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MST3K "Manos" Arrives on DVD 296

Posted by CmdrTaco from the the-master-is-waiting dept.
malicioususer writes "According to this page the legendary MST3K episode "Manos: Hands of Fate" appears on DVD November 20th. If you can bring yourself to endure only one MST3K, this is the one." A great present for anyone you want to punish this christmas ;)
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MST3K "Manos" Arrives on DVD More

MST3K "Manos" Arrives on DVD

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  • MST3k (Score:2, Funny)

    by JohnnyKnoxville ( 311956 )
    EEGAH!
  • I know that movie is considered bad, but is it worse than Battlefield Earth?
    • um, according to IMDB [imdb.com], it's not. Manos is the 3rd lowest score, BE is about 120 positions up.
      • The current ratings have Manos in the large block tied for second... but it has almost 3000 votes - 10 times more than the "winner," and over three times more votes than any of its peers.

        It even has close to a thousand more votes than _Police Academy: Mission to Moscow_, the movie with the second most votes.

        That has to count for something. Any bad movie can get negative votes, but it takes a really bad movie to get 50% more negative votes than a _Police Academy_ movie!
        • One other oddity - 9.8% of the votes rank it 10 (excellent), 81.4% rank it 1 (awful). The "winner" has 13.1% ranking it 10, 64.4% rank it 1 (awful).

          That means 186 people gave the "winner" a 1, vs. 2391 for Manos.

          What more proof do you need? 97.3% of statistics lie!
        • The current ratings have Manos in the large block tied for second... but it has almost 3000 votes - 10 times more than the "winner," and over three times more votes than any of its peers.

          I/ve always wondered about a proper voting method that would take into account the volume of a response, but which would not be subject to ballot stuffing.

          And let's face it, there are a number of small time flicks out there that would not make the big time for obvious reasons. The one that made the the worst movie of all time was a batwoman movie.


    • I have seen manos several times, I even own a copy. It is by far the worst movie ever made. If you get the MST3k version, it is at least somewhat watchable. Without their commentary, however, kiss your sanity goodbye. Why is it so bad?


      We start out with 20 minutes of footage of corn fields being shot from a moving car. Most of these shots are the same, reused again and again. Little dialogue, nothing happens. Then we get to the cottage, where the family's car breaks down. Since it's dark, they obviously cannot drive home so they have to ask to stay. We meet Torgo, who is a centaur, with cloven hooves and all. The man who played Torgo killed himself a few weeks after the movie was made.


      Torgo develops a crush on the mother. Wierd things happen. The master has a harem he dances with. There are some strange things involving dogs. The rest is too odd to describe. Worse still? They only had a camera with a 30 second film capacity, there is no scene longer than 30 seconds. They had no audio equipment, all vocies were dubbed later on. Poorly. In short, it's bad. Real bad.


      This movie makes battlefield earth look like an oscar caliber movie. It makes you appreciate the plot of Plan 8 From Outer Space and even Glen or Glenda. It makes Nigh of the Lepus and The Stuff seem like well done movies. In short, the only movie I could think of that might possibly be worse is this [imdb.com], and I doubt it's even a real movie.

  • in case it gets /. 'ed (Score:2, Informative)

    by ath0mic ( 519762 )
    Manos - Hands Of Fate - Mystery Science Theater 3000
    While on vacation, a couple and their young daughter end up at the lodge of goatman Torgo, the assistant to "The Master."
    Torgo and Master operate a bed and cult-fest, complete with satanic rituals in the backyard.
    This movie is like watching a train wreck -- you can't bear to look but you can't turn away.
    DVD version includes Poopie, the official MST3K blooper reel.

    [127 MIN.; COLOR; NOT RATED]

  • mst3k (Score:1, Funny)

    by Daspek ( 132130 )
    do you know how long it took me to figure out that mst3k was mystery science theater 3000?

    not quite 20 seconds.

    • Re:mst3k (Score:3, Funny)

      by tomblackwell ( 6196 )
      The next version of the slashcode software will automatically remove all vowels from words. It will also turn any phrase that it's ever seen before into an acronym.

      The slashdot readership will love it. Apparently superfluous letters anger them.

  • MST3K (Score:3, Funny)

    by mr_Spook ( 458791 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:05PM (#2587335) Homepage
    Hooah! Love MST3K here, good to see this happening.

