Movie: (1990) Searching for his long-lost father, a teen runs afoul of a devil-worshiping cult, then teams up with a beer-guzzling drifter.
First shown: 7/25/98
Opening: With the power shut down, the bots go looting
Intro: Pearl decides to rule the world…one person at a time
Host segment 1: Servo’s song–a tribute to Canada–goes horribly wrong
Host segment 2: Everybody (but Mike) contracts Hockey Hair
Host segment 3: Mike comes down with a case of Grizzled Old Prospector Syndrome
End: The bots have formed a muffiny cult; Pearl has another victim
Stinger: “Rowsdower…?”
(361 votes, average: 4.68 out of 5)
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• This is one of the Sci-Fi era’s best. The riffing is rock solid, the movie is mindbogglingly dopey and most of the segments are good fun.
• This episode is included in Shout’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol. XVII.
• The Shout disk, by the way, has a fascinating interview with the guy who played Zap Rowsdower, in which he reveals that he had not seen this episode! I hope the Shout people gave him one!
• Mary Jo offers her thoughts on this episode here.
• That’s Peter Rudrud, in his only on-camera role, as Todd Gunderson
• Not a big fan of the opening or intro segments. Both ideas sort of peter out.
• Segment 1 became an instant classic. Hard on its heels came South Park’s “Blame Canada,” and there really was a (jokingly) anti-Canada vibe going on for a while there. I recall Canadian fans (who were getting episodes shipped to them by fans in the states, since the show never aired there) desperate for details of the song as discussions began online immediately after the show.
• Speaking of blaming Canada, M&tB found the phrase “Lemon Mine” amusing but it’s a thing, a Canadian thing.
• Segment 2 is another winner, a funny idea mined for just enough laughs, that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
• Crow and Tom still have hockey hair when they return to the theater.
• One of the things I love about this episode is the way the movie just keeps giving them stuff to work with. Just when you think they were running out of Rowsdower jokes, the grizzled old guy arrives. Oooh, it’s comedy gold, consarn it!
• Callback: “A worwilf!”
• Segment 3 extends the premise of segment 2 very nicely. Mike really seems to enjoy that beard.
• Another highlight of the episode: Tom sings the Rowsdower song during the credits, while Crow attempts to pitch “Final Sacrifice: The Series.” Clearly written by somebody who has suffered through meetings like this.
• I actually like the closing bit in the castle, especially Paul as willing — and hungry — thrall Carl. I especially like the way he very comfortably calls Pearl “my liege.”
• Cast and crew roundup: nobody.
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin. Mary Jo returns to the writing room after her trip to the West Coast.
• Fave riff: “Dear Counselor Troi: I waited at Denny’s but you didn’t meet me!” Honorable mention: “I wonder if they have beer on the sun?”
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“Always helpful, never hurtful. ;-)”
My post last week, just one away (someone beat me to it!) under my friend’s, Chief? Mcloud?:
^^^^One of the only episodes I’ve never seen. I give it three stars. ;-)
We do have fun here, don’t we? :lol:
The Final Sacrifice, love it or mildly like it, still shows that MST3K never became stale. Most shows sucked in their last seasons, but not this one.
Speaking of Alberta, Canada. I watched Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece “Unforgiven” recently. The credits said that it was shot in Alberta. It looked a lot more beautiful than it did in “The Final Sacrifice.”
I was ever so slightly disappointed that Mike and the Bots never made a riff comparing the hammy (Canadian bacony?) villain Satoris to Richard Kiel.
I agree with the folks who say that the episode loses some punch on repeated viewings, but the legend lives on. Awesome stuff. Top three.
Something I realized after a while that the riffers never touched on was the fact that, although all the good guys in the film think Satoris is just a madman, he *really actually does* have sorcerous powers. Not how that usually goes down in a film like this, in my experience. I was kinda wondering if anyone else found that . . . unexpected.
—
#12:
“I have never been able to figure out why so many fans think of this as a favorite episode. Just saying “Rowsdower” two-hundred times is not all that funny and certainly not an example of the best comedy writing ever done on MST3K.”
