Here’s the press release on Vol. 24, including street date and extras:
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: XXIV
4-DVD BOX SET FEATURING 4 EPISODES PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ON DVD TO BE RELEASED BY SHOUT! FACTORYIN STORES JULY 31
Los Angeles, CA – Put on your spacesuits and get ready for a summer vacation on the Satellite of Love! Shout! Factory has announced the newest release in their Mystery Science Theater 3000 line, readying Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIV for release on July 31. A must-have for fans of cult television shows and B-movies alike, the 4-DVD set features four episodes previously unreleased on DVD: Fugitive Alien, Star Force: Fugitive Alien II, The Sword And The Dragon and Samson Vs. The Vampire Women. Also included are all new bonus features, including introductions by Japanese cinema historian August Ragone, You Asked For It: Sandy Frank Speaks!, MST Hour Wraps, Life After MST3K: Frank Conniff, MST3K Shorts: Snow Thrills & A Date With Your Family, Lucha Gringo: K. Gordon Murray Meets Santo, and four exclusive Mini-Posters by artist Steve Vance.
The cult comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 has always welcomed immigrant films with open arms. One can almost imagine a Satellite of Liberty greeting the waves of foreign films seeking a more prosperous life in America. Its inscription might well read, “Give me your tired plots, your poor acting, your muddled directors yearning to be schlock-free.” It is in this spirit that Volume XXIV presents four of cinema’s transplants — from Russia, Mexico and two from Japan —that simply didn’t take.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIV brings us Fugitive Alien, wherein our hero Ken is pursued as a traitor by his own race because he refuses to kill humans; Star Force: Fugitive Alien II continues the story of Captain Joe, reformed interstellar marauder Ken and the rest of the crew of the Bacchus-3 as they set off to destroy an alien race’s super-weapon; The Sword And The Dragon, an epic journey of a mythical knight and his fights against a barbarian horde in an ancient land; and Samson Vs. The Vampire Women, featuring Mexican wrestling hero Santo saving the locals from Vampire women awakened by their leader with orders to find him a bride.
Thankfully, Joel, Mike and their band of robot brothers (Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot) alleviate their (and our) suffering by watching these movies with a joyously irreverent stream of higher consciousness. You have in your hands passports to laughter. Consider them riffed and stamped by those tormented souls aboard the Satellite of Love.
If you’d like to pre-order Vol. 24 from Amazon, we’d appreciate it if you used this link.
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I wouldnt mind getting singles on DVD box sets like Giant Gila Monster or Santa Claus Conquers the Martians , if only for shelf space. What I mean is – 3 new episodes and some an old Rhino single I might be open to. Im not much for double dipping but if some titles can be upgraded.
Some of the Rhino singles have the uncut versions of the movies on them which I like. Its a tough call
I wish Santa would come out as a single or included in a box set so I can unload the Essentials since I have 2 DVDs of Manos…3 is overkill :)
Sounds really great! Can’t wait to hear and see Mr. Frank himself! :O
Thanks for the link. I’ve pre-ordered. My complete MST3K DVD collection will remain complete.
No! There is no such thing as too many! Instead of thinking you have too many Manos, consider that you’re on the way to a complete collection. Embrace your inner geek.
I’ve ordered mine. I’ll confess that XXIV’s selection puts XXIII’s in the shade–but I’m happy to have any and every release! Here’s hoping Shout will one day release It Conquered the World–a great episode, and a truly GREAT B movie. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the key to a B movie’s success is the degree of earnestness with which the silliness is delivered. And in my opinion Peter Graves wins the prize (may he rest in peace) at the end of Corman’s masterpiece. (I’m also of course NOT forgetting the ferocious dressing-down Beverly Garland [may she also rest in peace] gives the giant pickle!)
Thank you, Shout!
Tres Manos pretty much exposed my inner geek , still…
I do 3 versions of Gojira/Godzilla and the 1933 King Kong I have 4 versions…
Wait !
Those are GOOD movies ! :)
Wow, an interview with Sandy Frank himself? That’s epic, guess the tales of his supposed hate for MST3K really were just urban legends perhaps? Still interesting though that Shout had to bypass both he and Daiei to get the Gamera eps so maybe he’s just trying to cash in a little at this point. Also really hope Ballyhoo is doing the Santo docu. Anyways, both Star Force flicks on one set, SA-weet.
Oh yeah, and what IS Susan Hart’s deal anyways? Is it because she simply wants too much for those three flicks or considers them personal heirlooms and didn’t like the fact they got MST’d? (possibly getting into urban legend territory again)
Er, there are actually four Hart-owned films, my bad.
Captain Cab #58 – You know, I kind of worry about that too, especially as Shout continues to crank out the box sets. Presently, if Shout has a rights problem, they can just substitute with, say, Track of the Moon Beast (btw, PLEASE let that happen!!!) However, there will eventually come a time when the decision to release another set lives or dies by rights resolutions and IF there is some rights holder out there who realizes that and just wants too much money and/or wants to feel a power rush, we might never see certain episodes on anything more than good ol’ VHS captures.
Captain Cab #58 – From what I’ve read, it’s quite the opposite. She apparently hates these movies, and doesn’t want them to ever see the light of day. Remember, she won’t even license the non-riffed versions for a release. If I remember correctly, she appeared in The Slime People, a Season 1 episode. However, she has repeatedly denied having anything to do with the film. This is not a good sign.
So, as far as I’m concerned, the only chance we’ll ever get of seeing the Susan Hart episodes released is for the woman to die, and for the rights to change hands to someone willing to release them. She’s over 70 years old, but could live much longer. You never know.
@Severen86
Haha, wow that’s crazy if true. Sounds like Ms. Hart needs to lighten up.
