acting.For collectors and afficianados, this collection is a no-brainer. For everyone else, it makes an excellent starter kit to get you into and hooked on this intelligent, delightful, and addictive show. This particular set contains the following:CAVE DWELLERS - Miles (and miles) O'Keefe stars as Ator, the greasy, chesty hero who must travel to the ends of the earth in order to stop a strange and mystical device (the Geometric Nucleus -- never seen, never explained, never mind) from falling into the evil hands of some man with a black swan helmet. Along the way he fights invisible warriors (this film's version of cost-saving casting), a fiberglass cobra, and -- of course -- a few cave dwellers. Both well-read and beefy, Ator is assisted in his quest by his mostly mute sidekick, Dong (or is it Wong? Chong? Ba-da-bong?), and a hubcap-clad warrior woman whose name, I believe, is Linda. Joel and the bots discuss foley artist techniques, reprise the opening credits of the film in their own tongue-in-cheek fashion, and discuss ways bad movies make bad props sound better than they are. Delicious if for no other reason than the hang-glider scene.ANGELS REVENGE - A thinly disguised rip-off of  Charlie's Angels , this self-righteous dud treats us to feeble-minded drug dealers beating up school children and a typically-squinty Jack Palance doing as little acting as he possibly can. Other down-on-their-luck stars exploit their dwindling fame as well (Peter Lawford, Pat Burtrum, Alan hale, Jim Backus, and Arthur Godfrey), prompting Tom to invent a Shame-O-meter, just to gauge how pathetic the movie really is. A few of the host segments fall a little flat and seem short-changed, but that doesn't detract from Mike and the bots' able and always incisive commentary. Listen for KPLOT, watch for the scenes of young teens being instructed on proper gun use, cringe at the overly-excessive administration of groin torture, and laugh at eight women "sneaking" into a drug compound in broad daylight while wearing downy-white Evel Kineval jumpers.POD PEOPLE - The filet mignon of MST3K episodes, "Pod People" features some of the best jokes and gags Joel and the bots have ever pitted against a film. This travesty of a movie concerns the deaths of a few brain-dead poachers (one of them is a Leslie Nielsen look-alike, the other looks like he belongs around the potato cauldron at a Renaissance Fair), the "antics" of a horrendous band (boasting a combined IQ of 12), and the machinations of a couple of murderous aliens that look like the love-children of Alf and an upright Hoover (with attachments). The plot also follows a precocious young boy as he deals with parental neglect, his uncaring and alcoholic grand/father, and a whole host of traumatizing sights. Featuring a hilarious spoof of one of the band's feature songs ("It stinks!") and a delightful recreation of Trumpy's abilities, this episode contains everything that made MST3K a brilliant show. If this one doesn't turn you into an fan, nothing will.SHORTS, VOL. 1 - Okay, well, maybe this would be better for newbies. Hosted by Tom Servo, this disc provides viewers with 10 and 15 minute "shorts," brief, bite-sized educational clips hailing mostly from the 50s and designed -- primarily -- to teach suppression and the Great White Way to unsuspecting schoolchildren. A short on Home Economics (one of my all-time favorites) follows four girls through college as they major in various things like baby sitting, how to set a table, and (no fooling!) being a good wife. A short on good grooming encourages not just clean skin and hair, but also unswerving conformity to all traditional standards of clothing. Speaking of conformity, "A Date with Your Family" is one of the most frightening short films I've ever seen, a diatribe on familial duty that demands that children dress casually for a home meal, never ask dad for money, and always make sure dinner time conversations are as unemotional as possible. (Seriously. The narrator uses the word "unemotional.") Others include an industrial arts segment (much like the Home Economics clip, except here you have guys talking about how much they love the "smooth feel of wood pushing through a buzzing saw"), a piece on "The Chicken of Tomorrow" (a bizarre title for a boring subject), cheating (in which a young boy who cheats on a test is treated as a leperous pariah by rib-less students and teachers alike), and a Junior Rodeo in which young children risk their lives and spines for a fleeting moment of unbridled, bucking fame.Unsettling Depression-era edutainment, 70's technicolor plaigarism, sci-fi/fantasy tomfoolery, and self-congratulatory heavy handedness: this collection harbors some of MST3K's worthiest (and cheesiest) foes. It's a treasure to be able to watch Mike, Joel, Tom and Crow chop them to bits with high-brow allusions, goofy witticisms, and hilarious insights. If you like watching bad movies with your best friends (or if you're the type who can't help making wise comments when you see something lame), MST3K should be a treat, making this collection the equivalent of a candy shop of humor.