We’re happy to present the first ever RiffTrax Christmas special! In the spirit of the season (that is, delusional hysteria and madness) we’ve dug up some hilariously bizarre holiday oddities, all new to us and never-before riffed!
Join your hosts, Mike, Kevin, and Bill, as they:
*Exchange gifts, with vintage toy commercials
*Riff a new short, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives
*And riff the main event, Magic Christmas Tree!Magic Christmas Tree is a fresh slice of holiday weird, sure to bring back cherished childhood memories. Remember how your parents used to tell that old Christmas tale of a boy who hit his head trying to help a witch retrieve a cat named Lucifer, hallucinated for months, and befriended a creepy, sarcastic tree? No? Well that’s probably for the best, you were a young, impressionable child. But you’re ready now!
Gather the family, get a bucket of eggnog, and settle in for Christmas with RiffTrax!
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Will this be made available for people that aren’t American enough to watch on Hulu?
I don’t even think they made reference to the new movie aside from a small “Watch for our upcoming movie” during the intermission, even though all previous advertisements for the event stated that there would be some kind of preview of it.
We have released it first on Hulu exclusively, but tomorrow we’ll be releasing the full-fledged version which will be a special called “Christmas With RiffTrax” – hopefully a new tradition! Stay tuned.
The full version will include the movie, a new short, and host-segments. The Hulu release is just the bare-bones movie+riff.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Thank the lillipip guild for this.
Thanks RiffTrax folks. Merry Christmas you old building and loan.
The funniest thing about this movie is that it apparently foresaw the forces of commercialism pushing the Christmas season earlier and earlier until it reached its present state of being mixed up with Halloween. Could the mysterious voice of the Magic Christmas Tree actually be the first incarnation of that elusive Christmas Creep?
No, wait, the Creep was probably the giant at the end. Did the last 12 minutes of this one remind anyone else of the last 20 or so minutes of The Pit? Regardless, it was perfect home-with-a-Christmas-staff-infection viewing. Thanks guys!
I was watching the Hulu release and laughing so hard my 3 year old daughter came over to see what all the fuss was about. Since she didn’t see Elmo she lost interest pretty fast. Her loss. Thanks Rifftrax!
I saw the preview for this, but I didn’t catch that it was going to be on Hulu…
After watching this all I can say is – wow… So there is more movie that wasn’t in that version? I LOVED the riffing, but I can’t imagine any child sitting through this. This must be from the “Make a movie that teachers will put on so they don’t have to deal with the kids before Christmas holiday” collection.
I’ll be one of the first in line to get the package of this and a short and the host segments! :)
Host segments? Cool. Even though I thought Cinematic Titanic sucked at host segments, I still kind of miss them.
In case my last comment was confusing, I’m talking about both Rifftrax and CT. I liked the host segments they did for The Film Crew.
Cool! Thanks guys, so awesome!
I don’t understand why i can’t watch it. Just because I’m not American? Hulu has earned a powerful enemy.
Just asking: will the “Magic Christmas Tree” make us repsect “Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny” even more. or did I just ask a trick question? In any case, I’ll take my chances on both
So, the kid makes one line about meatloaf, and all of a sudden Mike’s back into heart-explodes default-joke mode?
(And they say MY posts are running on auto-pilot..)
I really enjoyed it, but every time I heard Kevin’s voice I expected to look up and see Tom Servo bouncng up and down.
Thanks, I liked it very much.
Casey, “tomorrow” meaning “today”, i.e., 12/20?
Can’t wait!
Wrong. “Tomorrow” as in “It’s out NOW!” :)
Will there be a DVD release, for those of us who are, y’know, old?
What is more sad? EricJ posts, or the people who liked his sempitern hatred of Mike Nelson?
I tend to hold out for the DVDs.
I loved Santa And The Ice Cream Bunny and I’d love to see this now but I CAN’T WATCH IT BECAUSE I LIVE IN SPAIN!
CURSE YOU, HULU! >:(
^Gah! That was meant to be an angry face.
I’m assuming we’ll see a DVD release of this Christmas 2012?
Okay, watched the first half of this last night.
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.
This is purely for research and because I genuinely want to know so that we can take all of these factors into account: Those of you who do hold out for a DVD release, why is that your preferred method given the variety of options that we offer already (including the burnable image)?