Oh and to clarify, I didn’t know she doesn’t allow the unriffed versions to be licensed either, that’s rediculous.
The Sandy Frank interview plus Shout’s upcoming Walking Tall box set more than convinces me that we’ll see a Joe Don Baker interview on an eventual two-disc Mitchell DVD.
Severen86 #61 – You’re right, that’s NOT a good sign! If money was the only object, that can be dealt with. However, when personal lineage is in play, yikes! While I don’t wish death upon anyone, I hope we DO eventually see these episodes.
Susan hart might want to loosen up and listen to
David Worth’s attitude towards Warrior of the Lost
World’s mst3000 treatment.
The scuttlebutt on the Susan Hart-owned titles that I’ve heard on various places (from the likes of genre writers Bill Warren or Tom Weaver, I can’t recall exactly who, maybe Ted Newsom), is that it *is* a money issue, not a legacy issue, but don’t quote me on that.
I heard that Susan Hart was hard to deal with also.
After VOL. 24. How many episodes are left that have been unreleased? 40-50? more or less?
I’ll break it down for you, mobileunit98
69 episodes left(after 24 comes out)
Season 1: 5
Season 2: 4
Season 3: 8
Season 4: 9
Season 5: 9
Season 6: 8
Season 7: 3
Season 8: 13 :(
Season 9: 6
Season 10: 4
I could be wrong with some of these, since I just did a quick count of what I have left in my avi folders.
To answer your question… YES! LUCHA GRINGO is a BALLYHOO production. So is YOU ASKED FOR IT: SANDY FRANK SPEAKS! I shot the interview myself. What a breakthrough! It is an amazing interview. MST3K fans are in for a treat!
And thanks for the comments concerning “THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIPPERT”. Happy to hear everyone* is enjoying it! It is always nice to find out that the hard work (in such a short time period) is worth it.
*Excluding Ethan V, who says “Could do without the documentaries about K Gordon Murray Meets Santo and whatever. I know other people will like them, but so far, they’ve been heavy on the “nerd” and lacking very much information.” Sorry you are not enjoying them. What would you like to know that the documentaries are not telling you?
I enjoy the ballyhoo interviews. There a little heavy on the still photos but other than that they’re one of the best things about the MST3K box sets (Not counting the episodes of course). Without revealing too much, would you be willing to say what Mr. Frank was like in the interview?
evil_ash_xero #70 – I confirm all of your DVD counts, except for Season 9. I believe there are actually 7 unreleased eps from that season. I also agree that we need to get some more Season 8 eps released! Gimmee “Party Beach” and “Riding w/ Death”!!!!
Will this be delivered by forklift to my home?
Perhaps it’s time for someone at Shout to romance Miss Hart? ;-)
About the included shorts…
Some have indicated that their inclusion means the episode won’t ever be released. I wouldn’t say ever, but it’s probably a good bet that they won’t be released soon.
Keep in mind that Shorts Volume 3 (the VHS from 2000 and the DVD from 2004) contained shorts that were in episodes later released. It contained “Is This Love?,” “The Selling Wizard,” and “Once Upon a Honeymoon.” The episodes that contained those shorts were in later releases, in 2005, 2006, and 2009 — from 1-5 years later on DVD, 5-9 years later for the original VHS release.
And, Mr. B’s Lost Shorts (VHS in 2000, DVD in 2004) included one (“X Marks the Spot”) that was released this year.
So, there is a precedent for solo shorts to later be released with the episode, but it usually is a few years later before it happens.
Gorn Captain #75 – (Can’t stop laughing long enough to type anything sensible!)
Basil #76 – True, but those were all released when commercially available MST3K was still in its infancy and a Shorts Collection was an acceptable novelty. It feels like the importance has shifted from that novelty to having completely intact episodes for we hard-core collectors (btw, I didn’t care for the Mst3k Jukebox extras that Rhino did). Therefore, when small pieces from “controversial” films are released, I get a bit nervous.
…
Or it could just be just a way to fill out a DVD with the previously unreleased and hilarious Snow Thrills just for the heck of it and I should really just relax.
Sadly, I cannot reveal anything about the content of the interview. However, I can tell you that Sandy Frank gives a good interview. Classy… and surprisingly, very witty. Again, I think MST fans are in for a treat. Just having an interview at all with Mr. Frank at all is a minor miracle. Especially, for an MST3K set.
I’m looking forward to seeing the Sandy Frank interview. I kinda like the guy. He employed lots of people, and brought mindless entertainment to the masses. What’s not to like?
If enough years have passed that Sandy Frank can have a good laugh at himself, then I respect him immensely. Besides, in his own goofy way, he was a trailblazer–these days, Japanese movies, anime, and manga are all over the place, but who cared about Japanese culture when Sandy Frank was doing his thing? I won’t say he didn’t deserve what he got from MST, but, as DBDukes says, he brought mindless entertainment to the masses–*different* mindless entertainment from the usual North American stuff. And that’s gotta be worth something.
I’ve had a love/hate for Sandy Frank for years. As a young kid I loved Battle of the Planets. But then there was his “fued” with MST…
Don’t worry Daniel – Ethan V is just jealous because trucker hats don’t fit him
HOT DAMM!! been waiting for fugitive alien eps.its worth every dime just for those two.
I think the inclusion of “A Date with Your Family” is because the full ep is public domain and they’re holding off on its release until they need to fill a set with one of those eps. Between that and the fact that the Shorts compilations are now OOP, I’d say it was a sound decision to include it.
Can’t wait to hear about Vol. 25!
….and hopefully we’ll get Susan Hart and Roger Corman to come around on their material (and get whoever owns Sam Arkoff’s estate on the line to boot).