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RiffTrax Live ReportsAn open thread for reports about tonight’s RiffTrax Live show.
101 Replies to “RiffTrax Live Reports”Commenting at Satellite News
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SACRE BLEU!!!
First Rifftrax I walked out on. Hey, there were plenty of good one liners (bumbershoot deployed SIR!) (can’t find the helicopter goes up button) but this just confirms my dislike for 80’s or 90’s movies even WITH the comedic talent of Bill, Mike and Kevin.
All I want are my Rifftrax showings of Plan 9 or House on Haunted Hill or Manos or my favorite Jack the Giant Killer. This update of Godzilla where the creature is a giant, walking lizard is not for me. I want the old black and white Japanese Godzilla, not this T-Rex job. And the interminally long patches of non-Godzilla scenes were ……well, just think of those exploding heads in Scanners. Birdemic was pretty good. starship troopers was okay. But keep ’em. Gimme my old black and white public domains! Theater in Milford was pretty well packed but I think my point of view is shared by very large chunks of quiet in the theater.
I hadn’t seen this since it came out (when I was but a wee lad) and didn’t know what to expect, exactly. Thankfully, the riffs were spot-on. Typically the live shows tend to lean more towards the easy crowd-pleasers, but I really thought they hit a good balance here, mixing the easy pickings jokes (like the “an Internet” line) well with more esoteric references (like Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which is an excellent documentary by the way). The joke balance between riffers was pretty good as well; Mike tends to get a lot of the big zingers at these shows, but at least a couple of my favorite lines came from Bill and Kevin this time around. Conversely, while Bill’s gaffes have taken center stage in the past, it was Mike’s “scott” line that called out for attention this time. The guys handled that one well, I thought.
Overall, a very solid show that (as I’ve over-emphasized here) was well balanced in all regards. The movie itself, I must say, was not as absolutely terrible as I would have thought; perhaps that’s because I was grading on a Roland Emmerich scale.
I agree with “me says”, this show just wasn’t as good as their other shows like Plan 9 and Birdemic. I think they should focus on real B and C movies instead of lessor A movies like Godzilla.
Also found their new intro to be pretty lame and conceited. Tom Preston most be blowing up their egos.
Had a great time at the Belcourt. I inadvertently ended up in a guest row behind Mike’s sons and their friends;I got to meet Bridget Nelson before the show, but our stars did not stick around afterward for their fans.
Even Rifftrax cannot offer relief from how long, dull, and ugly this movie was. They did a good job trying, though.
That was even worse than I remembered. I’d turn to my friend and say ‘god, this movie sucks’ every 10 minutes to his amusement. Saw it in the same theatre I’d seen it on opening night 16 summers ago, too!
The sound balance was out of whack for a bit, but they got it under control.
If there’s ever a thing as too perky, Maria Pitillo was definitely it.
Great choice, and looking forward to Anaconda!
Our theater in Plano, Texas was about half full; the crowd was less than for the Birdemic show and about the same as the other August shows (Reefer Madness, Jack the Giant Killer). The biggest crowds thus far have been the first one (Plan 9) and Starship Troopers, which was probably a sell out.
Tonight’s show was amusing because I had never seen the feature. It was really bad, typical 90’s overblown big budget action movie stuff. I can’t imagine why Matthew Broderick was chosen as the lead unless the producers were going for the nerdy science guy type. The movie was way too long. Not totally unwatchable without the riffing, but I would have left the theater mad back in 1998, particularly if I had paid full price.
Good riffing. Always a fun evening with the guys. I will admit that I have been mildly disappointed the first viewing of the last several Rifftrax live shows. Maybe it is because I am too excited and have high expectations at first. Later watching on DVD allows me to relax and absorb more of the humor, perhaps. However, I was never really disappointed when I watched MST3K back in the day at home (except for some episodes like Hamlet) or when I get a new VOD or Cinematic Titanic DVD. Maybe I am expecting too much for the live event and just relax more watching it at home, knowing I can rewind or stop as I choose. Maybe it is because my wife and daughters accompanying me to the show aren’t as big of fans of the show as I am. I still love going though, and am looking forward to more in the future. Keep ’em coming.
Not as laugh-filled as last month’s Sharknado but a very pleasant Rifftrax Live experience with many good jokes and well-timed bits. As before, Jean Reno’s Philippe Roaché was the best character in the film and source of some of the best riffs.
