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Episode guide: 820- Space Mutiny

Movie: (1988) The leaders of a space colony must fight back when their security chief plans to take over the ship.

First shown: 11/7/97
Opening: Crow and Tom think Mike’s encyclopedias are outdated
Intro: Mike has new encyclopedias; Pearl, Bobo and Observer are in prison
Host segment 1: Mike’s tea time is interrupted by the bots trashing some escape pods
Host segment 2: Crow’s a Bellerian…or is he?; Bobo’s escape plan fails
Host segment 3: Servo installs railings
End: Tom is buff, Crow less so. Meanwhile Pearl, Bobo and Observer escape, and a fire begins!
Stinger: Our hero bravely screams like a girl and bails out
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (401 votes, average: 4.87 out of 5)

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• First of all, has everybody signed Sherri’s birthday card?
• For several episodes now, the show had been going very strong, but many fans point to this show as probably the zenith of season eight, where everything worked and they were firing on all cylinders. It’s good, okay, at least in terms of the riffing. Still, a geeky scandal plagues this episode and many of the segments are only so-so. I’m not sure the next two eps aren’t just as good.
References.
• The many many names of Dave Ryder just got funnier and funnier—and one, “Big McHugelarge,” later became a bumper sticker BBI sold. Scarcely a week goes by that someone doesn’t tweet that video.
• Paul’s take on this episode is here.
• This episode was included in Rhino’s (and now Shout’s) “The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 4.”
• The big scandal about this episode was the “Battlestar Galactica” footage nobody at BBI recognized. I remember at the time that several online fans simply COULD NOT CONCEIVE of the POSSIBILITY that they would not recognize this footage. It seemed simply out of the realm of possibility to them. I said at the time that this lapse pointed up the painful lack of nerds on the Sci-Fi Channel-era writing staff. If Frank or Trace were still on the staff, I don’t think this would have been missed.
• The encyclopedia segment sort of predicts Wikipedia, which would launch a few years later.
• That’s Patrick and intern Dan Breyer as the Roman guards, and that’s Best Brains Controller Tim Johnson, hopelessly typecast as Mike Down, CPA.
• Classical music buffs: What is the piece Mike is listening to in segment 1?
• Movie observation: Reb Brown’s character is supposed to be a military officer, isn’t he? Then why the heck is he walking around in a wife-beater?
• Trivia: The Mitchell family infests this movie. In addition to Cameron Mitchell, his son Chip Mitchell portrayed mustachioed crew member Blake and his daughter Camile Mitchell provided the voice (but not the body) for Jennera.
• The rest of us may not enjoy Cisse Cameron’s portrayal as Lea (and btw I cannot BELIEVE they gave the female lead in a space action movie that name). But Reb Brown apparently liked what he saw. The two are now married and the set of this movie is where they first met.
• Callback from the old days: The line “Guard! Guard! Sick man!” is a bit from “Red Zone Cuba.”
• Of course, another classic moment in this movie is when the character we saw killed in the previous scene is quietly back at her station on the bridge.
• Mike does a very good impression of SCTV’s Ed Grimley at a couple of points.
• Segment 2 is another of those “Crow is not right in the head” segments. I think they work because Bill really commits to the concept.
• Crow is still wearing his Bellerian costume in the theater.
• Mike, channeling protective father figure Joel, covers the bots eyes during some suggestive moments.
• Segment 3 gives Mike a chance to do some nice physical comedy. He nails it.
• Servo thinks the movie is Canadian. Nope, South African.
• Another closing credits conversation.
• The final segment is not the first time the bots have bulked up. They also tried it in episode 410- HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN.
• Cast and crew roundup: special effects guy Jerry Kitz also worked on “Soultaker.” Makeup person Debi Nichol worked on “Outlaw of Gor,” as did production designer/art director Geoff Hill. In front of the camera, John Phillip Law was also in “Danger: Diabolik” and Cameron Mitchell was in “Stranded in Space.”
• CreditsWatch: Produced & directed by Jim. This was intern Todd Severson’s first episode.
• Fave riff: “JUST STOP AND AIM, YOU IDIOTS!” Honorable mention: “She’s presenting like mandrill!”

