| Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jim Mallon |
| Produced by | Jim Mallon |
| Written by | Joel Hodgson (TV series) Michael J. Nelson & Trace Beaulieu & Jim Mallon & Kevin Murphy & Mary Jo Pehl & Paul Chaplin & Bridget Jones (screenplay) |
| Starring | Michael J. Nelson Trace Beaulieu Kevin Murphy Jim Mallon John Brady |
| Music by | Billy Barber |
| Cinematography | Jeff Stonehouse |
| Editing by | Bill Johnson |
| Studio | Gramercy Pictures Best Brains |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 19, 1996 |
| Running time | 74 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,007,306 (USA) |
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a 1996 theatrical adaptation of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced and set between seasons 6 and 7 of the show. It was released by Gramercy Pictures and Best Brains with distribution held by Universal Pictures. The Film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA.
MST3K: The Movie was filmed away from the Best Brains corporate headquarters and studio in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, at Energy Park Studios in St. Paul. It stars Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, and Jim Mallon.
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The movie opens with mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu), working from an underground laboratory, explaining the premise of the film (and associated TV series). Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson) and the robots Crow T. Robot (Beaulieu), and Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy), along with Gypsy (Jim Mallon), are aboard the Satellite of Love high in Earth's orbit, when Dr. Forrester forces them to watch the movie This Island Earth to break their wills; as per the television show, Mike, Crow, and Tom make fun of the movie as it airs.
The movie riffing scenes are bookended and interspersed with short sketches. Prior to the movie, Crow attempts to dig through the ship's hull to return to Earth. After the filmstrip breaks and Dr. Forrester reloads it, Crow and Tom dare Mike to drive the Satellite himself, but ends up crashing into the Hubble Space Telescope; Mike then tries to repair the Hubble using the Satellite's manipulator arms, MANOS, but instead further damages the unit before Gypsy takes over. Some time into the film, Tom reveals that he has an interocitor like that used in This Island Earth. The gang tries to use Tom's device to return to Earth, but instead contact a Metalunan (the alien race from the film) who is unable to help them to figure out how to use it correctly but does accidentally repeatedly zap Tom's head with a laser beam. The contact is broken by Dr. Forrester, who also has an interocitor, and he zaps the group to encourage them back to the movie theater.
After the movie, Mike, Crow, and Tom are far from broken, celebrating in various Metaluna ways. Dr. Forrester, furious at his failure, attempts to use his own interocitor to harm Mike and the others, but only succeeds in transporting himself into the shower of the Metalunan previously seen. Mike and the robots briefly celebrate Dr. Forrester's disappearance before they realize they no longer have a way back to Earth without him. Mike says "Hey, wait a minute!" and the crew head back to the theater in time for the movie's ending credits.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released on April 19, 1996. At its widest point of North American Theatrical release Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was shown in 26 cinemas.
In its opening weekend MST3K: The Movie grossed $206,328. and in its second weekend it grossed, $110,620. It went on to gross $1,007,306.
Reviews have been mostly positive. On Rottentomatoes.com 73% of the critics liked the film. It has a 7.3 rating on IMDb.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released on VHS by MCA/Universal Home Video to rental outlets on October 1, 1996. The film was released for retail sales on April 8, 1997 on both VHS and Laserdisc formats.
MST3K: The Movie was released on DVD in 1998 by Image Entertainment, as a discount title with an MSRP of $14.99. The disc was sold until 2000, when Image Entertainment was named in a lawsuit by Universal Studios, which accused Image of under-pricing Universal titles. MST3K: The Movie was one of about 10 titles affected by this lawsuit and was pulled from distribution. The price of a used disc had risen considerably, to an average of $80 to $100 common in 2007, until the 2008 re-release, when prices dropped sharply. This release of the film contained no special features, deleted scenes, trailers or other form of extra content.
In 2003, another version of MST3K: The Movie started appearing online and at science fiction conventions. This special edition was created by an anonymous Internet fan (similar to The Phantom Edit although the film itself was not edited) and was a two disc set. This edition has the same print of the film as the 1998 DVD, along with the theatrical trailer, several television ads, a review from E! Television on the first disc; and has an hour long presentation on the second disc from the second official MST3K convention hosted by various members of Best Brains writers/performers. This presentation has a picture slideshow showing behind the scenes footage (along with BBI commentary), the "lost" theme song, a general discussion of the genesis and production of the film from Best Brains, and the cut host segment and the original, alternate ending to the film. This version of the film is recognizable for the tagline on the front cover that reads "Every year Hollywood makes hundreds of special editions. This isn't one of them", a play on the film's tagline.
In late 2005 there was a rumor that the creator of the Special Edition was working on another edition to be released for the film's 10th anniversary. The set did appear around April 2006 as the "10th Anniversary Hamdinger Edition". In addition to the above features, the 10th anniversary edition also had on set interviews with Mike, Kevin and Trace as well as a behind the scenes making of featurette.
Universal Pictures re-released the DVD on May 6, 2008. The movie is in anamorphic widescreen, and has an upgraded Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Though the original theatrical trailer was initially listed as a special feature, it was not included on the DVD.
It is also available on Netflix instant streaming.
Besides being released on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD, in recent years MST3K: TM has also been shown on the Starz and HBO television channels in the USA, and the film has been aired frequently in Europe on the Sky Movies channels.
The new theme song, cut scene, and alternate ending were shown at the "Mystery Science Theater 3000 ConventioCon ExpoFest-O-Rama 2: Electric Boogaloo" in 1996, but were not included on the VHS, laserdisc, or the original or current DVD version of the movie. However, both cut scenes and the lost "love theme" were included in both the fan produced editions that began appearing in 2003 and 2006.
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