200 times? Did you count? ‘Cause I get more like ~10 or so.
Maybe you were too busy not counting to notice all the other material people have mentioned here.
“The movie is not especially fun and the comedy writing from MST3K is certainly acceptable, but hardly their best work.”
The presence of 120+ positive posts disagrees with you. (Not that I’d question subjective perception on any one person’s part, but . . .)
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#131:
“Very overrated episode from the overrated era of the show.”
Go cry in some other corner.
Everybody has different tastes, and for some of us that means the Sci-fi era proved superlative. Just because your baseline of comparison is *different* doesn’t mean it’s *better* than the numerous opinions of a demographically diverse set of individuals.
—
The (patently absurd) Bill Corbett issue has been addressed nicely, but I’d like to throw in that this:
“Bill has the occasional easy movie riff, but seems to keep falling back on the same two “defaults”:”
is a completely false observation. If you think he relies on the same two gags for any sizable fraction of the time, you haven’t been paying attention to the show.
That and (IMO) Bill has the best delivery of all the latter-era riffers, and continues to do so in Rifftrax.
“Kill(ed) your father?”
“Sounds fun, but I’m busy!”
#121–no, no, no, I didn’t mean you, I meant it as a response to EricJ #100. Sorry, but I either misread the number or some other posts populated before the list before I could finish my comment. I totally agree with you. :smile:
Me again. @Mac, I just read your post #144 and totally agree with you again–I really like this board because the vast majority of people post things that are funny, respectful, and oftentimes fascinating (e.g., behind-the-scenes tidbits about the movies). In stark contrast, if you ever read the comments on Syfy.com, you’ll notice that many of them seem to be from pathetic Simpsons-Comic-Book-Guy types who are always trying to sound like they’re the ultimate experts on the subject, and their greatest joy in life is to put down someone else. No thanks, I prefer hanging with MSTies any day.
Thanks Big MclargeHuge. :smile: I did get really confused for a moment. And I thought I was afriendlychicken…
We MSTies are like Gods….no…Diety’s…um…are the people who really care in the discussion world!! And we’re funny, too boot!! Take that SyFy.com. Read actual SF novels, maybe you’ll figure out what sf really is. :shock:
And, to say it one more time, I like The Final Sacrifice. May it’s comment thread live for eternity, or until Sampo deletes it.
@ 154
Listen prick, what gave you the impression that I was whining or crying?? I’m sorry that I have an opinion that doesn’t match up to yours, douchebag.
Allll Right!!!!
My drinking arm is healed!
“What the…I had a bead on a goose, Eh!”
Love the use of & making fun of the canada accent. Just like how I love the same mocking of the British in the Projected Man. That stuff is always good for chuckle.
With the SyFy channel’s slightly new format, I wonder if it would have been better for MST3K today? The whole point of changing Sci-Fi to SyFy was to create a more unique brand and to allow for a broader range of programming. It’s possible that there would have been less of a sci-fi slant to the show had it been on the SyFy Channel today.
This is my number one all time favorite episode. Like a poster above, I can recite all of the riffs, all of the host segments. I just adore it.
I remember watching this when it debuted on SciFi. I was in my late teens, and a big Sarah Mclachlan fan, so I totally lost it at, “And I will be the one/to hold Larry Czonka down/Kiss him so hard/I’ll take Larry Czonka’s breath away.”
Luckily, I was able to ask my parents who that was. :grin:
I dated a guy who was a lazy bum, so I got a lot of use out of, “I’m exhausted. I need to take a nap after I’m done sleeping.”
Something about the delivery of, “Time to settle in with the Book of Mormon” cracks me up each time, too.
#158 Wow, that was unnecessary. Can we all please curb our language and attitudes? As I posted earlier in this thread, I love this forum because it’s a whole bunch of MST3K enthusiasts who want to talk about how great the show is–if I want to read vitriolic flame posts, I’ll check out Syfy.com.
@ 158 WouldntYouLikeToKnow…..NO…..actually, I’m glad I don’t know.