Roughly four-fifths full in the AMC 25 theater in Hamilton, New Jersey, today. I thought it was a grand show, playful and giddy.
Boy, though, was that a punishing Godzilla. I hadn’t seen it before and didn’t realize the thing spent about fourteen hours hanging around Madison Square Garden for some reason.
I liked everything about this show. I thought the movie was terrible, but that’s no big surprise. The riffing was great, although I do have to agree they had to tweak the balance a few times becuase the riffers were drowned out. Not too often though. I thought the intro was pretty cool too. Lots of great call back characters. I look forward to being able to watch it a few more times where I can stop it and identify all the folks. The “this is just a live feed from Detroit” line near the end got some groans and boos from our crowd here in metro-Detroit, but everyone was also clapping. Great show guys.
Probably the quietest I’ve seen a crowd at a Rifftrax event. There were some big laughs here and there, but I think a lot of the audience was just sitting and waiting for things to pick up. The last half hour actually did earn much more frequent laughs, but it sure took a while to get there. I think Rifftrax Live does better with movies that start out cheesy and never let up. Even in the rare moments where Starship Troopers wasn’t endlessly pumping bullets into giant bugs, it was bombarding us with bizarre propaganda and taking us through ridiculous military training. As was pointed out, this Godzilla movie didn’t that many Godzilla scenes and the filler just didn’t give the Rifftrax crew much to work with.
If you had packed us in tight, about 1/3 of the Tallahassee, FL showing was filled. There was some sound issues that leveled out, but was still not loud enough for me (especially considering the 20 somethings a few seats away only understood 1 out of every 5 jokes and asked each other what the other 4 meant). I got my tickets from a radio promotion, so for a free (except for concession stand robbery) show, it was worth it. But I did think there were fewer out loud laughs than in live shows I have attended before. The riffing was a good mix, there were a few that only a couple people laughed at (I think I was the only one that got the Gobblygooker joke). The movie I had seen, but only once a long time ago, so it might as well been new. Not a bad show, but I can honestly say I enjoyed previous live shows I’d seen (House on Haunted Hill and Christmas Spectacular) much better. And the ballyhooed animated opening was nothing especially groundbreaking or show making. I’m really kind of surprised they even made a thing out of it.
I saw it in State College, PA and the theater was pretty packed. GODZILLA is such a terrible movie, but it feels REALLY long and was a bit of endurance test for a live show. Still loved it, tons of great lines and I was surprised at some obscure references slipping into a live show (I was the only one in my theater to chuckle at the Ignatius J. Reilly riff).
The animated opening was a mixed bag, I am NOT a Jonathan Coulton fan but I liked all the animated versions of Rifftrax favorites that came in and sat on the couch, can’t wait to see it again and freeze-frame that shot (I remember seeing Supersonic Man, The Guy From Harlem, Vanilla Ice, and one of the creatures from Clean Club among them– can anyone else remember more?)
Loved the retro-style trailer for ANACONDA too! Definitely going to that one!
Was right there in Nashville with my girlfriend. Had a great time. They threw little Godzilla squeeze toys with the RiffTrax logo on them. Managed to nab one for each of us. She took the one that hit me in the face. Good times.
I missed it (going to the replay) but I do think the length could be a factor in some people’s opinions. I’ve found shorter movies (old or new) work much better and this Godzilla is just too bloated. I’m intrigued to see it myself but it’s a thought I’ve had since they announced it.
Watching things like Transformers in one sitting even with riffing is just too much. I like em short and sweet in general, even with the masters.
I have to say that I have to agree with me a bit. My personal preference for riffing fodder is the older stuff. I love the black and white movies in particular. As a history lover, watching mid-20th century movies reflecting American values at the time is refreshing and sometimes horrifying. There’s just a charm to low budget movies of any age. Plan 9 is a bad movie, to be sure, but I can’t dismiss it as total drivel when it was made on a shoestring budget by amateurs over a few days. Even newer stuff like the Final Sacrifice and Pod People (and yes, even Manos) have a kernal of a story there that could have been better with more money and a professional crew behind the scenes. Often times in life, you work with what you’ve got, and, as Godzilla showed tonight, the guy who has more resources does not put out the best product. Big budget crap deserves to be pummeled for that reason; it truly has it coming. Low budget movies may be worse than what Hollywood forces on us every year in some respects, but to me, it depends on the material and the motives of the makers.