259 Replies to “Episode guide: 820- Space Mutiny”

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  1. pearliemae says:

    Also think this is one of MJs best moments as Pearl. Nice comedic acting througout. A very, very small connection with Christmas, what with all the comments about Cameron Mitchell being Santa. And, is this another movie that is already confusing and stupid, but is slightly more confusing because a few scenes were deleted? None of it has ever made sense. And, finally, what IS the deal with the woman officer back from the dead? Just supremely bad editing? Oh yeah, and why the heck DOES Cisse Cameron look so old? Is it the hairdo? Make-up? Hideous accessories? Help me out here. Anyhoo…5 stars fer sure.

       5 likes

  2. Wes says:

    I found a used vhs tape of the movie on a dollar table at of all places, a health food store. Yikes!

    Herve Villacheve’s Death-Car!

    I adore this episode.

    Santa, be reasonable.

       3 likes

  3. Colossus Prime says:

    This is one of those movies that is so spectacularly bad, and completely unaware of it, that it’s incredibly enjoyable (like Dragon Wars).

    Ignoring all the silly visuals we got (Lobster Boy, a space ship with a mile long boiler room, floor waxer transport), bad editing (reusing scene footage twice, “It’s nice of you to give that dead woman another try, sir.”), and reliance of stock footage from Battlestar Galactica, the story is nearly incomprehensible.

    So apparently this space ship has both a military group and a police group (this is a complete assumption). The military group works directly with the command crew while the police group is completely autonomous organization that has absolutely no oversight from the higher ranking command crew. Seems like a horrible idea, but ok.

    Now that we’ve established Commander Santa’s forefather’s terrible organization skills, the plot is that the leader of the police group wants to get off the ship so he can be rich and powerful. His plan; take control of the entire ship and land it on a planet. Sooooo… Why not just get together all the people who want off the ship and request a shuttle to leave? Surely the Commander would be more than happy to get rid of a possible problematic element.

    Was Kalgan really that big of a threat to the balance of the universe that a bunch of interstellar witches had to come to the ship to help guide Chris Kringle? They didn’t seem effective given that they couldn’t see that Kalgan was still alive. I love how it was edited to look like the Bellerians helped Rider at the end when his Kushman was clearly already on its way to hit Kalgan.

    One of my favorite self contained baffling moments is when Ryder asks the old guy how many enforcers Kalgan’s killed, when told 38 Ryder immediately says, “So Kalgan’s control of the Enforcers is complete.” Where the hell did that assumption come from?

    Still I love, love, love this episode. Brain Guy entertaining himself in the background while Pearl is talking to M&tB is priceless as are the puns revolving around, “bring Mike down.” The entire short exchange between Bobo and Brain Guy with, “He swallowed a woman,” is just so awesomely timed, as is all of Bobo’s explanations of the things he’s regurgitating. And of course we also get the start of Crow questioning his own sanity as he seems confused about the authenticity of his Bellerianness.

       9 likes

  4. Joseph Nebus says:

    The “Must get bumper car up to three miles per hour” scene was used for the cover art to The Amazing Spider-Man issue #583, by the way. I actually bought the comic on the strength of that cover art. (The scene doesn’t happen quite so literally inside the book.)

       0 likes

  5. Super Agent Icky Elf says:

    Quote: “When I watched this movie this time, I noticed something I hadn’t previously: Reb Brown’s character is supposed to be a military officer, isn’t he? Then why the heck is he walking around in a wife-beater?”

    Because of his “Miles O’Keefe”-like tooooo sweat pecs. :lol:

    Absolutely love this episode, it’s the “I just want to sit back and laugh my tookus off” epsiode.

    I wondered about the BSG footage as well, I just thought that the lack of references was their “okay, we all know it, but let’s not beat a joke to death” policy, or I wondered if, maybe, it was a contractual thing. As if they we’re given the rights under the stipulation that they couldn’t mention BSG… or I’m high and they just didn’t recoginise it.

       1 likes

  6. I heard some internet reviewer comment that the spaceship the Southern Sun is actually the ‘B’ Ark from ‘Hitchhikers Guide’ carrying the useless third of the Golgonfrinchans. Considering how stupid the people are in this movie, thats very plausible.