The Final Sacrifice is a 3 or 3.5 for me. Very good, not great. I prefer The Puma Man, Werewolf, and The Touch of Satan from Season 9. Rowsdower is one of the great characters in MSTory, along with Torgo, Pitch, etc.
:sobbing: Pardonne moi! Pardonne moi!
one of my top five eps ever. at the time i had just got connected to the internet, and chatrooms specifically. i prolly knew over half a dozen girls from canada online at the time and every one of them Loved Servo’s canada song when i linked them to it.
this one time after fighting with a Canadien online in a sports chat after todd bertuzzi broke that other hockey players neck-i posted the whole song on the board. i must have confused him because he never even replyed to it.
replied that is, dont want to be an ugly poor spelling american
Piper was absolutey awesome. The Yosemity Sam jokes were dead on. When I saw this with dad he just keeled over laughing.
OOOOOOH I’S HATES THAT RABBIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of my favorite episodes, i love when they are making their way to pippers cabin and have been running for like 30 yards Rowsdower almost can´t talk cause he´s so out of breath,
Crow says “hold on, i´m having a series of elaborate heartattacks” :lol:
I gave this four stars based moreso on the strong riffing than anything else. I do think it tends to be abit overrated when it comes to discussion of best episodes, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that it is among S9’s better efforts. Love The Canada Song and hockey hair-grizzled Mike host segemnts, but the parts with Pearl were less than stellar imo. It did help that SF’s release of this ep came right before it came up on the weekly thread, as my VHS copy has seen better days. (And yes, I too had that glitch 26+ minutes in on my dvd too, didn’t bother me that much). All in all a worthy experiment.
Describing one of the hooded cult members, Mike says, “He’s built like a woman Phy. Ed. teacher.” Always sounds weird to my ears, as I’ve heard Phys. Ed., P.E., or simply “gym” but never “Phy. Ed.” I just googled it and it does seem to be in use by educators in MN, ND, and WI. Is this just another midwestern thing?
As for this episode, it’s never really clicked with me. The movie is kind of monotonous making the riffing more character-based than usual. Comments above have listed a bunch of funny riffs, but for me they don’t add up. It’s amusing enough but it never really takes off.
Like Puma Man, this was one I knew was highly regarded among veteran MSTies so I was eager to see it. But unlike Puma Man, it’s never knocked my socks off. I hoped the Shout DVD would do the trick but it only highlighted the inherent dullness of the movie. Maybe next time.
Reading everybody’s raves makes me think I’m missing something here, so while I grant you this is likely a 4/5 star episode, in good conscience I can only give it a 3 as I like it, don’t love it, and am rarely clamoring to watch it again.
It’s a decent episode and I laughed through most of it. It was one of the main reasons why I purchased XVII.
What I can’t figure out is, after they “found” the city, why in the hell did they drive away from it?
I never noticed this before, but the city seems to float up and away, disappearing out of sight. And the model looked pretty good to me.
Yes it is, I’ve actually wondered before whether they really did that city model effect or nabbed the footage from elsewhere (though god knows where).
Having gone through all that effort to bring back the lost city and the treasures & secrets it contains, since they don’t have the budget to either make the sets or green screen it, Troy and Zap leave it alone and just drive off!
“Well sonuvabuck! Dat just flew up dere!”
I have a (maybe) dumb question: When Rowsdower is trying to push the truck out of the mud, Troy is in the cab gunning the engine, when there’s what appears to be a rifle shot. I don’t know much about crappy trucks in the mud, but just what the hell is that sound supposed to be, anyway?
#175.
I think it is supposed to be the sound of a tire blowing out, which would be why Zap and Troy had to walk.
#176 -Makes sense, I guess. Does that mean they found a spare tire in the ancient city at the end of the movie, or was that a new crappy truck? Not that I really give a flying dutchman…
This and Beginning of the End were the very first episodes I ever saw (I was 12 when I first caught in on Sci-Fi. The very first riff I ever heard, “I wonder if there’s beer on the sun”. And ze rest is history.