Sometimes I have sensed that when a film is made by amateurs who are trying to tell a story in their own inept but not exploitative way, the guys (particularly Joel) refrain a bit and are not as caustic (like with Time Chasers). They have been involved with making films and know how much work is involved, so they aren’t going to totally go after the folks who put it together. But other low budget stuff like Hobgoblins truly deserve to be ripped apart. The makers, like the studios behind the big budget stuff, seem to have no regard for their audience other than to get money.
Just got back. I remember this run of 90s disaster movies the first time, and they were getting pretty stupid by this point (not that Twister and ID4 were high art). This might have been one of the more wildly miscast movies of the time: Who wants to see Matthew Broderick give his confused stare at the camera every few minutes? Who can remember the name of the Kathy Griffin/Tori Amos Character? What was Hank Azaria and Maria’s relationship? Were all of the “thumbs up” signs around Mayor Ebert there just in case it wasn’t obvious enough who they were mocking? Why were Japanese people in this movie for all of 5 minutes? This thing HURT, and that’s saying something since I sat through Sharknado awhile back. At least no one took that one seriously.
The Riffing was great, even if they seem to have a persistent audio problem in their live shows. The new intro was cute (but not “$1 On ITunes” cute), and they landed some great quips. Wisely, they didn’t do a lot of Simpsons jokes and just addressed it up front. Overall a B+ – fun with a dumb movie, not quite up to the top shelf, but fine work nonetheless.
And although they didn’t make a comment on it, I couldn’t get past the Josta cola product placement in Madison Square Garden. I think I am one of 7 people in the country who drank more than one bottle.
This was my son’s first Rifftrax Live, and his first viewing of that movie. He loved the show. I did like Plan 9 better (the only other one I’ve made it to so far), but this one was still definitely worth my time and money.
And now a really specific question: one of the biggest laughs in my audience came from a riff I missed. It’s early in the movie, in Tahiti, just as they crest the hill and come into view of the clawed, beached ship. The riff was something along the lines of “Ah, the inevitable result of [????????]”
Anyone remember that particular line? Just curious.
Glen, was it “… another Carnival Cruise”?
I agree with the general sentiment. All of the Rifftrax shows are worth seeing, but this movie, unlike the recent theater shows, is overlong and lacks charm. There weren’t as many belly laughs to be had, but, again, it was worth seeing.
Glen #18 I think it was something like “Another Carnival cruise comes to it’s inevitable end.”
Sound was terrible in Bozeman, MT. You couldn’t hear half the riffs. Mike’s audio was particularly bad.
@Glen #18, I think it was the “Ah another Carnival Cruise comes to its inevitable end” line you’re thinking of :-)
At the AMC Lennox in Columbus (OH) the theater looked a little less than half full. Lots of laughs in our theater, but instead of the show being uncomfortably loud, like it has been the last few times, it was a bit too quiet and some of the riffs were obscured by the background music in the movie. I’d never seen the movie before, and was surprised they didn’t do a short beforehand…until I realized after the second or third ending that the movie just Kept. On. Going. Interesting observations above; I have enjoyed all of the shows, both the classic old movies and the more recent ones. I thought their treatment of Starship Troopers was fantastic, but wow, Sharknado was the most punishing movie of theirs I’ve seen (and I’ve been to Manos AND Birdemic…wowza.) To me, this one ranked below Starship Troopers but was still a great time.
Favorite line: (on a shot of a smoldering crater in what’s left of a church) “What happens when Woody Allen goes to Confession.”
I enjoyed this one well enough but agree with others that it was just too long the non-Godzilla scenes didn’t always give them enough to work with. As far as Broderick, at least he sort of looked like a guy who might be a scientist which is pretty unusual for this type of movie (although something Emmerich has actually done pretty consistently now that I think about it). Oh and a sellout in Roseville MN.
Ha! That IS funny! Thanks, all.
About half-full at the Lynnhaven AMC in Virginia Beach. There was a riff that I didn’t catch. It came when the characters were talking about Godzilla being asexual. Something about “the [blank] family.” Anyone know? Thanks. RiffTrax is spoiling us with all these shows! :)
Same amount of people here in Topeka, KS as usual, about 2/3 of the theater full, though maybe a few less than there were for Sharknado. My god, “Godzilla” is a trudge to get through. At about the hour and a half mark, I was yawning so hard I had to get some tissue out to mop up all the yawn-tears streaming down my face.