Casey: I like to have something I can put on the shelf, with a nice cover. Burning DVDs is a fiddly process, and even if it works I end up with a final product that looks like a blank DVD with Sharpie on it. :) Also, for a long time, my DVD player didn’t play burned DVDs; I recently got a new one that does, but that might be a factor for some people.
I dunno — I may just be mired in tradition. I don’t think I’ve bought more than one burn-your-own DVD or CD in my life. If the option is there for someone to mail me a nice disc, I always pay the extra couple of bucks.
To #22, it’s not sad I gave Eric J a thumbs up for that one particular cut of his gibe. I haven’t seen this riff yet so to read Derick’s description of that joke first there did get a laugh out of me, knowing it’ll be funnier when I finally get my official DVD copy. I also think this new, more self-realized comment style of his is an improvement on his part. It’s obvious by the way he knows Mike, he loves him like the rest of us. Thumbs up, Der ick! :yes:
Geez, I have plenty of DVDs that are merely downloads with Sharpie writing on them — doesn’t matter at all once I put’em into the DVD player.
YMMV, of course.
8-)
#8 – Oh, the Pit, one of my absolute favorites. Now I HAVE to watch this one.
#30 I have been reading his comments here for a while he seemed insanely obsess with Mike. He might have an altar dedicated to him, or voodoo dolls. I must be sincere, he annoys the Hell out of me.
Casey – I used to hold out for a physical DVD because (1) I like to have physical products, with actual art and stuff, but more importantly, (2) I had never burned an ISO image before. Well, I finally HAD to download Warriors of the Wasteland, and I forced myself to learn how to burn an ISO (not hard at all), so now I am in the camp where if there IS a physical DVD I’ll pay extra for it, but I’m fine with just the virtual releases.
For the record, I thought the instructions on how to burn an ISO on the Rifftrax site were pretty helpful.
That was awesome! Thanks very much Rifftrax! :pumpkin:
Why I want a DVD: I like to sit in a comfy chair and watch things on a nice sized TV screen.
Why I need a DVD: I can’t burn DVDs.
Plus streaming is annoying.
Good Lord, Msties are whiny, aren’t they?
#28:
“Hello? …. Yes, what can I do for you, Mr littleaimishboy? …. we DID send you a down jacket, sir …. look, we sent you a goose, five yards of waterproof canvas, AND a link to an on-line instruction book … well, if people like you aren’t willing to get with the program, that’s your tough luck.”
Also re: Eric J… it’s not just Mike that makes those jokes, ya know. And if you’d been paying attention, you’d have even heard the old lady in the movie make a “husky” crack about the kid.
Re: the movie… instant classic, worth it for the first-wish-chase-scene alone (It’s A Bad Bad Bad Bad Movie). It feels like a made-for-TV flick, but what I can find about it suggests that it was a theatrical release, so people had to actually spend money to see it.
I just finished watching the whole special and have to say that it was worth every penny. Mike, Bill and Kevin do an entertaining take on the Holiday Christmas TV special and the toys and games they show in the commercials are scary funny. I don’t remember Battlewagon(any relation to Megaweapon perhaps?) but I do remember the other ones. We get a cartoon that offends everyone and a movie that has to be seen but don’t be surprised if you still think it was just a bad nightmare. The riffing was awesome! I am trying to think of any constructive criticism or even any mean spirited criticism. Oh, your holiday sweaters sucked( :-D ) Thanks, Rifftrax, for for finding a movie that makes Manos look like an acadamy award nominee.
I bought and burned the SCatICB VOD last year, and felt a little disappointed when it came out on regular DVD this year. It would be nice if early adopters can upgrade their burned DVDs once the official versions come out, as I hated the lack of a menu of the VOD.
I prefer the physical, company-produced DVDs for two reasons. First, company-produced discs usually have extra content, along with menu screens, while the VOD discs only have the movie. Second, my computer has a number of limitations and I’m not sure it’ll effectively burn a disc. It’s okay for playing back audio commentaries, though.
If I get a more advanced computer set-up, my position on the second reason may change. But I’m sticking with the first one, though.
Hope this helps with your research.