       4 likes

  7. Shinola says:

    Easily one of my top five. As you guys have pointed out, everything clicked beautifully. The riffs are consistently laugh-out-loud funny, and the movie, unlike the previous week’s offering, is goofy enough to be enjoyed without putting us through so much pain. I like to think of this as the Brains’ apology to the viewing audience after Neptune Men.

    On a related note, am I odd for liking the sight of Brantseg in that little centurion getup? Rowrrrr.

       2 likes

  8. klisch says:

    This is a good drinking episode. Slam a beer everytime someone falls over a railing.

       2 likes

  9. Gummo says:

    Quite simply one of the best ever. “We’ll be reaching speeds of three!” “Pantyhose are itchy! Itchy itchy itchy!” “Ohhhh, she’s presenting like a mandrill!” and maybe the laugh-out-loudest moment of all, when the “chase” scene in the ‘zambonis’ begins and one of our guys starts singing clown car music.

    Like Wes, I actually bought a copy of the real movie, out of sheer perverse curiosity. The only plot point that makes (slightly) more sense is why they take so long to move against Kalgon and his sinister band of bath beads. All the other plot holes are still there, large as life. (And yes, after the supremely icky love scene between our leads, there is a momentary Cissy Cameron nipple sighting, if that’s your idea of a good time.)

    For MST of ANY era, it doesn’t get better than this.

       2 likes

  10. Mela says:

    To be fair, Paul Chaplin apologized in the episode guide for missing the “Battlestar Galactica” footage joke potential. He even quoted “The Producers” to do so, so that’s enough for me to give ’em a pass.

    Easily one of the absolute best of the Sci-Fi era. My favorite riffs: “Look alive, everyone! Oh, sorry, Debbie.” and “I think it’s nice of you to give that dead woman her job back.” That whole sequence makes me smile just thinking about it.

       2 likes

  11. Not Merritt Stone says:

    The “No! This is treason and I warn you I must report!” guy who gets impaled by the cane early on also shows up alive and laughing in a party scene later on in the movie long after he got killed.

    So the best boy they could come up with was Fuzzy Skinner?

       7 likes

  12. Gummo says:

    The “No! This is treason and I warn you I must report!” guy who gets impaled by the cane early on also shows up alive and laughing in a party scene later on in the movie long after he got killed.

    That guy SO deserved to die — who gets up in a roomful of homicidal fanatics and announces he’s gonna turn’em all in? An idiot, that’s who!

       6 likes

  13. Professor Gunther says:

    “Shake it, Ralph Macchio!” :grin:

    One of my very favourite episodes.

       3 likes

  14. ck says:

    Speaking of Battlestar Galactica, now why is it even after I realized Santa Claus was Cameron Mitchell I still think of him as Lorne Greene?

    And it sure was nice of Santa to give all those dead people a second chance.

       1 likes

  15. PrivateIron says:

    Hard to say whether this or Diabolik is the best of SF era, but gotta say it is at least top 10 for the entire series. The BSG miss might be a blessing in disguise: they might have over mined that line of material to the detriment of the overall riffing. You could make the BSG jokes at home and let the pros get on with the McHuge lifting.

       3 likes

  16. pearliemae says:

    So, there were TWO characters who were killed and then came back. I’ll have to watch it again and look for the “report mutiny…” guy. Maybe, just maybe, this universe is some sort of “No Exit” deal, and no one really dies. Maybe it’s hell. Or maybe Santa wakes up and it was all a dream. Or maybe it’s bad editing. Oh, yeah, we have to comment on the goofy fake seduction scene when Leah escapes the bad guys. “You’re lucky the smart guard’s on vacation”. Yuck, and yuck again.

       5 likes

  17. Fart Bargo says:

    Have to agree with prior posters citing many memorable riffs. I fell out of my chair with “She’s got an armadillo in her trousers!” remark.

    Was Reb directed to act like he did? I think he was an experienced actor by the time this movie came up and he came off as a high school jock being forced to act in a HS play as punishment. I thought that Kalgon was the most entertaining character although Lt LaMont rising from the dead was special too. It wasn’t Easter either.