That said, some of the riffs had me howling. I was tickled at the Earthworm Jim joke, and Kevin’s belligerent “NO!” when Bill said, “Murphy, have you been paying attention at all?” got a huge laugh. And God bless Bill for doing all of “Yakety Sax.”
The sound wasn’t terrible but I missed a couple of jokes because of it, including one when Broderick was buying pregnancy test kits and someone says something about not recognizing him? Anyone remember that?
P.S. Sacre BOOM.
Not to pile on here, but I don’t think it was one their strongest efforts. As has been noted, the over two hour running time was punishing without some shorts or other bits to break up the soul deadening monotony of trying to care about the subplots in this sucker. Really, truly abysmal casting for an attempted action franchise. Maria Petrillo was an utter bore, Broderick a total drip, and, bless them, but Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer were even more cartoonish than in thier day jobs.
I thought the best riffs were the ones that focused on the utterly bizzarre and tedious inside digs and weird vendettas in the script. The Siskel and Ebert stand ins were so incredibly petty and stupid that it made me squirm. Director Emmerich’s beyond lame and trite attempts at Francophobia also made for a good target, and I thought the guys were on target when goofing on the sheer absurdity of Jean Reno’s overblown French snobbery, and the coffee gags were great. Much less successful were the reccurring, insidery New York jokes, (I did chuckle at the bit about many “Original Ray’s Pizza” ). Maybe the crowd I saw it with hasn’t spent a lot of time in NYC, or people in the Detroit metro just don’t give a **** about the Yankees or Mets.
And man was this movie ugly! It’s technically proficent, but just a visual sludge pile, with all the gray, brown and murky, rain soaked night shots.
There wasn’t much the Riffers could do to muscle through the long, dull spots between the monster mayhem, and while there were plenty of laughs and fun to be had, the stinkers stood out more, and the slugging percentage seemed down overall, putting this one well behind the heights of “Starship Troopers” and I’d place it in the B- C+ range.
Agree with the general sentiment that this one was a bit of an effort. The first part seemed to have a surprising number of more obscure riffs than usual, which felt like they went over a lot of the audience’s heads.
And as long as we’re asking about riffs we couldn’t hear, during the scene where Hank was looking through the broken window at the French arms warehouse, Bill made a comment that seemed to get more groans and “ooh!” reactions than laughs. Anyone?
I hadn’t seen this movie in a long time. I remember it being dumb, but what I didn’t remember was it being so dull. The most interesting part of the movie is probably the Madison Square Gardens bit, and the little bits of exposition work well enough for a mindless Roland Emmerich movie. But any time the big ugly lizard was stomping around the city the movie just becomes lifeless. Bizarrely, if you took out most of Godzilla’s scenes I think you’d end up with a better, if still not actually good, movie. Seriously, how does that even happen?
The riffs were really pretty solid for this one, although I was distracted from some of them. Is it possible to laugh too hard at the riffs? There was one guy in my theater who sounded like a wild hyena. He was at both this and the Sharknado show, and I hate to be rude to the guy or anything, but it’s kind of a maddening sound to listen to in a crowded theater. Don’t get me wrong, I LOL too, but this was ear-piercing.
I’ll chime in-while not as funny as Night of the Living Dead, it was still a worthy effort. There were moments when I missed some words and jokes so maybe the audio problem is widespread. I hadn’t seen the movie since its 1998 release so in terms of details it was sort of like watching it for the first time. There were fewer people this time, the theater was maybe 1/4 full at most.
I agree it was really long, but watching it unriffed beforehand helped me enjoy it more. I think one joke was the best. It was when Matthew Broderick expressed shock after being in Godzilla’s footprint, and Mike said “My God, I married Sarah Jessica Parker?” Also surprised they threw in a couple of obscure movie references connected to him. However, they seemed to stumble on a couple of the riffs. Still, a good effort, and I’m hoping next year they will target “Twilight” and almost certainly “Sharknado 2”.
I saw it in the Mission Valley theater here in San Diego. Last month at the Sharknado show, there was a long line outside the theater and they didn’t let us in until about 7:40. This time I got there at 7:00 and found no line. Turns out they’d already let everyone in.
By the time the movie started, the theater was only about 2/3 full, at the most, which surprised me. The theater was sold out for the Sharknado show. At least this time I got to see more of the hilarious “movie trivia” prior to the show.