    Though, one thing that would be amusing is if they put Joel and the 'bots on a commentary track so you could watch the movie without...

    ...no wait, bad idea. I'll shut up.

    • Re:MST3K (Score:3, Funny)

      by connorbd ( 151811 )
      You're just asking for DEEP HURTING.

      Trying to think of where it was that I read some history of Manos and it turned out to be an unfinished derelict wreck of a movie that someone thought they could resurrect...

      I think I need this DVD, though.

      /Brian

    • Re:MST3K (Score:2, Funny)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )
      The only reason the movie doesn't destroy your mind is that Joel and the bots hurl a steady stream of abuse at it. Without their commentary, your head would fill up with evil and explode.
    • I had heard that on at least some MST3K DVDs, they did exactly that--you could choose to watch the movie with the bots overlaid onto it, or you could choose to watch it "straight".

      Do they not do this anymore?
  • This might be a *little* offtopic, but are there any plans to post a Geek's Wishlist for this year? There have been some great submissions in years' past, and I think we'd all love to see them.

    NP
    • Ever since that year right after the IPO when ESR posted the list demanding items such as "a solid gold toilet", "bigger fireplace to burn stacks of $100 bills", "private Lear jet (w. heatseaking missiles)" and "hot tub filled with Dom Peringon", I stopped paying attention to the wish lists.

      j/k -- that would be nice to see, eh? I wouldn't think it's too late; most people don't buy the bulk of their xmas gifts until after Thanksgiving.

  • Yeah! (Score:5, Funny)

    by cluening ( 6626 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:06PM (#2587344) Homepage
    This movie was so, uh, good that I named my Handspring Visor after it. Yup, its name is "Manos, the Handspring of Fate".

    What, did you think I had named it Torgo?

  • Sweet (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous DWord ( 466154 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:07PM (#2587347) Homepage
    Anything with "goatman Torgo" and Satanic rituals can't be all bad. And for only 20 bucks!

    Reviews here [largo.fl.us] and here [largo.fl.us].

  • MST3K targets (Score:5, Funny)

    by Michael Woodhams ( 112247 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:08PM (#2587351) Journal
    What I want to see MST3Ked are "Independence Day" (Oh, so nobody fleeing alien invaders is prepared to drive on the wrong side of the freeway?) and "Deep Impact" (We made underground accomodation for 2 million people in a few months - and kept it a complete secret. We just painted 100,000 workers and 10,000 trucks camoflage green so the press wouldn't see them.)

    I doubt they could afford the rights to do this, however.
    • Battlefield Earth, maybe? (Okay, you can only come up with so many E-meter jokes, and you need at least fifty of them for any given Travolta movie...)

      /Brian
      • That was the only thing that made this movie enjoyable. The fact that me and my friends made fun of it through the entire thing.

        That scene where all the aliens are sitting around drinking, the moment they cut to it, my friends and I simultaneously broke into the Star Wars Canteena song.

      • Y'know, the only reason we SAW that movie was so that we could play Joel & friends after smoking a fattie. Unfortunately, the movie was so astoundingly atrocious that our powers of mockery were beaten into submission. Furthermore it was a tremendous buzzkill.

        I mean, there were points during that movie where the only appropriate response was to cry a river. Hardly MST3K worthy. It was that bad.

    • Hell, I'd like to see what they'd do to a move we've all see a zillion times (and probably made fun of already!) -- Star Wars (episode 1 would be great!), Titanic, Gladiator, Fight Club..

      The so-called good movies can be just as fun to ridicule as the really bad ones!
    • Just imagine what they can do with Jar-Jar...
      • Just imagine what they can do with Jar-Jar...

        Tear him limb from limb in an orgy of violence?

        Oh, wait, you meant in the way of satirical commentary, didn't you? Well, that could work too...I guess....

        -Legion

    • Well, Mike Nelson was head writer on the show for most of its run, so if you want to see examples of him ripping into hollywood movies...get the book [amazon.com].

    • Re:MST3K targets (Score:4, Informative)

      by MindStalker ( 22827 ) <mindstalker@[ ]il.com ['gma' in gap]> on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:38PM (#2587456) Journal
      Well you know the DVD of GhostBusters has a MST3K "feature" its really awesome! I think they could easily reach deals with many distrubution companies to make MST3K versions of popular movies, But so far that is the only one that I know of.
      • This isn't a MST3K-type commentary where they make fun of the movie - it's the director (Ivan Reitman), writer/co-star (Harold Ramis), and a producer just talking about the movie as usual. Men in Black has a similar visual commentary track with Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Sonnenfeld. While certainly an homage to MST3K, in neither track do I see any of the participants getting up to do 'funny things' visually like MST3K did, either.

