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Completed Collection Thoughts: MST3K XXIV
Making two two-episodes-a-weekend double features out of it, I managed to get into and through before the end of the year one of the two Mystery Science Theater 3000 collections I had let sit in my push to comment on all the episodes. The "all foreign films" nature of this particular collection might have helped things push together that way, well enough anyway for thoughts of "I ought to get around to posting in the new year" to come to mind... In any case, the two "Fugitive Alien" episodes naturally fit together (as well as "movies" made from widely separated episodes of a serial television series fit, anyway...) I did find myself pondering the whole "I like the spirit of the earlier 'Joel episodes,' but moment-by-moment they're not quite as engaging" issue, though, even if I seemed better able to pick up the references back to previous episodes now. After the "expected" yet still welcome hilarity of "The Sword and the Dragon," I finished off things with "Samson vs. The Vampire Women," the first episode I actually commented on and therefore one that had been waiting a long time for me to get back to.
The special features of the set remain an obvious draw. For "Fugitive Alien," the indefatigable fan who had commented on all the other "Sandy Frank episodes" managed to explain some details of the original Japanese series, including pointing out how things got less nuanced and more explosive (as I might have sort of brushed on myself in my own comments) as the executives started comparing it to another, more successful "Star Wars ripoff" airing over there at the same time even as he compared it to the original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers to point out at least it had new special effects in every episode. Then, though, Sandy Frank himself appeared. After much self-promotion of a sort (including mentioning his brushes with Liberace and Anwar Sadat), he explained how "Battle of the Planets" (itself an attempt to cash in on the Star Wars craze) got him started adapting live-action Japanese works, and then mentioned Mystery Science Theater itself without any sign of the sharp irritation long assumed by a great many fans to have pulled "his" episodes from cable.
"The Sword and the Dragon" simply included two shorts in its special features, and as interesting as it was to see "Snow Thrills" and "A Date With Your Family" it did leave me wondering if this was a clear sign the rights to "It Conquered the World" and "Invasion USA" won't be easy to come by. "Samson vs. The Vampire Women," though, had a little documentary explaining the whole "masked Mexican wrestler" phenomena, including explanations from an obvious fan in his own mask. I started off thinking "well, everybody's enthusiasms can seem odd from the right perspective," and then remembered how the "anime MSTing" site I followed had a good number of contributors whose own interests managed to mix professional wrestling into the two I was rather more focused on. In keeping with the episode being the last regular appearance of TV's Frank, Frank Conniff got to explain what he's been doing since leaving the show.
The special features of the set remain an obvious draw. For "Fugitive Alien," the indefatigable fan who had commented on all the other "Sandy Frank episodes" managed to explain some details of the original Japanese series, including pointing out how things got less nuanced and more explosive (as I might have sort of brushed on myself in my own comments) as the executives started comparing it to another, more successful "Star Wars ripoff" airing over there at the same time even as he compared it to the original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers to point out at least it had new special effects in every episode. Then, though, Sandy Frank himself appeared. After much self-promotion of a sort (including mentioning his brushes with Liberace and Anwar Sadat), he explained how "Battle of the Planets" (itself an attempt to cash in on the Star Wars craze) got him started adapting live-action Japanese works, and then mentioned Mystery Science Theater itself without any sign of the sharp irritation long assumed by a great many fans to have pulled "his" episodes from cable.
"The Sword and the Dragon" simply included two shorts in its special features, and as interesting as it was to see "Snow Thrills" and "A Date With Your Family" it did leave me wondering if this was a clear sign the rights to "It Conquered the World" and "Invasion USA" won't be easy to come by. "Samson vs. The Vampire Women," though, had a little documentary explaining the whole "masked Mexican wrestler" phenomena, including explanations from an obvious fan in his own mask. I started off thinking "well, everybody's enthusiasms can seem odd from the right perspective," and then remembered how the "anime MSTing" site I followed had a good number of contributors whose own interests managed to mix professional wrestling into the two I was rather more focused on. In keeping with the episode being the last regular appearance of TV's Frank, Frank Conniff got to explain what he's been doing since leaving the show.