Every single time a new Rifftrax VOD is released, it turns into the old “when is the REAL dvd coming out” debate. I personally feel like paying one price and having the Iphone version and Burn To DVD is truly the best of both worlds (take that Hagar and Roth!). I can watch some Riffin’ on my lunch break on my phone, or come home and pop the bad boy in any dvd/blu ray player I own. I understand people wanting to have a “physical” product to a certain extent but c’mon be creative. Get some color sharpies, decorate your burned DVD, and enjoy the holiday season! I have nothing but faith in you MSTies (or RIFFies…wait does that sound like roofies?) and your creative abilities! Enjoy the product as it’s presented and remember we are paying for the entertainment! They are providing it! It’s pretty dern cheap too! That’s what is important here.
I do sometimes get both, but I think the problem some have is that DVD-Rs have questionable credability. Whether the computer has a glitch on the dvd burner or the DVD players don’t quite figure it out, the frustration tends to increase. A physical dvd is more acceptable, especially if it has bonus features. That’s my guess on the matter.
What’s scary is, I remember the days when local theaters showed cheap public-domain Christmas matinees (Mexican Santa Claus on the bigscreen!), and remember seeing TV ads for a few brave, desperate, naive theaters conned into showing this over the 70’s holidays. That was my main reason for watching the link out of curiosity, and….for some reason, think the ads all these years kept me from believing that it’d been filmed on a Manos/Jam Handy backyard budget. Well, now I know, for the record. 0_0
I’m up for seeing CT skip the Martian retread and do one more bizarre holiday matinee of their own if they can find one (we know the Brains have at least heard of “Almost Wasn’t”, even if it’s too hard to acquire), but just to see the riffing done by the half of the group that ISN’T more interested in simply milking their new Ice Cream Bunny cash cow.
(On the upside, at least RT knows the vintage-cheese seems to be getting more fan-franchise love nowadays than the Transformers and comic-geek movies…Gee, seems like the current fans are tuning in just to see how bad the movie is, rather than the riffing. ;) )
Wow. The Magic Christmas Tree staggers dangerously close to Ice Cream Bunny territory when it comes to walking the razor’s edge between unwatchable incompetence and voyeuristic fascination. The classic commercials were great, as usual, and Mike’s filthy sweaty battlewagon face could have easily been a Sci-Fi channel era host segment, right up there with hockey hair and crazy old prospector syndrome.
Best of all though, I enjoyed seeing the guys in front of the camera again. I wish they’d shoot introduction and linking segments for *all* their VOD titles, and maybe even stop some of the longer movies halfway for a “lunch break”, like they did for the four Film Crew DVDs.
Casey – the reason I don’t care for the downloads vs. the physical DVD’s is that I only have the slowest DSL at home; so downloading a 4 gigabyte file is going to error out because it would take 10 hours. I wouldn’t mind buying a burned DVD from Rifftrax with no case or cover art, it doesn’t have to be a pressed DVD.
I agree wholeheartedly with JLH (#41) — I’d love some kind of upgrade option for those of us who snap up the VOD immediately and then would love to get the DVD without feeling ripped off. I’ve double-dipped on a number of titles for a couple of reasons —
1 – I like getting the original unriffed movie — these are often offered on the DVDs but not on the VODs.
2 – I do like chapters stops that are more logically set out than a VOD’s “every 5/10/whatever minutes”.
3 – This doesn’t make sense but I’d swear than on a couple of VODs where I found the riffing volume to be a little too low in relation to the movie, this problem was corrected on the DVD.
Even when I do get the DVD’s, though, I usually burn them rather than wait for a snail-mail delivery.
I used to be in the “I always want a physical copy camp” but have gotten lazy in my old age and now give in and just get files sometimes. I think CT does distribution perfectly where you can:
1. get a real pressed DVD with box for $15
2. download your own MP4 file (better quality than DVD and smaller filesize to boot) or download a DVD image file or even stream if you want for $10.
I really like the fact that they pass the savings on to me of not manufacturing a disc and offer enough options to satisfy everyone. Casey, I think if Rifftrax would do this then nobody would have anything to complain about. And fellow grumpy old people, invest $70 in a good blu ray player and you can easily play just about any kind of computer video file there is, I just got one that will play CDs, DVDs, Blu rays, .mp4, AVCHD, mkv, divx, etc. You can just burn the files to a data DVD and watch it like a regular DVD.
I too hope a DVD release is in my future.