I thought the new animated intro was pretty cool, though I couldn’t catch all the words to the song.
The movie itself was a real slog, of course, but the riffs made it fun. There didn’t seem to be as many “busting up the whole theater with laughter” moments as there was with Sharknado. I think this was mainly because Sharknado so goofy, there was more to work with. Still, I wasn’t disappointed — the riffs were funny enough to keep me smiling and chuckling through the whole thing.
I disagree with everyone who complains about the choice of movie.
Of course they’re going to pick a newer movie. It’s a necessary evil if you’re going to try to appeal to a broader audience. MST3K for as much as we all love it is a cult series. Meaning there is a relatively smaller group of devoted fans compared to a wider range of audience. I hate to be the realist here, but MST3K was last on television 15 years and 5 days ago (August 8, 1999 to be exact). Rifftrax Rifftrax started in 2006, the fact is they were a small company that founded itself on MST3K fans wanting more riffing, but to sustain themselves as a business they had to expand and be able to do bigger and better things. In otherwords, broadening their content to appeal to potential new fans.
I think it also had all the hallmarks of an old MST3K episode if you can follow me on these points:
(1) It has bad special effects. Even though it was mostly CGI, keep in mind the movie came out in 1999, and CGI has gotten better in leaps and bounds. I am an sucker for practical special effects. I’d rather watch Harryhausen special effects over the latest CGI offerings. But go back and watch Godzilla ’99, that CGI has not aged very well. Comparing the special effects in Godzilla 99 to movies today, is like taking the special effects that appeared in MSTied movies and comparing it to the Hollywood films that were coming out around the time MST3K came out.
(2) Bad acting. Which I think is universal, regardless of how old the movie is.
(3) A plot that is so muddled and confused by irrelevant details. How many MSTied movies had a “central plot” (giant creature goes on a rampage) and spends more than half of the run time with the most pointless sub-plots that don’t add to the movie? Godzilla ’99 had about as much useless filler as the Giant Gilla Monster did.
That said, I think that those who detract about the movie selection should be honest. The reason you don’t like newer movie selections is because you have a bias of not liking the movie to the point where you’re thinking too much about how you hate that movie instead of enjoying the whole point of going to Rifftrax Live was about: Hearing the riffs. The difference here is that although MSTied episodes were older, and in a lot of cases worse, the fact is you didn’t know what those movies were to begin with in the majority of the cases. Nobody knew what Manos was when it first came out, but its a classic episode. You had no preconceptions walking into that episode. But Godzilla ’99? (or any other Rifftrax offerings.. Let’s pick.. I dunno… Twilight, Harry Potter.. Whatever) these bigger name Hollywood films are still current, still in the general milieu of pop culture. The chances of us seeing at least promotional material of these films and deciding they aren’t for us was already decided before Rifftrax picked it up.
All I’m saying is, instead of complaining about the movie they picked, suspend your disbelief and watch it for the riffing.
That said, the riffing wasn’t all hits. There were a few misses, but to condemn the entire production because it wasn’t laugh out loud funny ever moment of the film is expecting far too much. How many MST3K episodes were duds? There are a few in my mind where I’d not bother watching certain episodes again because I didn’t find them as funny as others. Not every episode was a Manos, Monster a-Go-Go, Space Mutiny or Hobgoblins. There are some misses. At the end of the day, this live broadcast was kind of like that. It’s comparable to one of the “lesser” episodes in my mind. But its also a matter of perspective.
It wasn’t that great, but it was still entertaining and funny.
So keep an open mind and don’t be so quick to write off later Rifftrax films because the movies are newer. Appreciate them for what they are. If you want to support what they are doing, then at least give things a chance. If you want to see them do older movies, that’s what their “on demand” service is for. Sure they do Plan 9, or Reefer Madness, or Night of the Living Dead live. Because even though they’re much older films they are quite well known and very infamous. It’s not the age of the film that draws an audience, it’s the notoriety of said film. Riffing alone is not going to fill the theatre seats to these live events. As much as they’d love to cater to us long time fans, they can’t bank on us to keep their business alive. At the end of the day its a business and they need to make a living off it. So appealing to potential new fans is always going to have more weight than appeasing old fans. It’s the harsh reality of it.
Anyway that’s my two cents.
I had a hard time hearing the riffs. But maybe that just me. I did like shaknado better. I wish the list who which songs and repeat the movie fact (for those who come in late.) maybe part the special treat that they give our. Fave line. I can’t believe I married Sara Jessica Parker.