    Goofy movie with special effects provide by your local video arcade, acting, script and editing. Good host segments as well. I rate it at 4.8.

    Happy holidays to all!

       2 likes

  18. mst3ktemple says:

    This is one of those episodes I watch when I’m feeling a bit down and it always cheers me up. I can’t help but laugh at this every time I see it. The perfect marriage of movie and riffing.

    One “plot” point from the original movie that always bothered me is that near the beginning of the movie our “hero” ejects himself from his ship to save his own life while everyone else on board perishes. Couldn’t they have just said that the ship automatically ejects the pilot and he had no control over it instead of him intentionally bailing out and letting the professor die a horrible death? Just sayin’.

       2 likes

  19. Mr. B(ob) says:

    This is one of the best post-Joel episodes for me, especially on Sci-Fi Channel. It’s one of those shows that proved “they still had it” when everything came together just right as far as the movie, the riffing and the host segments. My 12-year-old son loves this one and I also really enjoy it. Some of our favorite jokes:

    1) The “railing kill” running gag, including the “the railing contributed to his death” line. Hilarious.
    2) The jokes during the goofy dance sequence on the ship.
    3) The host segments, especially the ‘Bots racing outside and Servo’s railing installation.
    4) The jokes during the incredibly silly low-speed cart chase near the end.
    5) The movie itself. It’s just so goofy and funny on its own. The cheapness of it from the “Spencer’s Gifts” props to the stock footage from Battlestar Galactica and the “golf cart” vehicles. Cisse Cameron and Reb Brown are not good actors and they tend to shatter any hope at suspension of disbelief for the audience in every scene in which they appear. They may be married in real life, but their romance on screen is less than “sizzling”.

    And why did Cameron Mitchell agree to be in the thing? As for a lot of actors parts sadly tend to dry up as they get older and for the fun of working again they often end up in terrible projects. I can only assume that was the case here. Either that or he must have been really bored or needed the money really badly. For that matter, John Phillip Law was also in some good movies when he was younger and he also ended up in this stinker, perhaps for the same reasons. And regarding Cisse Cameron, I don’t seem to be able to find a decent biography for her anywhere on the Internet. Is that a stage name she chose because she is Cameron Mitchell’s daughter? It seems likely and that would explain Cameron Mitchell’s appearance in this terrible film. If that’s the case then I guess you could call it a “family picture” with husband and wife and father all in the same turkey.

       2 likes

  20. The movie where John Phillip Law got fat off the cheap scenery.

    I’m not sure what you can say about a movie where in between an endless series of laser fights, there are scenes of Captain Santa and the Australian guy in their dull control room talking as if all that’s happening is an errant child misbehaving.

    I think there’s something to that “No nerds on the staff” thing. In “Stranded in Space”, Joel felt the need to point out “Cameron Mitchell’s there” as if this was significant. Here, they don’t seem to recognize him or care, except for maybe a brief flash of recognition during the credits. To be honest, I think it had more to do with Frank Conniff’s absence, as he was the movie guy with all the info about the cheesiest actors.

       0 likes

  21. norgavue says:

    I love the end credit eighties songs they launch into and the subsequent beating of mike for his part in the eighties. “It would have continued to be the seventies if not for you!” The battlestar galactica missing I realize that if they noticed there would have been a whole bunch of riffs for that and it may have taken away from what is a great episode with that omission. Still I think they left it out just so we have something to talk about on the internet.

       1 likes

  22. pablum says:

    Great episode. The movie seems to be made specicfically for MST3K. The riffing hits its mark at all points. There isn’t much I can add to the conversation on this one because it is that good.

    The only things I can knock about it is the lack of Battlestar Galactica references. Anybody who worked on MST3K was automatically a nerd so there was no excuse. The Roman Times host segments again fell flat on me, but other than that, a great episode.

       0 likes

  23. Not Merritt Stone says:

    Forget the Battlestar references. I’m more disappointed that no one riffed “You big dummy” after Lt. Lamont’s name was spoken.

       4 likes

  24. clonus says:

    Absolutely one of the all time greats in the history of the series-I could watch this episode 100 times and never get sick of it. I’m so glad that it’s one of the ones widely available on DVD so everyone can enjoy it.
    (Just ignore the Roman Times stuff, I don’t think the Brains liked it either).