People have already said everything I wanted to, so I’ll just say this is one of my favorite episodes in the series and leave with the usual.
Movie:
* I once met a guy, Canadian no less, who looked EXACTLY like Rowsdower. I never got to give him a copy of the episode though.
* Favorite riffs:
“Canadian villain: Garth Vader.” – Mike
“Hey, wait! There’s 89 cents worth of cans back there!” – Crow
“And, by the way, ah hates that rabbit.” – Servo
Host Segments:
* The song is a perfect indicator on if a Canadian who listens to it has a sense of humor.
* Favorite line: “Well I think it’s great! I’ve never felt so masculine. I feel like Guy LeFleur.”
Things I Learned from this Episode:
* Hockey Hair is a real disease and has been an epidemic for years.
* Shooting a guy in the butt causes him to burst into flames AND will automatically knock down nearby statues.
Speaking of hockey hair, I guess we are to call it that north of the Mason-Dixon line, but in the South it is called a mullet.
Lemon Mine, very pretty, la-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah… :mrgreen:
And frankly, I’ve been afraid of Canada ever since I found out there’s a city there named Moose Factory.
Posted on the movie, neglected to comment on the episode. Actually, I was never that fond of it, though I recognized and respected others’ love for it. Then I bought Volume XVII and discovered it was actually a bit funnier than I remembered. Still not one of my favorites, but a solid episode and great fun.
What about Kentucky Waterfall? I’ve always found that to be the most elegant term.
#138 – Thanks! :)
The comments about the Lemon Mines are one of the many reasons why I love MST3K; I always learn something from the show. Until I read this thread, I just assumed that Troy’s dad had a weird folder. Maybe he was sorting stuff alphabetically and that one went from Lemon to Mine? I had no idea it was an actual myth.
#74 – I always assumed that Troy the character was named after the lost city of Troy, too, so you’re not alone in thinking that! It was a clever name choice by Mr. Greidanus. Now if he could only explain “Rowsdower”… :)
Oh, and:
“Do you know how fast you were going, Rowsdower?”
“Eagle Hat?”
“Cold crazy bread. Really is crazy.”
-Gasping and panting when the cult members are chasing Rowsdower up the mountain
“You guys know any camp songs?”
“All righty, the doctor will be in to see you in just a moment.”
“I forgot the liquor stores close at eight!”
“Go to Hell!” “Or at least Edmonton!”
“His menace is slightly diminished by his “Baby on Board” sticker.
“CANADA is for lovers!”
“Thanks for the ride, mister!”
“Buy me ANYTHING with Larry Czonka on it in there. I’ll PAY for it.”
“The LOOOONE Rowsdower!”
In defense of all the Larry Czonka jokes, I gotta say, I think they’re pretty golden. When I first saw the episode I had no idea in hell who that was, and it just became this weirdly inexplicable non sequitor. A year later, my brother, who knows about football, clued me in, and suddenly all the Miami references made sense. It really highlighted the genius of MST: they’ll not only point out a character’s vague resemblance to a semi-obscure athlete, they’ll take that vague resemblance and turn it into a running gag that becomes more and more tangential by the minute. You stop laughing at the reference and start laughing at the fact that they’re even making the reference. Plus, I learned something in the process. How delightful.
I just watched this episode for the first time with my MST3K group on Sunday and can see why it gets so much acclaim.
It does start off very slow though. We were hearing crickets until Troy bashed masked henchman #1 with a bat as he was ever so slowly coming through the window. From there every “Rowsdower!” made us chuckle and pretty much any screen time filled by the incompetent thugs was good for a laugh. Plus, the guys providing Troy’s “HUUUUNGH” noise to his goofy expression was pretty hilarious.
It’s not a perfect episode, but the few big laughs make it memorable.
RE: #180
Check out the Vandals song “Ape Drape”
Make it like that famous country singer
Or that guy I saw last night on Jerry Springer
Clean me up but let me keep my edge,
In the day i like to keep it dignified
But at night you know I got another side
And I don’t give a damn,
Cause I am what I am
Even if it’s really really bad.
