Movie: (1966) A report of drugged chewing gum in Michigan sends a suave super agent to Amsterdam to investigate a sinister crime organization.
First shown: 8/7/93
Opening: Crow and Tom build a robot, who soon becomes annoying
Invention exchange: Frank demonstrates virtual comedy until Dr. F. programs in a few hecklers, J&tB demonstrate micro-golf
Host segment 1: Joel, Crow and Tom are a jazz trio playing the “Secret Agent Super Dragon” theme
Host segment 2: J&tB read through Crow’s latest screenplay: “The Spy Who Hugged Me”
Host segment 3: J&tB discuss spy movie post-kill puns
End: Dr. F.’s holds a super-villain conference call
Stinger: Jumping the Super Dragon, with xylophone accompaniment
(150 votes, average: 4.19 out of 5)
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• I don’t watch this one often, but when I do, it always surprises me all over again. It’s really a solid episode. The host segments are clever and the riffing is very good. My biggest gripe is the awful awful condition of the print.
• This episode is on Rhino’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. 12.”
• References.
• Minsky the robot is an actual vintage toy, and that is what it really says. BBI named him Minsky in honor of artificial intelligence guru Marvin Minksy.
• Tom invokes “WKRP in Cincinnati” with the mention of “Chy-chy Rodragweez.”
• Callbacks: “I killed that fat barkeep.” (The Beatniks) Also: “Any talent to declare?” (Warrior of the Lost World), a mention of Ward E (Stranded in Space), “…but there was no monster” (Monster A-Go-Go).
• Joel wears his glasses in segment 2, which tells me he’s actually reading his lines off that script.
• Then current: “Herb from Burger King.” Also: “I ate the last Frusen Gladje.”
• Naughty riff: “We’ll be covering you from behind.” Crow: “You’ve been in prison too long.”
• Plot question–why did the bad guys choose a college town in Michigan to test their drug, when it’s fairly clear all their operations are in Europe? I don’t think the movie ever says.
• Frank is great in the ending segment, humming: ” …I sing whenever I sing…” and doing the exact minimum required to assist Dr. F. “Eagerly.”
• A very small cast and crew roundup: Set designer Arrigo Equini also worked on “Danger! Death Ray.” In front of the camera, Marisa Mell was also in “Danger: Diabolik,” Carlo D’angelo was also in “Hercules Unchained” and Benito Stefanelli was also in “The Pumaman.”
• Creditswatch: Host segments directed by Trace Beaulieu. Clayton James does hair and makeup for the last time in season 5.
• Fave riff: “Emo, avec lute.” Honorable mention: “Remind your engineers to use coasters on me.”
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Only 3 stars for me but my own natural prejudices are loving Roger Corman episodes and disliking spy movie episodes. I didn’t remember this one as being anything spectacular and my opinion hasn’t changed 20 years later.
It was a nice reversal at the beginning for Joel to insult the bots’ invention since usually he is the one getting insulted, albeit hilariously. I still love the bots’ line from a few episodes back when an invention of Joel’s failed to meet expectations. “I kind of thought it would go through the roof.”
Living in Michigan makes me grin at this “film”. No lakes, but lots of Mountains.
Anyone else unable to rate the episode? I keep getting a “failure to verify” message.
I have a robot called Magic Mike that speaks the line that Minsky says, but it doesn’t have moving arms or legs like the robot shown. It still mostly works.
As to the uncut movie, I have that as well. There are four sequences that were cut out, however none really clarify what the hell is going on. Only the last sequence that was cut helps to clarify how Super Dragon has photographed the formula in Lamas’ office. The whole movie isn’t much longer than what is shown.
another enjoyable episode. I love the poopie part where Trace/Crow burps in the invention exchange. Not too awful a film
I like spy movies, so its an easy sit through for me. A lot of Season 5 made it to DVD thankfully :)
Joels hair – pretty much chopped off, parted in the middle on last time, he really aged a bit during the 5 seasons
Joels knees – still there :)
Crows Voice – very different
Tom also was a little different in this season as well..
Secret Agent Super Therapy :)
schippers #87: He did a rudimentary kind of walking thing, much like that robot in Pod People.
I don’t recall Pod People having a robot. Are you sure you’re not thinking of the one from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians?
Thanks for including the DVD info! This is another ep available at Hulu as well:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/112300/mystery-science-theater-3000-secret-agent-super-dragon#s-p1-n5-so-i0
#106 Sitting Duck, you don’t remember the rogue robot in “Pod People”?
Why Michigan, why Michigan, why Michigan…WHY NOT Michigan?
“This is the last time I let a DART decide…”
#85
Just think of all the goofy Italian spy movies they never got to do. Sigh.
#s 106 and 108 – “Carbon scoring on my droid!”
One of my favorite lines in that movie, right after Trumpy fries the robot.
I can’t make out what word follows “Atomic” when the droid is speaking. Sounds to me like the name “Allen”, but that makes no sense, “Alien” maybe?
D’oh!
I was also unable to rate the episode.
Has anyone watched the trailer that came with the DVD? There are a number of scenes the Brains cut out.