       0 likes

  25. Hedonismbot says:

    Sting, Debbie Reynolds, and God

       9 likes

  26. d-lo says:

    The scene where Ryder utters his girly scream will make me laugh, every time I even think about it, for the rest of my life. This was one of the few episodes I managed to record before it came out on DVD, and my little brother and I almost wore the tape out, we rewound and re-watched that scene so many times…

    “Who took my purse?!”

       5 likes

  27. mataglap says:

    This may be the best SciFi-era ep. I’ve never been able to use the word “presenting” in any context with a straight face since first hearing Crow say “She’s presenting like a mandrill.”

    “I still support the railing system!”

       4 likes

  28. Colossus Prime says:

    To chime in for a second time here; I’m re-listening to the episode at work and feel I must reiterate just how on the ball Bill is as Brain Guy in this ep. The way he laughs after bringing Mike down (“hehehe, Mike”) is perfect.

       4 likes

  29. bobhoncho says:

    Well, the only good thing I can say about the movie itself is: excellent sound quality! This must be a LaserDisc copy! This episode is one of my favorites of the whole series, and definitely my favorite of season 8. I saw the non-MST, unedited version of this movie on YouTube (I know go ahead and say it, “BobHoncho, you’re crazy!”), and I am sorry to say that the Brains did not really cut out stuff that would have been very useful. I was still hopelessly confused at the end.

    “I like lettuce” “Shut up” “Okay”–Brain Guy and Pearl

       1 likes

  30. Iggy Pop's Brother Steve Pop says:

    I’m kind of surprised the name “Professor Spooner” didn’t inspire the Brains to make even one spoonerism.

    The BSG footage was pretty impressive– certainly the most impressive special effects ever seen on MST3K. Calling them “lame” and “crap” and saying they were done by “Industrial Light and Morons” felt to me like reaching too far to be negative. (Ironically, considering the “Industrial Light and Morons” riff, the BSG effects were by John Dykstra. While he was never part of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic per se, he did supervise the effects for the original “Star Wars.”)

    But now I’M dwelling on the negative. I enjoy most of this episode a lot.

    It also has a riff I used in real life. I produced a sci-fi short, part of which we shot on an existing spaceship set. One wall on the set featured a keyboard stuck to the wall. So, of course, I said, “Wall-mounted keyboards! It must be… the FUTURE!” Then we replaced it with something else.

    A couple other favorite riffs that pop to mind:
    “I was about to do the Monnnnster Mash.”
    “And then they T.P. him. Nice.”

       1 likes

  31. Brandon says:

    The leading actress in this film is another one of those “people” who doesn’t get MST3K. Like, the director of Squirm, she wrote a long-ass post about why MST3K is a horrible show, and crap. You can guess the kind of responses she got.

    “Look alive, people! Oh, I’m sorry.”

    “What do you have for me, Lt. Rick Astley?”

       4 likes

  32. smirkboy says:

    #18:Couldn’t they have just said that the ship automatically ejects the pilot and he had no control over it instead of him intentionally bailing out and letting the professor die a horrible death? Just sayin’.

    Actually they did…just before “That’s Doctor!” (DOCTOR LADY!)

    John Phillip Law was Sinbad in “The Golden Voyage of…” fighting the evil sorcerer Tom Baker(4th Doctor!)

    Reb Brown’s acting chops were honed in “Yor:Hunter Of The Future!”

    Chrunch Butsteak
    Slab Bulkhead
    Bolt Vanderhuge
    Blast Hardcheese
    Thick McRunFast
    Trunk Slam Chest
    Touch Rust Rod
    etc, etc etc…

    but…Smoke Manmuscle?

       4 likes

  33. Gummo says:

    “I like lettuce” pops up in our household all the time in the most unlikely of contexts….

       4 likes

  34. Nick says:

    I fell in love with this ep from the opening segment:

    “Congress is spelled with an F–what is it, Congrefffff?”