I’ve got an Ape Drape,
Yes I do
They’re givin’ them to anyone,
And that means you
You can drive to Riverside and get one too
Then you’ll have an Ape Drape like I do.
Go ahead and buzz ’round the ears
I’ve been growing that one braid back there for years
I’ve had it since the first time I saw Queensryche
The front may conform to society
But the back says I have personality
Even if it’s really really,
Even if it’s really really bad.
I’ve got an Ape Drape,
Yes I do
They’re givin’ them to anyone,
And that means you
You can drive to Riverside and get one too
Then you’ll have an Ape Drape like I do.
Make it short in front and long in back!
If the top’s not short enough that it stands up
I could be thrown out of the Bad Boy Club
But don’t you lay a finger on my pony tail
Now fix my kid up so he looks like me,
And then matching crazy pants are all we need
Some may call it child abuse
I just call it bonding with your Dad.
Nordic Neck Warmer……Norway
Hockey Hair…….Canada
Achey-Breaky Hair……Nashville
Mullet…….Hoboken
Forbidden Hair……Europe
Shom……Florida
And that’s all you need to know about that
I’ve heard the mullet called a Kentucky Waterfall when I was in Texas.
Minor nitpick: In the end credits song, Servo identifies Danny Elfman as Jenna Elfman’s dad. He’s actually her uncle by marriage (that is, she married his nephew.)
I actually knew Larry Csonka from when he co-hosted American Gladiators and not his run in the NFL so I still found the Larry Csonka jokes funny. Good episode – the characters give an added instant cult movie quality. It’s like you’re discovering this great new thing in fringe pop culture(like an internet meme nowadays), and you’re getting MST3k goodness to boot.
Chicken pox is one hell of a nasty disease, it ruined my flawless skin a couple of years ago..'”
Chicken pox is one hell of a nasty disease, it ruined my flawless skin a couple of years ago..;`
We loved your writing, keep it up!
“Wait! I was gonna sing something from Bone Machine!”
What a gold mine this movie must have been for them. Everything from impossibly wimpy Troy (who yet still comes off more masculine than Mikey in Teenage Strangler) to crazy-deep-voiced Satoris (referenced in an awesome callback in the Rifftrax for D-War) to the worst named lead ever (let it never be said that Tjardus Greidanus couldn’t come up with a memorable name) to what might actually be a sepia-toned photo of Larry Csonka (wouldn’t surprise me in the least…it really does look JUST like him) to what might be my single favorite character in MST3K movie history (the total hoot Mike Pipper), this movie’s got a lot going for it, and the boys don’t disappoint. Unquestionably, my favorite section involves Pipper, particularly when he’s first introduced and the guys just can’t stop laughing; when he says “ThenWhat’sThatThereMarkDoinOnYourShoulder” and they all fall apart, I lose it every time.
The host segments, as the rest of you have covered, are all solid, with Servo’s Canada Song an all-time classic. Really, there’s nothing to hate on with this episode. Even the somewhat middling “Pearl tries to take over the world one person at a time” bit has Todd Gundersen’s excellent “I’m sorry, I don’t feel that threatened” and Servo’s “I was next on the list! Totally random! It’s WEEEEEEIRD!” One of my all-time favorites and an easy member of my top ten.
Unrelated note: not to beat a dead horse, but those of us who follow Rifftrax know that Bill has become the most consistently solid riffer of the group (Kevin’s a little over-the-top at times, and Mike can be downright caustic). The notion that he couldn’t riff his way out of a wet paper bag is not only ludicrous but insulting to anyone without an ax to grind. As for them laughing in the theater, the whole plot of the show is that they’re three guys (well, a guy and two robots) forced to watch bad movies. If you were sitting with your buddies watching a terrible movie and cracking jokes, do you honestly expect that none of you will laugh at each other the whole time? Wouldn’t that kind of defeat the point of the whole “let’s make fun of this” bit? It’s the one complaint about the later years that I’ll never understand; if anything, it makes it feel more like you’re just watching three guys making fun of a bad movie and cracking each other up while doing so. The Joel era, where there was ZERO LAUGHING PERIOD with rare exceptions, always had this feeling like it took itself a little bit too seriously, and it gave some episodes a little bit of a sterile, quasi-performance-art feel to them. It’s the same feeling I get when I watch Cinematic Titanic.