        Among my favorites:

        • Joel getting up and running along the highway in Warrior of the Lost World.
        • Joel opening an umbrella to cover a nude scene in City Limits.
        • Timmy (the dark,evil Crow) coming in from the side of theater and slowly (over the course of minutes) sneaking over to attack Tom Servo.
      • "Muppets In Space" has this feature too. Kermit, Rizzo, Gonzo The Great and the director discuss the film, and some "behind the scenes facts" (mostly made up).

        I thought it was very funny... but I'm a sucker for anything with Gonzo The Great.
    • My girlfriend and I were actually talking about this over dinner on Saturday. We figured that the MST3k folks could do a commentary channel on the DVD release of even decent movies.

      I figure the biggest issue would be that you wouldn't have the heads or the clips before/after the commercials (some of the funniest stuff is the movement of the heads in front of the screen, etc). Can you do a digital overlay?

      I also think that a pop-up video style factoid feature would be great with a lot of movies. Imagine how much interesting stuff you could come up with.

      Of course, the real question is: Would directors and studios be willing to have their own movies subjected to the ribbing they would take from either of these formats? Probably not.

      • I figure the biggest issue would be that you wouldn't have the heads or the clips before/after the commercials (some of the funniest stuff is the movement of the heads in front of the screen, etc). Can you do a digital overlay?

        Yes, you can, the Ghostbusters DVD did this for its directors' commentary and it is TOO funny....

    • What I want to see MST3Ked are "Independence Day"

      Yanno, MST3K ruined me. Now, I sit and make comments more than I ever did before it...

      Remember when, in ID, the president said, "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not go down without a fight!"? I always say "I will not eat them, Sam I am. I will not eat, green eggs and ham."
      • MST3K had ruined my son, before he even hit kindergarten, I kid you not.

        He was a big fan of the Comedy Central showings and would beg to watch them daily. I didn't realize how much it had affected him at the time.

        One weekend, my spouse was a GOH at a small con. My son got his own 'handler', a child care person in charge of keeping him entertained during panels. She asked for permission to screen Jurassic Park for my son in the private movie theatre at the hotel. He'd never seen the film because of our concerns about its violence, but I reluctantly agreed.

        I went to check on him at some point and found him sitting with his handler in the theatre *heckling* the film, a la Joel and the bots. At the moment I walked in, a velociraptor was stalking the child stars on screen, while my son crooned, "Here, dinner dinner dinner! Here boy!" and "Mmmmm! I smell pasta with MEAT sauce!"

        He was five at the time.

        • I have a son that is two. I can only hope that I will be as upstanding a father as you have been. If my son is clever enough to make astute jokes at Spielberg films, I think I'll be proud.

          No sarcasm. Totally serious. Brah-vo.

    • two words:Star Wars
  • I take care of the place while the master is away. And what's up with those knees of his?
  • If they start putting out a lot of the MST3K episodes on DVD, it would be cool if they would somehow reward you (a mail-in offer perhaps) with a DVD episode guide that contained descriptions of all the episodes.
    • Yeah, I want to see "Leave the Bronx"...added extras could include a 19-minute extended hardcore remix of Tom Servo's rendition of the credits music, backed up by some aging former punk-hardcore rocker...Flea should do nicely... :D

  • Only one? (Score:3, Funny)

    by GreaterThanZero ( 537712 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:17PM (#2587379)
    Gah...if Manos was the only episode of MST3K I had watched, I'd be dead right now. My whole world view changed. I saw evil in its purest fertilizer-salesman form. I dread the day when my friends finally make me show them the episode...cuz yeah, I do own it. I've protected them this long from the horror. I'm going to miss those friends.

  • MST3K: The Movie (Score:2, Informative)

    by Mr. Pibb ( 26775 )
    Is already out on DVD. I'm not going to plug any retalier specifically, but I'm sure you can pick it up cheaply (I think I spent 8.99). The video quality is nice, though they did cut out a huge chunk of This Island Earth, some of which was pretty crucial (why did they try to leave the camp? you'll never know if you see their edit).
    see this [imdb.com] for the IMDb page.
  • This was incredibly bad. Think a half dozen people in the desert with one camera and a script written in one night with the assistance of some booze or something. Then when they got back from their filming, they found that the sound hadn't worked, so they had to loop it and they (obviously) did a poor job.