I do love this episode, but I am a die-hard MST fan. I love every episode. However, I will say that if I had to rank the spy films from Italy, this film would be my second favorite right after Danger! Death Ray.
The late Ray Danton was a pretty decent actor. Not too long ago, I watched him in an episode of the original Hawaii Five-0. He played a bad guy; quite the opposite from his “hero” role in “Super Dragon” – though one could argue that his less-than-appealing role in this film makes him more of an “anti-hero.”
This is one of those good, not great, episodes; I like it, but don’t love it. The Invention Exchange and Host Segments are all good, but after the greatness of HS#1 with J&tB’s doing their jazz thing, I kinda lose interest in this one, the blandness of the movie takes over and it numbs my mind.. And yeah, the Secret Agent Super Dragon is a super jerk, someone should slap that guy..
RIFFS AND THINGS:
The way Servo mispronounces “Chi-Chi Rodriguez” has always stuck with me. Interesting to find out its from WKRP.
Crow: “Secret Agent Mary Kay.”
Joel: “Look how far you can se in his nose..”
Crow: “Secret Agent Super Booger.”
Joel: “Now we’ll never know if Razzles are candy or gum!”
Joel: “Hooray, I’m Super Clown!”
–
A Secret Agent..
…wha-WHAAA!
Super Dragon.
3/5
Long time since I’ve seen this. A question about the movie. When SASD puts on the bullet proof teddy, Baby puts a ring that seems to be connected to the outfit with a string on his finger, that he calls “a safety”. What exactly is happening there and what is the “safety”?
@85 – I love Minsky. Especially Joel going at him with a baseball bat. “HEY!” “Uh…” “You were too!”
And the way Joel’s deliberately overdoing the “Why I oughtaa…” windup three or four times as they cut back in. :)
That, and the callback in “Magic Voyage of Sinbad”(?), as the dubbing on the Old Annoying Guy gets a riff of “Please give my best wishes to everybody!“
Ray Danton (born Raymond Kaplan on September 19, 1931 in New York City) was a handsome and smooth natured leading man who often played oily individuals. He trained at Carnegie Tech. First debuted on-screen as a moody Native American in Chief Crazy Horse (1955) and regularly guest-starred in many 1950s TV shows including “Playhouse 90” (1956), “Wagon Train” (1957), and “77 Sunset Strip” (1958)…often as a gunslinger or a slippery criminal. Danton found plenty of demand for his talents and appeared in several minor films including The Night Runner (1957), Tarawa Beachhead (1958), during which he met his wife, Julie Adams (Creature from the Black Lagoon), and then as a serial rapist in The Beat Generation (1959). However, his most well remembered role was as the vicious prohibition gangster Jack Diamond in the superb The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) also starring a young Warren Oates and directed by Budd Boetticher. Danton reprised his Legs Diamond role only a year later in the unrelated, and not as enjoyable Portrait of a Mobster (1961). Europe then beckoned for the virile Danton, and like many other young US actors in the early 1960s, he made several films in Italy and Spain between 1964 and 1969 with a mixture of success. Danton passed away in 1992 from kidney failure aged only 61.
Favorite lines:
[by special arrangement] what, did they have to get her out of the 4th Grade.
[woman in pink dress and shoes] Oh, J. Edgar Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoover. Secret Agent Mary Kay.
Hey, who pulled William Holden out of the pool? [a nod to Sunset Blvd.]
‘…but Coleman smells something burning.” Well, they make stoves…I mean…
Bert Convy, P.I.
The delicious fruit flavor burst right through his skull.
‘…it’s tasteless, odorless, and leaves no trace in the human body.” Velveeta!?
It’s a bulletproof teddy…this won’t go with my black skirt.
I hope this isn’t like a John Waters film and they lick all the furniture. [a nod to Pink Flamingos]
It looks like a Crosby family outing.
This has all the marking of a Clay Shaw party.
“…and it would be a pity to have to put you in our tub.” For you see the Mr. Bubble may give you a urinary infection.
Final Thought: None really. I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.
Secret Agent! (bah BAH!!!!) Super Dragon! (bah BAH!!!!) Secret Agent! (bah BAH!!!!) Super Dragon! (bah BAH!!!!) Secret Agent! (bah BAH!!!!) Super Dragon! (bah BAH!!!!)
The blatant repetitiveness of that host segment song was hilarious.
The only thing notable about Fremont, MI is that it’s the HQ for Gerber Baby Food.
Secret Agent Super Dragon passes the Bechdel Test. Cynthia and Charity comment on the auction.
Franchising supervillainry sounds like a really promising field.
@ #11: Yes, it’s very wrong. Next you’ll probably say you want to be Bavarian.
@ #64: Just wait a couple of weeks when Rifftrax does the presumably unedited version.
@ #93: I like it!
Favorite riffs
And, of course, Technicolor as himself.
A drive-by snack bar assault.
Delicious fruit flavor burst right through his skull.
I may be a secret agent, but there are places even I won’t look.
I’m the escaped convict, and you’re the warden’s wife.
Hey, Secret Agent’s crossed out and Lawyer’s written in.
