* episode 210- KING DINOSAUR (with short: X MARKS THE SPOT)
* episode 323- THE CASTLE OF FU-MANCHU
* episode 608- CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD (with short: A DAY AT THE FAIR) and
* episode 611- LAST OF THE WILD HORSES
Extras:
New Introduction By Frank Conniff
The Incredible Mr. Lippert (a Ballyhoo Production)
Vintage MST3K Promos
Life After MST3K: Kevin Murphy (this is the first installment of a new series)
Code Name: Quinn Martin
DARKSTAR: Robots Don’t Need SAG Cards
Original Trailers
4 Exclusive Mini-Posters By Artist Steve Vance
If you want to pre-order it at Amazon, we would appreciate it if you would use this link.
Here’s the Shout! press release
On March 27, Shout! Factory will launch into orbit Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIII, a 4-Disc collection of four Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes previously unreleased on DVD. Featuring the episodes King Dinosaur, The Castle Of Fu Manchu, Code Name: Diamond Head, and Last Of The Wild Horses, Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIII also features a MSTie-riffic collection of bonus features!
Much like the country that spawned it, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a melting pot. In every imaginable genre, Joel, Mike and their robot pals Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot have seen the promise of cinema mutilated by mediocrity. Nowhere is this highfalutin concept more hilariously exemplified than in this 23rd collection of episodes from the beloved cult comedy television series. You want a Western? It’s here. Space adventure? Look no further. We’ll even throw in a failed TV pilot and a barely coherent science fiction-horror-thriller. All genres are treated with equal disrespect by the luckless crew of the Satellite of Love. They pledge allegiance only to funny, with justice — SoL style — for all.
In King Dinosaur, two scientist couples are sent to investigate a mysterious new planet and are menaced by snakes, gators, giant bugs and other scary process shots. In the world of MST3K fodder, this unique collaboration between ultra-prolific suppliers Robert L. Lippert and Bert I. Gordon deserves a moment of silence. Truth is, 63 moments of silence might be more entertaining than King Dinosaur, but those intrepid SoL’ers come to the rescue yet again, bringin’ the funny with a delirious running commentary. This disc includes the 1944 short film X Marks The Spot. Bonus features include a new documentary featurette, The Incredible Mr. Lippert, and the original theatrical trailer.
It says something about a movie when the best thing about it is a mustache, as is the case with The Castle Of Fu Manchu. Christopher Lee takes climate change into his own hands in this 1969 installment of the Fu Manchu franchise. Determined to freeze the global water supply, the diabolical Fu Manchu heads to Istanbul for a castle, an opium reserve and a heart-to-heart with an ailing scientist. Fear not: his archnemesis, the Interpol superstar Nayland Smith, is on the job. An alternate title for this movie is The Torture Chamber Of Fu Manchu and, judging by the convoluted plotting, it’s by far the more accurate one. As Dr. Forrester says, “This movie makes The Unearthly seem like Citizen Kane.” It’s a good thing Orson Welles wasn’t around to hear that. Bonus features include a new Introduction by Frank Conniff, behind the scenes of the video game Darkstar featuring many MST cast members, and the original theatrical trailer.
Counterintelligence takes on a new meaning in the barely coherent tale of Hawaiian espionage that takes place on movie sets meant to look like Hawaii in Code Name: Diamond Head. If only superspy “Diamond Head” had infiltrated some of his own script meetings before this deadly pilot from legendary TV producer Quinn Martin was released on an unsuspecting public. Fortunately for us, Mike, Crow and Tom manage to sneak some really funny wisecracks into the script, not only neutralizing its odor but actually converting the 1977 TV movie into a work of art. This episode includes the short film A Day At The Fair. Bonus features include Code Name: Quinn Martin and the first installment of Life After MST3K, where we spotlight a cast member and the work he or she has done since leaving the show.
The last, but not least, stop on this Satellite of Love ride is Last Of The Wild Horses, though a second helping from Producer Robert L. Lippert is probably more than most can keep down. In this 1948 Western, “Duke” (no, not “The Duke” — you should be so lucky) is a robber-turned-rancher who gets in the middle of a ranch foreman’s scheme to steal wild horses and is framed for murder in the bargain. Those B’hoys on the Satellite of Love cut dirt on the riffing until the movie is catawamptiously chawed up, but the real treasure lies in this episode’s host segments, featuring an utterly unforgettable parody of Star Trek’s celebrated “Mirror Mirror” episode. Vintage MST3K Promos are offered as bonus features.