    I can't wait for this one! It's been a while since it aired.
  • ....manos....

    .... the hands of fate.
  • ...I can stand to hear TomServo say, "Manos, the hands of fate" before I go stark raving mad!

    This is, I believe, the only MST3K wherein "Buffy & Hildegard" actually apologize to Joel and co. about the quality of the film. I can't imagine punishing myself by having it in my collection...

    Well, maybe I can.

  • Oh the searing pain! I think I actually saw this-- without the silhouettes and witty humor of Tom Servo, Crow, and Mike on late-night TV when I'd drank a few too many frappuccinos and couldn't nod off. I had no idea there was an MST3K version... (what kind of geek am I to have not seen every episode? ...I have friends who have).

    There are plenty of great (or should I say... well... not-great) movies that MST3K never got to before it's final run. True shame.

  • Yay Mike! or Joel... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by aratuk ( 524269 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:22PM (#2587397)
    If you liked MST3K when it was running, you should check out Edward The Less [scifi.com], an "online series" with the same writers and actors.
    You should also check in on this MST3K tape-trading site [geocities.com] from time-to-time. It's still under construction, but it'll be cool when they finish it.
  • I know I would be willing to pay. But I wish that when these type of shows are realeased that they would put a Season or two on One DVD. Then I could sit on the couch and ignore /. for a little longer. I REALLY WISH that they would do this with farscape. Besides what a waste of storage space.
  • ...they could have included Mr. B Natural with this. And I can only hope there is a soundtrack only option so I can listen to the "haunting Torgo theme" over and over in pure digital clarity...

  • For those who care... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Wakko Warner ( 324 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:29PM (#2587416) Homepage Journal
    "Mitchell" is also available, according to amazon.com.

    - A.P.

  • Get PreView (Score:2, Informative)

    by bstadil ( 7110 )
    For those without Cable, outside the US or anyone else that haven't got a clue what this is. You can get a PreView using Morpheus [morpheus.com] or KaZaA [kazaa.com]. There is lots of MST3K floating around. Remember to buy the DVD if you like it.

  • And for those of you who don't know spanish... (Score:3, Funny)

    by AtariDatacenter ( 31657 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:35PM (#2587438)
    Manos is the Spanish word for hands. That's right. The title actually *means* "Hands: The Hands of Fate". Trust me, the title is just as brilliant as the plot. But nothing can beat a Torgo screen saver!

  • not a big fan (Score:5, Funny)

    by minusthink ( 218231 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:35PM (#2587442)
    I'm not a big fan of MST3k. I would really like it except for those idiots at the bottom of the screen and make fun of the movie. It really gets on my nerves.

  • They've taken a movie that should have remained forever obscure and forgotten, and made it almost... popular. At least the some of the MST movies (like Godzilla and Hercules) have a campy retro value... Manos, however, is just a nightmare - and now it's on DVD!!
  • was some stinker of a flic that had, of all things, figure skating.

    Well they had an overhead view of about 60 some-odd skaters in a + formation, spinning.

    Well, they broke off into pairs and joined with another pair from a different leg of the + and Tom Servo spoke up with "And we see Cellular Mitosis begin!"

    Very few times I've laughed so damn hard in my life... and a geek/science joke, of all things.
    What sent me into hysterics is that is *excactly* what it looked like and what I was thinking.

    I was asked "what is so damn funny" and could not breathe, much less explain.

    I don't recall catching this particular episode.
    Anyone care to 'splain?
  • Get it here [amazon.com]. Or for the goataphobic: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005S8L6
  • For us Chicagoans, we still revel in Svengoolie [geocities.com], a.k.a. Son of Svengoolie, a.k.a. Rich Koz. Sven was doing Svensurround sound [whc2002.org] before MST3K. WHen I was a young-un, you'd waste many a Saturday watching really bad horror movies just because he was hosting. My fave - Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. He also had all of Chicago buying stupid 3D glasses (the kind that split by red/blue) just to see Swamp Thing in Sven 3D. Plus, he has rubber chickens.

