Movie: (1968) Super-thief Diabolik performs several daring heists, then sets his sights on a shipment of gold.
First shown: August 8, 1999
Opening: M&tB discover the SOL employee handbook
Intro: Pearl has a new joystick, which leads to re-entry protocol
Host segment 1: Crow and Mike are packed; while Servo disposes of the many extra hims
Host segment 2: In Castle Forrester, everybody is lining up new gigs
Host segment 3: Crow is worried, so Mike sings a reassuring song
End: After the crash, M&tB settle in to their new home with a familiar pastime
Stinger: “Is that stud coming?”
(278 votes, average: 4.47 out of 5)
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• And so we come to the final Sci-Fi Channel episode, and, of course, this is one where the host segments outweigh the movie. Like all the big premise-changing episodes, the host segments are, once again, a marvel of tight, efficient (and funny!) story telling. As for the movie, it’s sort of “Danger Death Ray”/”Double 007” meets “Batman” and, well, yes, it certainly is pretty to look at.
• Last time I called the riffing “steady and workmanlike,” adding that “there’s little that’s memorable.” I’m going to disagree with myself after this viewing. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but I laughed a LOT this time.
• Mary Jo (with an assist from Bill, Patrick and Paul) offers her thoughts.
• References. I noticed a couple they missed: “Okay, I’ll go hang with Nova for a while” is a reference to the fact that the woman looks a bit like the female lead of “Planet of the Apes.” Also “Flaming truck at Brixton, 20 minutes late” is a “Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin” reference.
• While this episode was being made, Jim Mallon stalked the halls with a video camera, documenting the event. The footage was later released on video as “The Last Dance: Raw.” The last time through, I watched it before actually watching this episode, and it is interesting in a couple of respects. First, if it does nothing else, it captures the tedium of TV production. There is a lot of standing around waiting, and this gives us a real sense of that. Second, it gives a brief shot of where I scrawled on the back of the SOL set. Since that object no longer exists, to my knowledge, it’s nice that there’s a record of it. Finally, yes, the MST3K process has been described many times, but there’s nothing like actually seeing people doing it. So, if you haven’t given it a look, it’s worth one. But I doubt you’ll want to watch it again.
• I think a lot of MSTies agree that this was a strange choice for a final movie. We discussed it here.
• But I do have one question for the movie: What is the point of covering your face with a form-fitting mask that doesn’t disguise you at all? As proof of this, I simply have to note that, despite the face coverings, every cop who encounters Diabolik immediately knows who he is.
• There are many, many naughty riffs during the “rolling around in the bed full of money” scene.
• In one scene, the lovely Eva climbs into Diabolik’s car and as she does so we get a very brief glimpse of VERY high (stocking covered) inner thigh. Crow is the only one who reacts, and he does so only very quietly. I wonder if they just couldn’t decide whether to make a big deal out of it or not.
• I assume Esso (now ExxonMobil) paid for the blatant product placement: It feels very phony. Having the service station attendant ask Eva if she wants a tail (Esso stations sold little plush tiger tails that one was supposed to attach to one’s gas intake pipe so that, when the gas cap was in place, it looked as if there was a “tiger in the tank”), and actually say “Tiger’s in the tank, ma’am,” is a little over the top.
• I really like the little explosion sound effect they use in segment 1 as Tom disposes of the extra Toms. It’s a very satisfying little “boom.”
• Callbacks: “Welcome, Dr, Meecham!” (MST3K: The movie) “Ha-ha! I’m useless against your weapons!” (Prince of Space).
• Mike references the “giant fiberglass muskie in Hayward Wisconsin,” a landmark that is also depicted in the movie “Blood Hook,” directed by Jim Mallon.
• Crow’s concern about “traffic accidents” echoes a similar concern by little Akio in the movie in episode 312- GAMERA VS. GUIRON. I wonder who on the staff made that connection.
• During the song, Mike produces Crow’s “mother” from episode 602- INVASION USA. Wonder how much they had to dig in the prop room for that!
• I just want to note that the song in segment 3 is the second time in the series that a song rhymes “Earth” with “Colin Firth.”
• The final bit in Castle Forrester makes a reference to the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” finale, where the cast similarly huddled together and sang “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” Or maybe there’s a law that any TV show connected to the Twin Cities has to end that way.
• That’s the voice of Peter Rudrud as the TV announcer.
• The final bit, in which Mike and Bots settle in and start riffing on “The Crawling Eye,” the movie Joel and the bots riffed in the first national episode, is cute and kind of satisfying. But a lot of fans noticed a little goof: We can’t see the screen, of course, but based on their riffing, it seems that the first thing they see is opening credits. The problem is that “The Crawling Eye” doesn’t start that way. It starts with a cold opening, showing some characters mountain climbing (and then one of the characters is killed). The credits don’t begin until several minutes into the movie. Kind of ruined it for some people. But the bit is such a lovely bit of closure I can’t fault them.
