Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 40
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 11
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie may be thin and uneven, but it's hilarious in enough of the right spots to do the show's big-screen transition justice.
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie may be thin and uneven, but it's hilarious in enough of the right spots to do the show's big-screen transition justice.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 26,596
Movie Info
The cult television series Mystery Science Theatre 3000 transfers its brand of science-fiction wisecracking to the big screen with relatively few changes. The concept is the same in series and film: an innocent man (Michael J. Nelson, playing Mike Nelson) is stranded in outer space by a mad scientist, who subjects the poor slob to "experiments" that involve watching the worst movies ever made. In order to survive this cinematic torture, Mike and his two companions, sarcastic robots Tom Servo and
Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy, Special Interest
Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy
Apr 19, 1996 Wide
Oct 10, 2000
MCA Universal Home Video
Watch It Now
Cast
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Michael J. Nelson
Mike Nelson -
Trace Beaulieu
Dr. Clayton Forreste... -
Kevin Murphy
Tom Servo -
Jim Mallon
Gypsy -
John Brady
Benkitnorf -
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All Critics (40) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (11) | DVD (21)
[The wisecracks], more often than not, don't go over. But those that do still add up to lotsa laughs, and the sheer weight of them eventually builds an atmosphere of mild lunacy that it's useless to resist.
Top CriticSo, how does movie differ from TV show? The answer is, thankfully, not a lot.
Helping to make these pleasantries funny is their spur-of-the-moment quality, the same quick spontaneity that characterizes chance remarks overheard at raucous movie houses. Capturing that bright and unexpected quality is what the MST3K crew does best.
One of the film's more likable aspects is its certainty that nothing's sacred.
Part of the appeal of the program is in the wisecracking. But the movies themselves are also crucial.
I guess there are some concepts that don't excel in the translation from the small screen to the big one.
This Island Earth is actually a GOOD movie ... For the first (and last) MST motion picture, the honor should have gone to a universally acknowledged turkey like Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster or Ed Wood's immortal Plan 9 from Outer Space.
The good news for fans is that MST3K: The Movie, for all its flaws, at least works as an okay facsimile of the real thing.
The TV show might be funnier but this is pretty solid introduction to the MST3K phenomenon.
In the theater, whenever Mike, Crow or Tom Servo flub a punchline or resort to a fart joke, you almost want to lean forward and shush them.
The translation is a little bumpy, but this is Mystery Science Theater we're talking about here: even a less concentrated effort is guaranteed to be a pants-wetting night of endless laughs and infectious bad movie grimacing.
As we were saying to Andy Rooney the other day, don't you just hate it when you go to see some old movie and find the front two rows filled with college students who think they're extremely clever and don't care who knows it?
Anything Mystery Science puts a smile on my face!
Sophomoric laughs, sure, but funny.
A bad idea for a TV show becomes a worse idea for a movie.
My guess is this highly specific art form will not survive this trip from late-night TV to the big screen. Still, fans of this genre should get plenty of what they came for.
Great fun from Mike and the Bots, who can make almost any awful movie worth sitting through.
It's fun for the entire family. And one more thing. Push the button, Frank.
Played on the big screens, but it's basically a B+ episode. Stick with Manos & Mitchell.
What is the worst thing that can happen to you in a movie theater? Sitting next to a group of people who not only talk incessantly back to the screen, but who say nothing but inanities and bathroom humor. Well, welcome to your worst nightmare.
Audience Reviews for Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Mike Nelson: Doesn't the fact that it's Universal MAKE it international?
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- Tom Servo: I use mine to make hot chocolate.
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- Mike Nelson: Look out, President Clinton!
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- Tom Servo: Captain's log: a bunch of our ship fell off, and, nobody likes me.
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- Dr. Clayton Forrester + Crow.T. Robot: [as Cal flies over Chicago] Hey, you can see the Cubs losing!
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- Dr. Clayton Forrester + Crow.T. Robot: Well, look at that: 'breach hull, all die.' Even had it underlined.
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Foreign Titles
- Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (DE)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (UK)