Complete sell-out at the AMC in Paramus NJ. In fact the theater was already 2/3 full right at 7:30 when the trivia started. Not surprisingly the Chris Christie joke got the biggest laugh. I didn’t realize this movie would be so long:) I wouldn’t have minded if they edited it down a bit and included a short.
One thing that concerns me a bit is that only about half the cinemas that usually run Rifftrax, elected to do this time around in my area. I hope this isn’t a bad omen???
So this was my favorite rifftrax live thus far. I had never seen the movie- i found I had more loud belly laughs than usual. Being at the Canton Cinema in Canton MI, The “live feed of Detroit” riff got some grumbling mixed with laughs, but I laughed my head off. Perhaps It was because I was having a cruddy day and needed a laugh- Anyways my friend and I definitely enjoyed the riffing, and already purchased tickets for Anaconda! But afterwords we both complained at how long the movie was- and how we might have liked a short as an intro.
As they said to Godzilla as it was making out with a building, buy it a drink first.
lastly, I enjoyed how they did less panning back to the 3 riffers this time. I also thought the intro was well done in general.
It was about half-full at the Rialto in Westfield, NJ. I got there early and saw that the test footage was from the unriffed “Sharknado”. It ran from the death of “SECOND TO NONE” guy to just before Cousin Oliver gets it. The pre-show titles were great, as always. I liked the couple of callbacks to MST (like “MOVIE MISTAKES: Jet Jaguar”).
The show was good, though I also had some problems hearing the guys over the really loud parts of the movie. I liked the animated opening. I was a bit surprised that, when Niko Bueller started putting the electrodes in the ground, that we didn’t get a riff along the lines of, “Now, he’s gonna be da worm face!” A question: when Jean Reno says something about how they had to cover up their mistakes, even ones that were well-meant, Bill said something that got applause from the live audience, but I couldn’t hear it. Was it a “Meet Dave” reference, by any chance? And our theater, too, clapped for the Chris Christie joke.
As for the movie…oh, dear. Overblown, unfunny and overlong. When your big plan to draw in the monster involves re-tooling Bob Newhart’s idea for dealing with King Kong, you’re in trouble. If nothing else, it made me appreciate how good the 2014 re-boot (or “piñata full of cash”) is.
And, yes, I’m planning to see the repeat next week.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving this Rifftrax Live some constructive criticism. It’s only the second Kickstarter project they’ve done. To be honest, from the beginning the audience at my location just didn’t seem to be as excited as at previous live shows. And the length and slow pace of the movie didn’t help. But I can’t think of anything specific about the riffing that wasn’t working and there certainly were some big laughs on occasion. Likewise, the movie seemed to fit the format overall. The show wasn’t bad, it just didn’t reach the expectations I’ve developed. Maybe this speaks more to the incredible roll that the Rifftrax Live shows have been on than it does to the quality of Godzilla show itself.
I missed out on the LIVE show and considered going Tuesday, but I might give this one a pass based on the comments I’ve read. The runtime and tech issues kinda turn me off.
I agree with Nick-O about the modern movies. I mean, I love the old stuff, but I think Starship Troopers and (especially) Sharknado were brilliant ideas to riff and got them a lot more attention than something like Jack the Giant Killer. Not to say something old couldn’t work, too, like, I don’t know, Barbarella or Flash Gordon, but they are known entities and there aren’t many old b&w’s that would get cheeks in the seats. That’s what VOD is for, anyway. LIVE are nice treats, the VODs are really giving us seasons worth of Rifftrax material more in the MST3K vein (plus Cool As Ice and Super Mario Bros., which are both great).
I just think Godzilla in particular is a tough nut to crack because of how long and slow it is. I think Anaconda will be a blast, however. It’s far shorter (89 vs. a shameful 138 minutes), has many known actors, and is a great tone for riffing. Between Jennifer Lopez jokes and riffs on Voight’s bizarre character I can’t wait to see what they come up with.
Saw the show at the belcourt and enjoyed it. As far as the movie choice, of course it’s a terrible nineties “action” movie but it is still leaps and bounds better than the recent “action” movies. After three severe lapses in judgement, I finally wised up and didn’t see the fourth transformers. So Godzilla was a little long and dated and corny and probably wasn’t the best choice but it could have been so much worse for us….