    Great, great episode. I think the movie demonstrates that the actors tried to turn crappy script into solid gold cinema, but ultimately hammed it up (so they succeeded.) Heck, I don’t know if Reb Brown deserves a Razzie or an Oscar for selling that 3 mph golf cart inferno as if it was Ben Hur.

       3 likes

  35. Brian says:

    “Listen, lady!”
    “That’s ‘Doctor’!”
    “DOCTOR Lady!”

    :grin:

    So much to enjoy!

    #31 – Do you have a link for that post by Cameron?

       2 likes

  36. monoceros4 says:

    It’s hard to decide between this or Prince of Space as the best episode of Season 8 but I think PoS edges it out slightly because of the time-travel host segments and the side-splitting appearance of Bill Corbett’s Phantom of Krankor. Not that Space Mutiny has bad host segments, not when you’ve got Brain Guy on quarter power, Mike treating himself to a little tea party (his hand flourishes when putting on the record and pouring himself the tea are hilarious), Gypsy kamikaziing the SOL, and a taste of how successful Mike was at dating. Funniest of all was the ‘bots extended rant on the eighties and bad ’80s music. The first time I watched Space Mutiny and Tom Servo with perfect timing launches into, “She’s a maniac, maaaniac!” I died laughing. Mike Nelson has a few years on me but I’m still old enough to remember all that cheesy ’80s rock. I must confess also that, like Mike, I’ve been known to listen to Journey.

    So who’s the best cackling villain: Terl from Battlefield Earth, the Phantom of Krankor, or Kalgan of Space Mutiny? Compared to the other two Kalgan is actually sort of competent. His sabotage succeeds, he actually manages to kill a couple of people, and if only his golf cart had more speed he might have killed the “space bitch” too. It would have served her right, considering that instead of seeking cover or at least hugging the wall Lea stands square in the middle of the corridor grinning like a moron while failing to hit Kalgan even from ten yards away. Was the movie trying to make her look useless?

    Kalgan’s got the best laugh, too. Terl and the Phantom sound too forced while you get the idea that Kalgan really does like to laugh at the thought of his own diabolic genius. All the time. He probably laughs when he cuts himself shaving and laughs when he screws the cap on the toothpaste and laughs when he runs out of toilet paper.

    I think I can resolve the question of why Kalgan’s police force seems not to have anything to do with the rest of the crew. My idea is that Kalgan’s “Enforcers” were really just rentacops, not part of the crew any more than mall cops would be, and not really expected to do much of anything at all. No wonder Kalgan decided to foment a mutiny; he was probably just bored out of his mind.

    “Aren’t you going to miss your flight?” “Does that mean you won’t marry me?” “Aww, you missed a line.” Is it just me or aren’t there a lot of such moments in the script? #3 points out another such moment when Ryder jumps immediately to the conclusion that Kalgan’s mobilizing the Enforcers and the movie jumps right along with him. There’s also the weirdly disjointed conversation between two of Kalgan’s henchmen (“What’s the matter ranger, afraid of losing control?” Huh?) not to mention how Lea goes from hating Ryder to making passes at him within about two minutes of screen time.

    Kalgan and MacPhearson make a big deal about how they’ve cut off Southern Sun and left her at the depredation of the pirates. That would make sense if Southern Sun were really an “ark ship” making a long and lonely journey to another world but, with due respect to Kalgan’s fiendish cleverness, he doesn’t seem to have noticed that Southern Sun seems to be in a pretty busy part of the galaxy. Aside from the pirates you’ve got the Bellerians flying in from somewhere, Ryder flying to and from somewhere, and Lea’s confident declaration that in case of mutiny, “We can call for help!” Wouldn’t an ark ship be out in the middle of nowhere with nobody around to help?

    The Bellerian priestess tells Capt. Janssen to “use what he has learned”. His decisive action? Pass the buck to Ryder. Way to go Captain! We must agree with Mike: “Captain Santa Claus really has failed here.”

       6 likes

  37. Ator In Flight says:

    I love all the yelling and screaming in this movie.

    “Go Go Go!”

    “Did they just run over a poodle?”

    The Enforcers they drive may look dorky,but in the future at least they’ve gone green.

    Pretty sure I’ve seen Reb Brown and Cissie Cameron on Three’s Company. Just wanted to throw that out there.