• Cast and crew roundup: Director-scriptwriter Mario Bava was cinematographer for “Hercules” and “Hercules Unchained.” Assistant director Lamberto Bava directed “Devil Fish.” Makeup guy Otello Fava also worked on “Warrior of the Lost World.” Score composer Ennio Morricone also worked on “Operation Double 007.” In front of the camera, Marisa Mell was also in “Secret Agent Super Dragon.” Adolfo Celi was also in “Operation Double 007.” John Phillip Law was also in “Space Mutiny.”
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin. “To Earth” — music by Mike; lyrics by Kevin (so you can blame him for the Colin Firth rhyme).
• Fave riff: “Member FDIC…” Honorable mention: “I’m driving with my whipper.”
Next week we will move on to season 11.
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Except for Diabolik being a greedy murderer, it is an enjoyable movie, I have to give it style points. Ennio Morricone’s music does stand out, considering most of these riffed movies have bad or mediocre music. I wouldn’t have picked this for the final episode but it wasn’t a bad choice. The host segments I don’t remember well but I think I enjoyed them. All in all a good way to go out, though having Merlin air later on helped.
“There’s a strange little moment I’d never noticed in previous viewings. In one scene, the lovely Eva climbs into Diabolik’s car and as she does so we get a very brief glimpse of VERY high (stocking covered) inner thigh. Crow is the only one who reacts, and he does so only very quietly. I wonder if they just couldn’t decide whether to make a big deal out of it or not.”
Tom reacts, with a very subdued, “Gah”
I just now noticed that Sampo edited the host segment descriptions. I guess they were too spiloer-ish.
#123.
“I think “stud” is just what Valmont ironically calls the pudgy little guy, not his actual name, or even a nickname, per se. (Hence, “Is that stud coming?” rather than “Is Stud coming?”) As mikek points out, Valmont is reacting to the unexpected development that the pudgy guy is coming out to the boat to talk to him. So the line itself isn’t so strange. The way the voice actor delivers it, however…!”
I think that IS the guy’s name. When we flash to the boat and Stud gives his information (that “all the narcotics are in Keith Richards”), Valmont slaps him and says: “You see, Stud, you brought bad news.”
Actually, a very understanding boss, except for the minor moment of tossing everyone who disagreed with him out of the plane. But then, I understand that’s what happens when Northwest has a problem with their flight attendants. :twisted:
Kali (#154): “I think that IS the guy’s name. When we flash to the boat and Stud gives his information (that ‘all the narcotics are in Keith Richards’), Valmont slaps him and says: ‘You see, Stud, you brought bad news.'”
If Valmont had said “You see, doofus, you brought bad news,” would you figure the guy’s actual name had to be Doofus?
“I think, as a general rule, a “goofy but not terrible” movie makes better MST fodder than a “terrible but not goofy” movie. Some of my least favorite episodes are ones where the movie was sub-competent, but in a dull and common way. “Goofy AND terrible,” of course, is solid gold. To paraphrase Mel Brooks, it rises below badness.”
I don’t know, Iggy’s Brother, I think goofy and terrible applies to pretty much every film they ever did, and has little to do with what makes the writing connect with a film. For example, Village of the Giants, a truly endearingly goofy film is not their funniest for me. Incredible Melting Man is somewhat goofy but more in the repulsive and inane category and it is for me one of their best. What films would not be considered goofy anyway?
Anybody else notice that August 8 falls on a Sunday this year? I might get my tape out and watch it on the eighth; kinda in memoriam…
RE: #155.
It’s a Dino DeLaurentiis film, isn’t it? Would you be surprised?
Besides, it might have been. Remember, there are two separate English translations out there. The one on MST clearly said, “You see, Stud, you brought bad news.”
;-)
“So, if you haven’t given it a look,[RAW] it’s worth one. But I doubt you’ll want to watch it again.”
Gotta disagree. It is an excellent look at the behind the scenes work of a beloved show.
Everyone wants to have produced a hit. Few want to actually do the work.
This tape shows what the work actually is.
As for the film, ANY final film would not have lived up expectatons.
There are a hundred films we could come up with off the top of our heads that would have been better, but we all would have disagreed on.
I Liked this as a MST3K project. It’s an over-the-top Italian movie that was great fun in the 60s. (Why don’t we see Italian filma anymore? Has Italy stopped making movies??)
It was ripe for riffing and the crew did a good job.
My only limit to watching this one is the sadness the end always brings me.
I miss this show.