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Nsacci (re #89):
It was the 1970s–every colour *was* tan. (Maybe I’m just remembering my wardrobe from then)>
Vintage MST3K Promos! Wow! My head just exploded!
About those vintage promos: if they are from the CC era around the time of King Dinosaur as a 2nd season episode. And keeping in mind my memory is hazy about the timeframe, but wouldn’t they be the Comedy Channel promos instead of Comedy Central ones? Granted Comedy Central did eventually come out of the Comedy Channel after that in turn became CTV when it merged with HA!, but would the same legal issues, if there are any, pop up?
Or is that just splitting hairs and legal teams are legal teams even if it would be a promo for a defunct network that no one but MST fans would remember? And fans of Inside The Comedy Mind, Stand Up Stand Up, Night After Night, Two Drink Minimum, Sports Monster, Comics Only, Dead Comics Society and Short Attention Span Theater. Not to mention endless reruns of McHale’s Navy, CPO Sharkey, and Sgt. Bilko. Wow, that takes me back.
They didn’t start making the episode specific promos until they were on Comedy Central. They did go back and make some episodics for some season 2 shows, but even those would state they were “at Comedy Central.”
I’d love to see them do a replica Aztec mask when they release Puma Man…sorry, Pyoooma Man. I say “when” because that’s my top episode that has yet to see a proper release.
About Poo-ma Man/Pyu-ma Man pronunciations
Just rewatched Ring of Terror and it’s interesting that
Joel and the bots both pronounce the cat’s name “pyuma.”
Yet during Puma Man ripped Donald Pleasance’s pronunciation.
Weird, a two episode four disc set.
@106 ck: I’ll have to rewatch Ring of Terror. I’ve only seen it once. I do remember “I love Davenport,” but mostly because I live there. That said, Donald Pleasance was hamming it up so wonderfully in Puma Man how could you not mock him?
#108
Donald Pleasance is restrained in Puma Man compared to his
appearance in Warrior of the Lost World. (That experiment hurt
a lot, especially after they killed off the best character-
Megaweapon!)
Btw, perhaps the worst bits in Ring of Terror is the movie’s
continuing ridicule of overweight people. Best-the continued
riffing on the ages of the actors.
Although having seen Diamond Head, I have to ask:
IS ANYONE EVEN ALIVE TODAY WHO EVER WATCHED “LOVEJOY”????
(Yes, Mike, we know, A&E is Evil…But thanks for making me feel a million years old for remembering cable in 1994. One wonders what would happen to the riffing if Peter Graves AND Ian McShane had ever done a movie together.)
I was being snarky up at #37.
OF COURSE every MST box set that comes out is reason to celebrate. I like King Dinosaur and Last of the Wild Horses and the extras seems neat; and just like all the sets, I intend on buying this one.
I just won’t be watching Castle of Fu-Manchu very often..
I LOVE Fu Manchu. It was my absolute favorite episode not already available on DVD. What’s with the hate? Everybody knows that the best episodes are the ones with the worst movies, and Fu Manchu is THE WORST movie (after Manos, Monster A Go-Go, and Coleman Francis of course).
Next Shout Select releases: Girl in Gold Boots and Wild Wild World of Batwoman
No street date yet.
Does it concern anyone else that we can, months in advance, receive the episode lists for a set that has not yet been released and then immediately begin planning the set to be released after that? Anyone? No one? Good.
I have far too many episodes that I would like to see for one box but, if I had to pick:
The Day the Earth Froze
Hercules Against the Moon Men
Outlaw
The Sword and the Dragon
A themed fantasy/adventure set. You could substitute in Delta Knights, Hercules, Samson, etc if one of those proves difficult to license. All of that said, I expect – along with most, it seems – that vol. 24 will have the Fugitive Alien films for its Joel-half; for the Mike-half, well, I have no idea. I would like to have Neptune Men at some point but I doubt that Shout! will put out a 3/4 Japanese dub set (says the man that just suggested a themed set four lines ago) – the one non-dubbed film would just stick out in the most odd way – but if they used Outlaw or Sword and the Dragon I am sure I would get over it. Eventually.
