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I've piled up $70 worth of gift certs to Best Buy and I'm finally going to use them. I would like to dive into the wonderful world that is MST3K, what with the new DVD collections coming out. My question is, which of the 4 that are currently out would you guys recommend?

Of course, I'm looking for a collection that is consistently funny, but I'll make an exception if one of the volumes contains a certain movie, of which I have little recollection.

The bit I remember in particular is where a couple of natives are trying to escape captivity in a small canoe-type boat. They're well on their way to freedom when a giant crab rises from the depths and spears both of 'em like a shish-ke-bab. Then, cut to head evil guy watching this, he has a patch over one eye, and one of the 'bots quips "Hey, I just saw half a crab kill a guy." This was extremely funny to me and one of my friends, we couldn't stop laughing. It only got worse in the following scene; patch guy is reporting the incident to his boss, who says "I think you are losing sight of your goal.", cut to the patch guy, 'bot says "I don't think that's very funny, sir." Me and my friend were howling at this point, and when we noticed that none of our other friends watching this were nearly as amused as we were, well, it just encouraged us.

Pardon me for reminiscing, but I'm sure you've had moments like that too. Anyway, if that film, which I think had Gamera in it too, is on one of the collections I'll take it regardless of what else is in there.

Look for Gamera and it's sequel. It's the closest thing to a Godzilla MST3K possible, and funny as hell.

You must see them do "Manos: The Hands of Fate". I believe they actually apologized for that movie, because it sucked so badly.

SyntaxVorlon wrote:Look for Gamera and it's sequel. It's the closest thing to a Godzilla MST3K possible, and funny as hell.

Those haven't been released. Besides, in season two they MSTed Godzilla vs the Sea Serpent and Godzilla vs Megalon.

I only have Volume One, but it's pretty good. The Creeping Terror is great, because at parts it just becomes absolutely rediculous.

"Sidehackers." Joel and the Bots do the best "Hike up your britches" song I've ever heard.

What exactly is MST3K?

Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is a TV show in the US, in which a group of characters watch terribly bad movies and make comments about what they see. It was originally a local TV show in Minneapolis, but was picked up by Comedy Central, who ran it for several years. The Sci-Fi Channel picked it up after Comedy Central cancelled it, running several more years of new episodes (CC doesn't show the episodes they have). This show has a large cult following in the US, partly due to people trading tapes of episodes, which the producers seem to encourage to the point that they put the words "keep circulating the tapes" in the end credits. Fans of the show call themselves MSTies.

The premise is that a man is put into space by a group of mad scientists trying to find a bad movie capable of driving people mad. He built a small group of robots, some of whom watch the movies with him, to keep him company, and they make jokes and remarks to stave off madness. Over the course of the series, many of the human cast members left and were replaced (including the show's creator, who played the original captive). The premise is really played for laughs, and secondary to the watching of the movies, in which the captive human and the robots' silhouettes are projected at the bottom of the screen as they watch.

Note that Comedy Central does not have any ownership rights to the CC Era episodes. Best Brains does.

How much are these running for?

MSRP for the sets are $60 USD.

That movie described in the OP sounds a lot like Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

Thanks for the suggestions guys, it looks like I may just go ahead and start off with Volume 1 then.

Sylas - I'll have to look that one up, cuz I don't recall Godzilla showing his mug in that one, but I wouldn't doubt it. I still crack up over that "Half a crab kill a guy" line.

Mebbe I'll post the descriptions of the collections, to see if any of them look particularly good to all y'all. Off to Amazon.com!!!

Cromag wrote:Thanks for the suggestions guys, it looks like I may just go ahead and start off with Volume 1 then.

Sylas - I'll have to look that one up, cuz I don't recall Godzilla showing his mug in that one, but I wouldn't doubt it. I still crack up over that "Half a crab kill a guy" line.

I can 100% guarentee that it is.

The Final Sacrifice is my personal favorite.

People have also written their own MiSTings of movies. Like most fanfics these range from really good to something that should be MiSTed itself.

The best (and longest) I've ever read is Chuck's MiSTing of RotJ.

Overdrawn At The Memory Bank and Space Mutiny are great.

Space Mutiny is especially hilarious in that it blatantly recycles footage from Battlestar Galactica. Shamelessly. They even called the fighters "Viper fighters"! It was... wow.

I'm sure I can't go wrong by starting off with Vol. 1, but the other collections also contain a bunch of the shorts they had occasionally:

Vol. 4:
"Hamlet"
"The Girl With the Golden Boots"
"Overdrawn at the Memory Bank"
"Space Mutiny"

Vol. 3:
"The Sidehackers"
"The Unearthly"
"The Atomic Brain" (with short: What About Juvenile Delinquency?)
The Shorts, Vol. 2: Catching Trouble, What To Do On A Date, Last Clear Chance, A Day At The Fair, Keeping Clean & Neat and The Days of Our Years

Vol. 2:
"Pod People"
"Cave Dwellers"
"Angels' Revenge"
The Shorts, Vol. 1: The Home Economics Story, Junior Rodeo Daredevils, Body Care & Grooming, Cheating, A Date with Your Family, and Why Study Industrial Arts?

So, any of you hardcore fans think Vol. 1 is my best choice?

Spanky - Thanks to you and Sylas! If I can get my hands on that one too my life will be that much closer to complete. Gads, that's rather pathetic...

I highly recommend Final Justice and Mitchell, both starring Joe Don Baker.

Mitchell!
Heart's poundin'!
Mitchell!
Vein's cloggin'!

Rumor had it Joe Don Baker hated the MST3K guys.....

Get. Volume. Two.GET. VOLUME. TWO.

You will not regret it.
Pod People and Cave Dwellers are two of the funniest ones I ever saw. IMO these two had the best outside the theater scenes as well.
Hamsters in a box...oh God that was funny.
I`m so glad I found those two at Suncoast.

Volume 2 is excellent. Cave Dwellers is one of my favorites. If I ever find myself at the ends of the earth, I'll remember to ask for Earl because of this movie. Who's that behind the Foster-Grants? It's OG!!