       1 likes

  38. monoceros4 says:

    One more thing.
    #9: “Like Wes, I actually bought a copy of the real movie, out of sheer perverse curiosity.” Maybe you can answer a question. Does the original movie have any more to say about MacPhearson? From the start he’s practically quivering with hatred (or something) of Southern Sun but there’s no indication of why. Nor, even though Capt. Janssen says he’s one of his most trusted men, are there any scenes indicating that MacPhearson and the rest of the command crew have anything to do with each other. Like Kalgan and his Enforcers, MacPhearson seems to be left to himself.

    By the way, why does mow down all those guys toward the end? He kills a ton of people then sits on the floor. Who were they, anyway?

       0 likes

  39. Cabbage Patch Elvis says:

    Whoooo! He took my purse!

       2 likes

  40. Ted says:

    “He’s gonna have so much sex with your daughter…”

       5 likes

  41. Nicolletta says:

    One of my all time favorites. The godawful acting. The ridiculous costumes. The concrete floors, brick walls, and bright sunlight shining in the windows of the “spaceship”. What’s not to love? I think I’ll watch today and tomorrow. All the “Captain Santa” riffs are appropriate right now, don’t you think? :mrgreen:

    Fun fact: Reb Brown and Cisse Cameron married shortly after making this film.

       2 likes

  42. Ah yes, my all-time favorite episode. So much to say, so little time.

    Movie:
    * I love Reb Brown. He’s another one of those guys you can’t dislike even though his acting is laughable at best. For anyone familiar with The Spoony One, he’s done video reviews of several other Reb Brown movies (with more on the way).
    http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/2008/07/06/yor-movie-review/
    http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/2009/09/06/robowar-review/
    http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/2009/12/06/strike-commando-review/
    * All of the “Santa” riffs make this the perfect Christmas movie. I plan to watch it again tonight for that very reason.
    * One of the greatest special “effects” in the movie comes from the blaster shots wherein the actual shots are angled significantly different from where the actor is aiming.
    * I once attempted a count of exactly how many railing kills there are in the movie, but lost count around 27, so there are likely even more (and still not nearly as many as the full body count in the uncut version of Escape 2000).
    * Called riffs: “Check it out, he’s driving an Enforcer.” – “Hey, you guys, I got my dad’s Enforcer for the weekend!”
    “I was just about to do the Monster Mash.” – Got this one word-for-word with Mike.
    * This, of course, is just our first encounter with John Phillip Law. We’ll see him again in Season 10 (but without callbacks to Space Mutiny, sadly).
    * So many great running gags: Commander Santa Claus being younger than his daughter, Captain Sting, the spaceship being a basement, Kalgan’s skull popping, railing kils, and Reb Brown’s various nicknames of course.
    * Favorite riffs-
    Mike:
    “Passed from editor to editor in a desperate attempt to save it!”
    “Finally, Christmas comes to Santa.”
    “You know the last eight times this happened the woman was just trying to get away.”
    Crow:
    “Rip his band uniform, then he’ll have to pay for it!”
    “She’s presenting like a mandrill!”
    “Wall mounted keyboards; it must be THE FUTURE!”
    Servo:
    “Are we the good guys or the bad guys?”
    “If the first ten minutes are any indication, this movie’s gonna blow!”
    “You’re too stupid to know anything about ancient dentistry.”

    Host Segments:
    * I love how Pearl catches the guard by surprise when she grabs his sword and whacks Observer with it rather than try to use it to escape.
    * I’d say Bobo merely has a brain fart during Segment 2. We’ve all had our moments where we go to do something, get sidetracked, and then forget the original intent.
    * Servo certainly doesn’t work out very often or he’d be permanently buff. Then again, the workout that Mike put them through back in Village of the Giants didn’t look any fun.
    * Favorite line: “Crow just found the whisper-quiet high-speed spinning spike railing.”

       6 likes

  43. Raptorial Talon says:

    “You know, a lot of people compare this scene to the climactic chariot race in Ben Hur.”

    “Really?”

    “Yeah. They usually say, ‘Ben Hur was really good. This movie totally sucks.'”

    This episode is always jostling around to be in my top five favorites. And since I enjoy the Roman Times stuff in general, I have little but admiration for it.