    Berrrrrr-wynnnnnn. Buy me a T-shirt [geocities.com] will ya?

  • I think someone told me that there was one episode of MST3K where the movie was so bad the Bots broke down; they were reduced to sobbing, unable to continue hurling sarcastic abuse, because the movie was just too bad... and Joel shouted at the mad scientists "Look what you've done!" and the mads looked ashamed. Was that this movie, some other one, or am I just confused?

    steveha
    • It was...it was..."MANOS: The Hands Of Fate". Not actually that enjoyable a MST3k, it was more of a legendarily bad movie. Most MST3K episodes are more funny and a lot more watchable.
    • It was one of the FU Manchu movies. Curse of.. it might have been.

      It was so bad Joel and the Bots copped out on their jokes, and the mads actually gave each other a high-five for their film choice.

  • Production Info (Score:5, Funny)

    by Detritus ( 11846 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:43PM (#2587474) Homepage
    See The Hand That Time Forgot [jophan.org] by Richard Brandt for some interesting background information on the production of this film.

  • They chose well... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 90XDoubleSide ( 522791 ) <ninetyxdoublesid ... minus herbivore> on Monday November 19, 2001 @09:46PM (#2587486)
    Anyone else notice how many of the IMDB's 100 Worst Films [imdb.com] have been on MST3K? Of course many of them are probably there because MST3K has gotten the required 20 people to watch them. Manos: the Hands of Fate is #2 ;)
    • I'm sorry, but the IMDB's 100 worst films doesn't include Robot Jox or its sequel (which I had the foresight not to see).

      Perhaps it's because only 19 people have seen it, but man, I have never ever seen a movie worse than that. Hell, it made Dolf Lundgren in _The Punisher_ look like Al Pacino.
  • like me, and too lazy to hit Google:

    From IMdB [imdb.com]'s MST3k page, by [imdb.com]

    The show is about a guy, named Mike Nelson, who is stuck up in space with his robot companions, and they have to endure bad movie after bad movie. That's all that you have to know to get started. The whole plot is confusing if I try to get you up to speed in the next few lines, but trust me, this is a show you cannot afford to miss.

    and on the same site by Joe Pranevich {knight@wave.lm.com}

    In the not too distant future (next Sunday, A.D.) Joel Robinson was under the employ of one Dr. Clayton Forrester. By trapping Joel in space and sending him bad movies, Dr. Forrester and his assistants (such as TV's Frank) attempted to determine the movie that, when inflicted on the masses, would cause insanity and he could control the world. To combat this, Joel invented several robots to keep him company and to heckle the movies mercilessly to ensure his sanity. After several years, Joel escaped to be replaced by Mike Neslon, a temp worker without a clue. After Mike and the bots were turned into omniscient energy beings, they returned to the Satellite of Love (their ship) in the future and were confronted with new adversaries including Pearl Forrester (Dr. Forrester's cryo-frozen mother), Professor Bobo (an ape), and Observer (a super-intelligent alien that carries his brain in a bowl).


    If you want more detail read the basics about MST3k [mst3kinfo.com]. An excerpt: Although the details of its premise have changed radically over its 11-year history, Mystery Science Theater 3000 has always been about one thing: making fun of bad movies.

    The official show website is http://www.scifi.com/mst3000/ [scifi.com] and here [ibiblio.org] is a huge page of links from ibiblio.org [ibiblio.org]. Apparently there are several tape trading sites, loads of fan sites, quotes pages, episode guides and so on.

    There is an Official FAQ [mst3kinfo.com] on the official Mystery Science Theater 3000 Information Club website [mst3kinfo.com], and another page of interesting looking MST3k-related junk at John's Mystery Science Theater 3000 WWW Page [linuxsavvy.com] which makes the cut for this post because of course it's hosted on linuxsavvy.com (I think it's a private consulting company but I'm not associated with it).

    Have fun!

    Oh, yeah, I'd second the suggestion [slashdot.org] about the Geek's wishlist for 2002.

    Christopher
  • A few favorite quips off the top o' my head:
    • Good Night! Stay pink, soft, and oily!
    • Uh... that's not how you wear your Depends, Torgo.
    • You never had a poodle!
    • You led me on, you gave me mixed signals...
    • Boy, Russ Weatherwax really outdid himself with this dog!
    Who's got more? C'mon! Post'em!