“I think you’ll find this interesting.”
But stupid.
“I’d better get rid of him.”
You have a garbage bag or something?
Fashions from the Lollypop Guild Collection.
Boy, it’s a good thing that twenty-four hour mortuary is just around the corner.
Tell anybody about my pen and I’ll have to kill you.
Secret Agent Super Dragon in a deadly game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
“The antidote, anti-synchron, is known to us and to us alone.”
Oh, and I told my brother, but he said he wouldn’t tell anybody.
Well, at least his vicious beating has a cool accompaniment.
I love this one. In the parade of James Bond wannabe films that MST3K riffed, I think it’s on par with Agent for H.A.R.M. but not as funny as Danger!! Death Ray. As to why they chose Michigan, I’m guessing the Europeans, knowing nothing of American universities, said, “Hey, I heard some place called Michigan has big colleges. Let’s pick that place. No one will know the difference.”
Recently got to see the uncut film on Region 2 DVD; while SASD wasn’t cut deeply for length, one reason the film seems so forgettable is that the climax–involving a helicopters and an exploding building–is gutted from it. It’s a weird choice for editing, especially in that the scene is full of easily-riffable “special effects by Billy”.
I love Minsky, but they sure pegged him; adorable for about twenty seconds, then insufferably annoying.
Great episode! Love all the spy movie episodes, though this one isn’t as good as Double 007 or Danger! Death Ray (one of my all-time favorite eps).
I’m pretty sure the villain’s plot was to spread the drug around so people were hooked, then either start selling it, or be the only ones selling the cure. Maybe both.
So, a real Ming Vase would have been made during the Ming Dynasty, correct? How many hundreds of these do you think they’d end up making before somebody figured out they weren’t real?
Love the bit when SD is walking down the street, encounters an attractive woman, and asks her if she either knows of a location, or speaks a specific language, and she repeatedly turns him down (cause he’s actually hitting on her) “Nay.” He finally gives up and says, “maybe some other time then,” as they part, and then Servo adds a parting shot on behalf of said woman: <i."Nay."
THE NIGHT MINSKY RAIDED THE EARTH!
CRASH BANG POW
I am the atomic powered robot! ahooga ahooga hoo-eee hoo-eee
Please CRASH pocketa pocketa pow
Give my REGARDS crunch crash AIEEEE!
to EVERYONE!!!
CRASH EXPLODE POW POW POW
Ha- Fremont, MI- no college, no canyons, but- lots of Baby food.
“Secret Agent Super Dragon in a deadly game of Hungry, Hungry Hippo!”
I would watch this episode just for that riff, even if it didn’t give me Minsky and the SASD song by J&tBs and the too-pink lady and ridiculous rolling-across-the-bed shooting in the dark scene.
“Nobody in this movie knows when to stop decorating!”
I think I’d only watched this episode once before when it came out on DVD, and the ‘jazz combo’ sketch was firmly entrenched in my subconscious from that day to this.
But I was again surprised at how well it all held up. I’m laughing even now at Trace’s entrance during the invention exchange with that jovial “I’m home! Give Daddy a hug!” flourish and then how effortlessly he wrecks Frank’s Invention Exchange.
Too bad about the horribly dubbed, splice-happy print, but when the plot isn’t any great shakes at least I can appreciate the location filming.
Fave riff:
Servo: They’re all talking like an episode of Speed Racer!
“Emo, avec lute.”
I loved the riffs about him being “smooth”.
Also when he comes out of another room at the restaurant (looking like he’s just come out of the restroom), and the gal in the Dutch outfit goes into the room he just left: “Oh well, here goes.” Followed by the sound of taking a deep breath and holding it.
This movie also contains a couple of cliches that have been done to death in movies and TV shows:
1. The hero is questioning a bad guy, and the bad guy suddenly gets killed by another villain before he can give away too much information. Which always begs the question, Why didn’t they just shoot the hero instead??
2. The old “Now we have an advantage — they think I’m dead” bit. I’ve seen this in so many movies and TV shows, I want to strangle the screenwriter every time I hear that line.
WHAT?! You must be kidding. You think the bad guys should shoot the good guy when his guard is down? That wouldn’t be fair at all! Look, this may be a gang of murderous villains out to conquer the world who also hook people on drugs & torture women with ‘electric baths’, but they are NOT so lacking in morals as to shoot their arch enemy in the back! Just…. wow.
They’d already killed one agent, and all that did was get another one sent after them. Killing the informant ties up a loose end, which is probably why they were there in the first place.
And, you know, “Super Dragon” ….
If the bad guys shoot him, the good guys might just replace him with somebody who’s competent …
Mine too! The first time I heard that, I laughed so hard I almost horked up a lung.
I’m old enough to remember the ‘Herb’ Burger King promotion. It was one of those old ads you mentioned to other people. “Hey, have you see that Herb thing?” The deal was that this mystery man had never had a Whopper and then there was a reveal of the guy and if you saw him a restaurant you got money or something. Apparently, the promotion failed. That’s what I heard. I barely paid attention back then.
The Atomic Powered robot. Funny bit. It’s up there with the robot that communicated in foam.