MYSTERY SCIENCE
THEATER 3000 - BEGINNING OF THE END
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Beginning of the End (1957)
Starring: Peter Graves, Peggie Castle
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Encoding: Region 1
(U.S. and Canada only)
Format: Colour, Black & White
Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Run Time: 92
DVD Features: Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo); Also includes the uncut version of the film
Movie:
 
Disc:
 This
may not be the funniest Mystery Science Theater
3000 -
the now-defunct TV show that lampooned bad movies
-
episode, but it definitely isn't the worst either by a long shot. (In the
scheme of official Mystery Science Theater 3000
DVDs it's better than The Brain That Wouldn't Die, but not as
good as Eegah! Nowhere as good as Prince of
Space though, which remains unreleased on either DVD or video.)
Anyway, in this B&W 1950s movie reminiscent of
Them! Chicago is threatened by giant
elephant-sized mutant grasshoppers (or is that locusts?). Soon we have
scenes of the U.S. ineffectually battling superimposed grasshoppers.
Funniest is when we have shots of grasshoppers climbing up a skyscraper
which are in fact shots of real grasshoppers walking on a photograph!
Predating Vietnam, a plan is hatched to destroy Chicago in
order to save it, but the requisite 1950s scientist type (here played by
Peter Graves) comes up with a goofy plan to drown them all in a nearby lake
by impersonating the mating call of a grasshopper using huge amplifiers on a
motorboat. See
? I told you it was goofy.
THE DISC: As far as the bare bones official
Mystery Science Theater 3000 discs go, this
one is positively jam-packed: there is an option to watch an unedited
joke-free version of the movie. (One might want to do this since the movie
is pretty funny in its own right - unintentionally funny, that is . . .)
We also get an ad for a
sci-fi box set titled The Brain in the Box which features movies such
Teenagers from Outer Space and The
Brain That Wouldn't Die as well as teaser excerpts for three other
Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVDs, namely
Eegah!, The Brain That Wouldn't Die and
The Wild Wild World of Batwoman (probably my next
Amazon.com purchase).
WORTH IT? If you're a fan of this show, then yes.
RECOMMENDATION: If you're a newbie, then kick off
with Mystery Science Theater 3000 - the Movie
instead.
NOTE: If you live outside the States and Canada,
you can only buy these Mystery Science Theater
3000 discs via an online retailer such as
Amazon.com.)
|