My wife and I celebrated our one year anniversary on New Year’s Eve. She’s from Ontario and I’m from Minnesota. When we were courting I showed her Servo’s song and she was a little miffed. After our first meeting we went on a road trip to the Atlantic provinces. I can assure everyone Prince Edward Island is still there.
Now she lives with me in the homeland, Saint Paul.
Thanks, Final Sacrifice and Zombie Nightmare for helping me introduce her to the riffing concept!
The Final Sacrifice fails the Bechdel Test. Aunt Betty is the only female character, and she’s barely in it.
IMO Pipper doesn’t really sound much like Yosamite Sam. Certainly not as much as he sounds like Red Green.
End credits for Troy and Zap are mixed.
Fart Bargo #40: Does anyone know why Rowsdower’s hood was red? Is it an assassin in training color?
Why not? After all, Daleks and Cybermen have color-coded ranks.
@ #135: Perhaps they should check the tool shed.
Favorite riffs
Nobody leaves the World Wrestling Federation!
Come back here, syrup rustler!
That’s an anagram for direct to video.
No wonder dad lost his money. He invested in lemon mines.
If you lived here, you’d be in Hell by now.
Auntie sent her jackbooted thugs to make him lunch.
In my work for a bloodthirsty cult, I depend on my Grand Torino.
I dreamt I was stuck with a chunky backwoods loser name Rowsdowe– Aaaaah!
Let’s see what my Cap’n Crunch Treasure Map says.
I sensed that with my hair. My hair is an elaborate network of nerves, constantly processing information.
“Go to Hell!”
Or at least Edmonton.
Quick, climb a tree. Trucks can’t climb trees.
Wait, I have an appointment to get beat up.
“Did you know him?”
Know him? He was delicious!
God bless Mommy and Daddy and Grandpa and all my evil henchmen.
My glee club will be looking for me.
Well it was a pretty good cult, but hockey season is starting and all.
I can’t believe the ancient city kicked us out already.
Last April Fool’s Day, the Call of Cthulhu web site Delta Green posted BRP stats for Zap Rowsdower.
I live out in the country and experience some power outages from time to time. Perhaps I should keep a mannequin on hand for handing looting the next time. There is a pretty sweet MST collection here I have my eye on.
Larry Czonka is a bit outside of the normal wheelhouse for the Brains. Who do you suppose come up with that one?
Well it looks like Sampo’s Thereom time. This sure seems to be a beloved episode putting me in the minority of saying it falls a bit flat. There is a certain amount (though far from over abundant) of competence in the making of the film over shadowed by poor casting and acting. The riffing is just rather pedestrian and a bit too heavy on the state park side.
The suplimentary interview with Bruce Mitchell is interesting. My take away was the cast all saw it as community theater project that somehow became a movie. So it doesn’t sound like there are any hard feelings by the fact nobody got paid. It also sounds like the cast was more happy with the final product than the City of El Paso was with Manos.
Favorite Riffs:
Establishing shot of a neighborhood: Mike “If you lived here you’d be in hell by now.”
Troy escapes the chasing cultists by jumping in the back of Rowsdower’s moving truck. Mike “Unfortunately the truck is making a delivery right back to the cult.”
Rowsdower runs: Mike “The sides of his heart are blowing out like old tires.”
I’d like to say that, during the 2013 Turkey Day marathon, Joel’s inclusion of this episode in the lineup led to the MSTies getting #Rowsdower trending on Twitter that day!
War of the Colossal MST3K Fan Guide came up with an interesting theory regarding the rather implausible string of coincidences which hold this film together.
http://mst3kfanguide.blogspot.com/2007/01/910-final-sacrifice.html