Also, something about pre-ordering, Diamondhead, and the fall of Western civilization. I’m still getting caught up in this thread.
Every time they release another one of these box sets, 4 episodes that are circulating freely have to be pulled. And we pay for that “privilege.” Sigh.
Seneca:
Like probably a lot of people here, I have a complete set of MST episodes pulled from various sources (DAP primarily)–all of them watchable, but some of them pretty rough. In some cases the audio and video don’t synchronise very well; in other cases the screen resolution, even on my laptop, is pretty crummy. It’s nice to have a clean, good-looking DVD copy to pop in (especially to watch on my TV)–that’s a privilege I don’t mind paying for. I also don’t mind putting some extra money in the Brains’ pockets, and I’d rather encourage Shout! to release more DVDs than to have them think even the loyal fans don’t care. In my ideal world, every episode (even KTMA) would be available, along with the original, un-MSTied versions (as Rhino did at one point), and lots of fun extras–all on Bloo-Ray, of course. But for me, it really comes down to supporting MST and keeping these people who have provided so much entertainment going a bit longer.
Blast Hardcheese #116> Let me start by saying that regardless of my personal feelings an artist/creator always deserves the fruits of their labor. In this case that means making money off it. That is something that doesn’t happen when we use DAP or buy from Cheepnis etc…
I’ve bought plenty from Cheepnis because those sources have been all there is and I wanted to see this stuff. But I also re-buy officially because it is right.
That said… I wish Jim Mallon wasn’t getting a chunk (perhaps even the lion’s share?) of the money that filters down to Best Brains. I know Joel still gets some royalties and past that I’m not sure how many other cast members are seein a piece of the pie. I’m pretty sure it isn’t everybody and that is sad. As we’ve learned that there was much friction between Mallon and the cast these past several years it’s easy to take the side of the creator and other actors who contributed the most screen time to making us laugh. But such is life.
Dan:
I just read over my last post–geez, I can’t believe how Polyanna-ish I sound. I guess it doesn’t occur to me that not everyone is benefiting from these DVD releases–and, of course, as Jim is the guy running BBI and negotiating the deals, he’s making sure he’s well looked after. I have to say that I wish I understood better the strong animosity fans have towards Jim Mallon–I know that there was a lot of tension between him and Joel that was directly responsible for Joel’s departure, but that can’t be the whole story–but it’s very difficult to find cold. hard facts on this, and the ex-Brains don’t seem to say much (or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places). I always wonder if Jim is cast in the same light as Paul McCartney: an overbearing control freak who wanted everything his way, and who would rather scuttle the entire group than budge on his ideas. Of course, Jim’s creative contribution, unlike McCartney’s, was considerably less in terms of the final product. Whatever the reality, I always have the feeling there’s something that everyone else knows that no one’s speaking about. Kinda like a family, I guess.
Blast> No doubt about it. We don’t know the whole story. When you see Joel questioned you just feel there is still more than he’s not saying. And it took 15ish years before he’d say out loud that Jim Mallon had anything at all to do with his departure from the show. Plus you are right there has to be another side to the story. It is to Joel’s credit he does bite his tongue instead of saying everything that appears to be on his mind. Jim likewise doesn’t say much publically. I think for those of us who do point the figure at Jim we look at the fact that you have three major departures (Joel, Trace & Frank) that appear to be Mallon related and couple that with the fact that though the show is Joel’s creation, somehow Jim controls the rights today as being damning circumstantial evidence against him.
Maybe I’m taking 2+2 and getting 4. Then again it’s also possible I’m taking 2+2 and getting 5 also.
Dan:
If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck…
Your explanation sounds pretty plausible. There are stories waiting to be told–has Kitty Kelley heard of MST, I wonder?
Frank’s departure wasn’t Mallon related
Another awesome set, with quite a few surprises! This makes updating the Likelihood for Release List all the more fun! http://forrestcrow.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=mstchat&thread=6297&page=1
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