      • "Y'know, this is the slowest car chase scene I've ever seen."
      • "Visit beautiful ground zero."
      • "They just dissolved to the same scene."
      • "Look, could we drop off Tim Weisberg now?"
      • "Manos: The Hands of Fate was filmed on location in a vacant lot."
      • "Been hittin' the ThighMaster, Torgo?"
      • "DO SOMETHING!!"
      • "Oh, c'mon, die; my arms are getting tired."
      • "A crew? They had a crew!? I do not believe this movie had a crew."
      • "These guys have the longest shift."
      • "Wait! There's somethin' gainin' on us... Oh, it's just the top. I'm intensely stupid."
      • "C'mon, fling 'er! Sidearm! Go for distance!"
      • "The haunting... Torgo theme."
      • "Well, his technique has improved somewhat."
      • "This isn't Lysistrata. I like it, but it isn't Lysistrata."

      Everyone needs to see this episode at least once. You will shake your head in utter bewilderment.

      Schwab

  • The only thing I can think of that might be better would be "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"!

    Joel: Oh, and would you like for Christmas, little crow?

    Crow: I want to decide who lives and who dies!

    Joel: Oh, I don't know...

    I was always proud when going to high school that I was learning in the same class room that Joel Hodgeson was in. Unfortunatly, none of the local cable networks recieved the Comedy Channel/Comedy Central, so no one even knew what the show was. Good 'ol sleepy eyed Joel.

    :^)

    Ryan Fenton

  • MST3k LIve! Well, maybe not.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by EvilJohn ( 17821 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @10:25PM (#2587576) Homepage

    For those of you who live in or near Austin Texas, a local comedy group, Mr. Sinus Theater 3000 [mrsinus.com], does live MSTk 3000 type of shows at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse [drafthouse.com]. I reccomend the shows highly. They did Footloose, renacting the horrible Chicken-Tractor scene at halftime, using tricycles instead. I nearly passed out, but that could have been the beer.

    To Quote the theme song: "We show movies live, not on TV, we show films with nudity..."

  • If you watch MST3K on the Sci-Fi channel, the last episode to be shown on television will be December 29th. For more information on this, go the the official fan club site [mst3kinfo.com] and scroll down to "THE FINAL SCHEDULE". Sci-Fi has not renewed their contract to show episodes past January. Even if they did, they could only show reruns; the set has long since been torn down and sold on Ebay.

    My karma is high enough, please do not give more. That includes negative amounts.

  • MST Notes (Score:3, Informative)

    by Reverend Raven ( 135361 ) <revraven@gmail.com> on Monday November 19, 2001 @11:36PM (#2587741) Homepage
    Firstly: Thank the gods other people think having Mike and the Bots on every DVD would be a good thing. And hey, they could have a short host segument before the movie, then the movie, then another short one after the flick. It'd be great! ;)

    Secondly: The reason Best Brains/Rhino doesn't put out whole seasons is because of the film rights. After many of these..."classic" flicks were shown to Joel/Mike and the Bots, the copyright holders quickly jacked up the price of using the films. Some people, like Sandy Frank, didn't know what Best Brains was doing to their movies, and they were furious. So for a lot of the movies, the rights have expired and the cost of getting them for video distribution is (apparently) higher than projected sales.

    Now what I find interesting is that Best Brains themselves has released some new episodes on video. The thing is that Rhino's not involved in it, and they're from the Sci-Fi Channel years. They're available at mst3kinfo.com. That means that Best Brains owns the rights to these movies, and arn't going through a disto such as Rhino. Very interesting. Maybe people could lobby BBI hard enough that they'd release DVDs (Doubtful, but it never hurts).

    And lastly, Sci-Fi is removing MST from their lineup after December. So watch and tape now, or check around for episodes. eBay has some general episodes, and private citizens have been known to have a large episode as well as rare tape collection. ;)

    • Re:MST Notes (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Galvatron ( 115029 )
      Secondly: The reason Best Brains/Rhino doesn't put out whole seasons is because of the film rights.


      Yet another wonderful thing killed by copyrights in excess of 100 years... If copyrights still lasted 24 years, everything made prior to Star Wars would be up for grabs now.

  • Redefining "Bad Movie" (Score:3, Informative)

    by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @11:42PM (#2587758) Homepage Journal

    Many movies vie for the coveted crown of Worst Movie Ever Made. Most people typically award this mantle to Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space.

