*Best* movie ever featured on MST3K

Not the best episode of MST3K--although feel free to say what you think it is (it's The Final Sacrifice, anyway )--but the best film Joel or Mike and the Bots screened, on its own merits.

Most of them are bad, true. Most were churned out and no one was attempting to make a truly good product. I can enjoy a Gamera film by itself, but I realize it is far from good. A scant few, however, could actually qualify as decent movies.

For me, it's a three-way tie between Moon Zero-Two, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and Danger Diabolik.

Moon Zero-Two is a low-budget 2001ish sci-fi film that was screened in season 1. It's actually not terrible. The SFX are reasonably well done for its time and weight class; the characters are at least a little well-drawn, particularly the protagonist, who's mildly interesting, and the villain, who is Lex Luthor in space; the overarching criminal plot which the anti-hero protagonist has to stop actually makes sense, and is very reminiscent--even though I think it predated it--of Clarke's lesser-read but good 2001-series novel 2061. Out of four stars on an objective scale I'd give it two and a half.

Parts: The Clonus Horror suffers immeasurably from it's terrible budget, as well as some pretty stupid dialogue and less-than-stellar performances throughout. However, the premise is a solid horror/sci-fi plot, and it has a pretty good unhappy ending. We've actually seen what a slicker Parts looks like, and it was called The Island. Not a great film, by any stretch. But it was watchable and at turns fascinating. Interestingly, the maker of Parts wound up forming a company called Clonus--a holding company for the rights to his film which sued the crap out of the makers of The Island. I haven't followed the lawsuit, but having seen both, I can't imagine that Bay and the rest don't owe a tremendous--and monetary--debt to Parts' creators. Two stars for Parts, three for it's superior remake, The Island.

Finally, Danger Diabolik is crap, yes, but well-done crap. John Phillip Law is compelling enough as the eponymous, murderous anti-hero. His girlfriend is also pretty hot. The ending is retarded--when they just leave his not-corpse encased in gold I'm simply baffled and it's not altogether clear how he intends to escape from this situation anyway--but it has a fair number of good scenes. This is another MST3K-grist film that would have benefited immensely from greater production values. I don't know about you, but I would watch a theatrical-release-level remake of Diabolik. Perhaps with Clive Owen in the title role? Shoot 'Em Up had a strikingly similar aesthetic of cartoonish violence. Also, it too was crap, but fun crap indeed. Two and a half stars for Danger Diabolik.

Does anyone else have a MST3K-featured movie that they could have enjoyed without the riffs?

 

Revenge of the Creature, one of the mainstream ones they did and The Mole People.

 

Russian fairytale movies (Jack Frost and such) were goofy as hell, but very well done.

 

Most passable MST3K movie (of those I've seen): Mitchell.

Best MST3K episode: Manos: Hands of Fate. (Isn't this universally renowned as the best?)

 

Gamorra is really neat! He is filled with turtle meat!

 

I've got to agree with Shurik on the goofy Russian fairytales. They were the products of some insane film makers but they were great fun.

 

Not by anyone who's seen the Space Mutiny episode, I would guess.

 

First Spaceship on Venus. A clever, creative movie compared to most Western movies of the time.

RAMA

 

Ep. 401 - Space Travelers aka "Marooned". It had alot of star power with Gene Hackman, Gregory Peck, and Richard Krenna and it won the Oscar for best Visual Effects.

 

One of the most boring movies ever made. Apollo 13 kind of trumped it in real life too not long after.

 

I don't if this counts but "This Island Earth" in "MST3K The Movie" is for my money a fairly decent movie. Its one that I can watch seperately from Mike & The Bots. It always seemed to me to be the "Independence Day" of its time. TIE was essencially a large set piece but I suspect there was a good story with it. I wouldn't mind seeing TIE re-made because it isn't all bad.

 

Prince of Space, hands down. I can sit there and watch the movie without Joel, Mike, and/or the bots and just be bewildered by it.

 

Prince of Space is the best episode.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Your guns are useless!"
"It is my considered advice that you discontinue your use of said weapons! Ha! Ha!"

"Allow me to reference my earlier codicil on how your weapons are ineffective! Ha! Ha!"

"When will you learn? Your guns have no effect on me."
"Have I mentioned that?"

"Will you guys listen? Your guns don't work!!!"

"Your guns are useless, but scare the crap out of me anyway!"

 

It's not boring, it's a "slow-burner." Seriously though, I did find entertainment in watching Gene Hackman lose his mind. As far as the MST episode itself, I thought the riffing was top notch. Crow (Trace Beaulieu) does a killer Gregory Peck.

 

Of the MST3K episodes I've seen (just the in print DVD releases, I was so young back when it was on Sci-Fi I don't remember any of those episodes, just that I watched them religiously) Space Mutiny is definitely my favorite.

 

You're kidding right?

For me, in all honesty, it's "Time Chasers." I admire the work of the rookie film makers/actors and I'm a sucker for time-travel movies.

Many of the 50s movies they showed are classics in their own right, too. (Like The Thing That Couldn't Die.)

I'd also, kind of, say we need to disqualify the movie "This Island Earth" as a "good" movie was intentionally choosen for theater audiences.

My favorite episode? "Time Chasers" is up there -I think it is also a good introductory episode to the show. I really like "The Final Sacrafice" (Rowsdower!), and, gosh, there's so many. I've got the whole damn series (aside from the KTMA episodes).

Oh, and I'm more of a Mike fan, even though I was against him and upset when Joel left and actually stopped watching the show for a while.

 

This movie is terrible. I couldn't stop watching though.

I'm going to bootblack in my room!

 

Krankor!

 

I'd go with that and This Island Earth.

Mitchell is another watchable one, but not by much.