I think the majority of “MSTies” complaining about these shows on an MST3K website thread is beyond baffling.
The fact that comment#2 guy actually walked out of the movie is just so ridiculous it actually makes me sick to think about.
I knew going in that the movie was long, that is why I brought booze. The parts that dragged on were entertaining because it was so much fun to see the trainwreck that is Godzilla on the big screen , and years later.
It doesn’t matter what movie they do, there will never be a machine-gun rate of riffs like in the old days and that is unnecessary anyhow. These dudes are old and I am so glad they are still going strong.
Godzilla was great, but Anaconda is going to be amazing. This is one of my favorite bad movies of all time, and it’s special because it was made right before the crossover point from fun Hollywood Schlock (which is what Anaconda is), to the now completely soulless made for television atrocities of SyFy monster mashes… like Shark Tornado and Lawnmower Goblin.
I highly recommend everyone go to this if you can, it is worth the price of admission alone just to see this movie on the big screen, but I can only imagine how funny the jokes are going to be… this movie was made for MST3K, but we’ve got Rifftrax. That’ll do pig.
@Uwe Boll: I don’t think anyone is complaining about the riffs; it’s just that some movies are like damp mattresses that have been sitting in a squatter’s basement patch for so long that they’re rotting. Punch them all you want, they just absorb the hit and leave your hands coated with icky gunk.
That’s ‘Godzilla’. The movie was so resolutely dull, gray, wet, dank, lifeless and uninteresting that even getting three professional comedians to liven it up didn’t help enough to make it watchable. It happens. Great jokes, crappy movie, looking forward to ‘Anaconda’.
I second Nick-O’s post. I had a ball as did the peeps I took with me who had never been to a RiffTrax live show before. Yeah it was a bit long, but rather than complain, I saw it as getting more bang for the buck.
The equipment malfunctioned at our theater in NW Montana, and the Rifftrax show started right in the middle. They couldn’t get it fixed, so we had our money refunded and received rain checks. Very, very disappointed, since I had company from out of town who specifically came for this show. Sadness. :-(
I’m going on Tuesday, but I’m curious if there is a goodies/discount code after the movie? Just wondering if I should hold off on ordering some stuff for a few days.
Always a good crowd at the Rialto in Westfield, NJ for Rifftrax! But when is management there going to learn to turn the lights down when the show starts?
Great, very funny show as usual with tons of great lines. Still, I agree with some of the previous comments re: this iteration of Godzilla not being the best choice…maybe because they just did a big budget 90’s action poopile with “Starship Troopers”. Animation was a nice touch (especially Gargamel). Always great to see parents bring their kids out to these too (mine could not come this time, though I’ve taken them to 4 so far).
I honestly enjoyed this one more than Sharknado… although this is probably the first riffed movie where I kind of wished they had an intermission or broke for a sketch in the middle. It would have kept the show going longer but it would’ve reduced some of the boredom.
Also, any guesses on which riffs were the ones written by the Kickstarter backers? I think the “Egg Volume and Amount Guessing Man” joke was one of them since they normally don’t do a lot of call backs to MST3K sketches. The “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” reference might also have been one… but then they also mentioned Basquiat in “Wurwilf” so it could go either way.
About 80-100 folks at Rave in Flint, MI
Nice to see people around here who are interested in more than classic cars.
Like many MST episodes, the movie is tough to work with. I saw this one when it first came out with my three sons, who, at the time were 13, 11 and 7.
Last night, two of them attended with me- now age 29 and 23 (the middle guy lives out West and planned to attend.)
We all could not believe we paid good money way back when to see this piece of sh*t.
Yes, the audio was rough. Yes, not as consistent as SHARKNADO. But, overall- we were entertained. I credit the guys and their efforts for doing two shows this summer, followed by the one in October.
First half was great. After that, the movie dragged so bad that I basically tuned out the riffs and prayed for it to end.
Sorry Mike & Co – not the best or even close. BUT…the first 5000 hours of the movie I was disappointed but the second half of the movie (the remaining 7000 hours) I realized this turd movie was just to bloated and lifeless and you were the only thing keeping me in the seat. I did laugh outloud more than I do for most of the recent Hollywood comedies. It just the boredom and stupidity of Godzilla had me balancing my checkbook in my head and missing some of your contributions.
You still have a great fan here though and I took the great new Rifftrax title sequence as you’re going to be here for us in the long run. Looking forward to Anaconda!