    They are wrong.

    You thought Plan Nine was bad? You thought Waterworld was bad? You thought Highlander II was bad? You have not experienced bad until you have endured the horror, the banality, the stunningly bewildering mess that is...

    Manos: The Hands of Fate.

    Most movies that people call "bad" are movies that merely failed to entertain them. Manos, however, will have you shaking your head in utter bewilderment as you ask yourself, "What were they thinking?" and, "How could they not know this sucked?" Filmed on grainy 8mm stock (and if it wasn't 8mm, it sure looks like it), the movie is in focus barely half the time, and poorly framed the other half. Scenes plod along at a glacial pace as "actors" stand around in utter silence as the camera continues rolling, waiting patiently for them to remember their lines, or at least ad lib one.

    It is worth seeing, just to know that such things exist. You will be amazed. And not in a good way.

    Schwab

  • This one is only funny if you're already a fan, otherwise the movie is just too amazingly bad to enjoy.

    For example, the part when the scientists are apologizing for how bad the movie is won't make sense if this is your FIRST one.

    I'd recommend starting with a Gamera or Godzilla movie. The movies are prob more familar, and the jokes are great.

  • I can't believe (Score:3, Funny)

    by rjamestaylor ( 117847 ) <rjamestaylor@gmail.com> on Monday November 19, 2001 @11:43PM (#2587766) Journal
    I can't believe Slashdot editors posted a story about a movie with a lead character named "Goatman".

    **shudder**

  • For those of you with Windows. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Glytch ( 4881 ) on Tuesday November 20, 2001 @12:03AM (#2587812)
    I take care of your screen while you're away. [cwru.edu]

  • For all you MSTies out there--Download 'em! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Exantrius ( 43176 ) on Tuesday November 20, 2001 @12:52AM (#2587925)
    Hey, for all of you guys who love the old MST3k episodes that *AREN'T* getting released: MST3k-DAP [dapcentral.org] Also, on the zirc network in #dapcentral, and on edonkey2000 [edonkey2000.com], at, well, just check the above URL for that information.. Hasta luego, Exantrius

  • That's not all that's coming (Score:3, Informative)

    by Gizzmonic ( 412910 ) on Tuesday November 20, 2001 @01:00AM (#2587945) Homepage Journal
    If you check www.mst3kinfo.com you can find that the Brains (mst3k production company) are selling a bunch of the SciFi episodes, as well as a new shorts tape with "Operation Venezuela" (originally planned for the MST3k interactive CD-ROM which never materialized).

    I was lucky enough to see that one at their second convention in '96, and it's freakin funny. I hope they release some of the deleted scenes from the movie (like the meteor storm scene) soon.

    PS I have over 100 episodes on video tape. Who wants to be a dear and buy me a DVD writer so I can convert them all over? You know you want to!
    • When a DVD writer comes out that can handle a full episode on one disc, this is the first project I'd work on. I started recording MST3K back in the CC days - because I knew that due to the rights issues (and the fact that only 1/1000 people really 'get' the show), they'd probably never be rerun down the line.

  • They got close, but the *best* MST3k? Tied..... (Score:3, Funny)

    by veddermatic ( 143964 ) on Tuesday November 20, 2001 @02:16AM (#2588067) Homepage
    Outlaw of Gor and Mitchel. Don't get me wrong, Manos is a classic, top ten episode, and maybe the worst movie they ever did... well, except maybe Monster a Go-Go.


    Jack Pallance in an MST... too funny to begin with. But the lines f*ing RULE. "I'll just follow your butt!" (orchestra hit sound effect) "Oh, maybe not" and "Oh look, *another* nice day!" are jsut too classic.


    Mitchell is possibly the best of the best.... "Ohh, he's landed jsut short of the green" and "*pnat* *pant*, uhhhhh... there's gotta be a beer around here somewhere...." are too good.


    Then again, Godzilla vs. Megalon is alos too damn good, as is Human Duplicators. Crap. How can you pick just one!!!!

  • ... but did you know Gamera is freind to all children?

    Yea, I heard he's made of turtle meat.

    It's really neat!


    BTW, best episode ever? The Day the Earth Froze [mindspring.com]. With the short Here Comes the Circus... "Oh my god! They're doing it clown style!"


    I thought the line for the gold would be much longer...

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