    Regarding stupid plot screw-ups, anyone else notice that the ship has been traveling 13 generations to reach the next star, but then Kalgan decides to drive them into the next constellation? How the hell can you suddenly take a detour into the next constellation when your (presumably non-faster-than-light) engine takes hundreds of years to get to the next solar system!? I feel obliged to comment on this nearly every time I see it, because of the mind-boggling imbecility.

    Not to mention Dr. Mandrill’s comment about violating “intergalactic law,’ implying the existence of ships which maybe *don’t* require you to die and hope your offspring find a habitable world, *and* all the stuff others have mentioned about random people cruising in from all over the place. This film is flawed all the way from the premise to the local bargin bin, which is why I’m glad it got riffed within an inch of its life.

    “Let me just check you twice . . .”

       8 likes

  44. JJK says:

    I guess I’m in the minority on this episode. It’s just such an unlikable movie with a bad cast, bad acting, bad hair, cheap but not in the good way and is everything that was bad about the 80’s

       3 likes

  45. Gummo says:

    monoceros4 —

    Are you referring to Kalgan’s second in command? Well, BB cut out a bunch of scenes that indicate that he was acting as a double agent, deep in the confidence of Capt. Santa Claus until well into the movie.

    That’s all I remember from the uncut film — we’ve only watched it once or twice. I mean, what’s the point when we find ourselves shouting out all the MST riffs anyway!

       1 likes

  46. pearliemae says:

    Glad you reminded me about McPherson. An excellent strut system, by the way. At the end, why in the name of all common sense does he take refuge in that trench? Not only is he pretty much out in the open, but is easily set on fire. And why does he not even TRY to get out of the way of the flames? I know he was differently abled, but he seemed to have no problem with the stairs, etc. And, why did he wander out of the engine room to begin with? It took two people to escort him back! Hoo boy, there is nothing about this one that isn’t funny.

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  47. Watch-out-for-Snakes says:

    #32: “Reb Brown’s acting chops were honed in “Yor:Hunter Of The Future!””

    YOR is one of my favorite BAD movies of all time (haven’t seen it in years, though) and I didn’t realize that Reb was in that, as the titular Hunter from the Future, no less. YOR is one of those movies that I WISH MST3k would have gotten a hold of; if you’ve never seen it, go rent it or shoot over to YouTube and watch some clips. Awesome theme song (“Yor’s World!!”) and some goofy ass action (when dudes swing across a chasm on a rope, it’s sooooooo obvious that it is a toy/doll on the end of said rope) make YOR an awesome good time for anyone looking for some not-so-good cinema to enjoy whilst drinking some brewskies with your buds.

    As for “Space Mutiny,” I LIKE IT VERY MUCH!

    “Kalgan, take me away!!”

       4 likes

  48. pearliemae says:

    BTW, if anyone wants to read about the full plot (and I use that word liberally), including the cut scenes, go over to The Agony Booth.

       1 likes

  49. monoceros4 says:

    #44: “Are you referring to Kalgan’s second in command? Well, BB cut out a bunch of scenes that indicate that he was acting as a double agent, deep in the confidence of Capt. Santa Claus until well into the movie.”

    Yeah, that’s the guy. That’s the problem with the MST3K edits; sometimes they’re partly responsible for a film not making sense (cf. “Wasn’t John Saxon in this movie?” from Mitchell.)

    Another nonsensical tidbit concerning MacPhearson: First Officer Sting says that he “knows all our counter-measures”. So why does Kalgan try to torture “those counter-measures” out of Lea? Well, aside from being an emotionally stunted man wishing to show off his knowledge of ancient dentistry.

       4 likes

  50. mst3ktemple says:

    #32 the movie doesn’t really say that the pilot’s ejection was automatic. It says it was only hooked up to the pilot’s seat and I guess that sort of makes that a reasonable assumption. Otherwise all the comments make it sound like he ejected on his own.

    Captain Santa says “You’re lucky you saved yourself”

    Cissy says “he ejected and he’s alive”

    and even Chunk says “I had to eject”

    Either way, its not real clear that he did the heroic thing.

       1 likes

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