Others mentioned how the DVD’s dub is different…and while I agree it is a slightly better dub, I like the voice of Valmont in this version better. He’s way funnier. Aside from the famous “Stud” line in this dub, you also get the “So what?” line from Valmont. Which is easily the best scene in the movie.
Also, a while after this episode came out I remember reading that Saban was working on bringing a Diabolik Saturday morning cartoon to Fox Kids. Since I never saw it I figured the show never aired and they had trouble cutting stuff that would only fly in Italy. But I guess it DID air for a short time.
Diabolik The Animated Series — Episode 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0wBYLP-kV8
“Sadly, it’s one of the few Morricone scores that was never released on album or CD.”
Yes, sadly the masters were apparently “lost”. Many tales about what actually happened to them but nothing concrete as far as I know. Unfortunately, all the albums released as the soundtrack are all bootlegs culling audio from the movie. Which is sad cause it’s one of my favorite Italian movie scores.
So the stick of joy is broken. You really have to feel for Pearl. She put a lot of time into this experiment and it is sad to see it end.
The saddest part of this episode is when Servo blows up the extra Servos. This spells the end of the United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus.
Why show the info club address in the final episode?
I wanted to like this episode top to bottom. But I guess I fall in the camp that somehow (in a way I really can’t explain) the movie just didn’t lend itself to the type of riffing that I like best. But no matter. The host segments were just that strong. So often I find final episodes corny and sappy and as a result really nothing like the typical episode that you know and love. That was not the case here. Maybe the fact that host segments make up such a small percentage of the show forced the Brains to get right down the business and cut out the corny and sappy. Whatever the reason this was one of the stronger final episodes of any show I’ve ever followed. A tip of my cap to Best Brains.
Now about the journey we have a group have taken the past four years. This is the first time I’ve watched every episode in order. In fact there were probably as many as 25-30 episodes which I saw for the first time in this four year run. You know how it is. You don’t discover the show right away so that means you probably never saw the first season before. Then you move in out of markets that don’t have Comedy Central and/or Sci-Fi. Then there is the period of time when you finish school get your first place while job hunting and you can’t afford cable whether they have the right channel or not. Then you wait for episodes to be released on home video and eventually discover Cheapnis so you only recently have access to those episodes you never saw back in the day. So I was very glad to finally watch all the episodes in order and have this wonderful website to discuss them as you go. It gives such a perspective that I never had before. I got to see the incubation chamber that was KTMA and the rough patches of season 1. I got to see the show hit that first stride in seasons 2-4. I got to watch the long running gags of “By this time my lungs were aching for air,” “Sessions Presents,” “Jim Henson’s _________ Babies” and Daleisms as they developed. I got to feel the transition periods and watch the show reinvent itself all in ways you just don’t get watching random re-runs. This show as brought much joy to me over the years and these past four years it brought even more joy to me. Not bad for a cow town puppet show.
Thank you Sampo and Erhardt for this website and opportunity. Let’s do it again someday.
Favorite Riffs:
Diabolik drives into a tunnel. Crow “Ah-ha this is a metaphor for arterial plaque reduction.”
Crow about Eva’s coat “Did she get stuck in a bear’s behind?”
Eva “Give me a few seconds more. Alone.” Mike as Ginko “Well you guys have never tricked me so I guess it’s okay.”
@ #87: Probably the same way Batman does it with the Batcave. Of course the real question is how a base gets constructed without attracting attention. There’s probably a mass grave of laborers buried under it.
I remarked previously about the similarities between Diabolik and Lupin III. The biggest difference between the two franchises comes from their cop opposition. Ginko is willing to go to any lengths to capture Diabolik, including allying with Valmont. Meanwhile, Zenigata is far less likely to do such a thing. In fact, he sometimes calls a truce with Lupin to take out someone far worse.
when they reference Crow’s mom in ‘to Earth’ i sometimes catch myself remarking how they threw her out in ‘Codename:Diamondhead.’ i guess i should just relax. this is always a poignant episode for me. i had an emergency and got in on the first airing shortly after the second host segment. being blissfully ignorant of MST’s ultimate demise, i went into the 3rd host segment assuming something would happen, probably poopie related, and the return to Earth would be postponed for a while. i think when Pearl pulled the plug it hit me and i was almost heartbroken at the realization. whenever i pull up Diabolik on you tube or a long lost tape i get extremly nostalgic during the final strains of music during the credits.
I always liked the SciFi Channel ending better than the Comedy Central ending. While Season 7 certainly wrapped up in an elaborate way what with people turning into balls of pure energy or space babies, there’s something easier to relate to with the way that both the heroes and the villains just moved on with their lives. It was especially comforting to think of Mike, Crow, and Servo continue to riff movies out of habit after the show ended, much like we Msties have continued to riff on our own(until Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax came along anyway).
Diabolik was a rough movie. There was no reason to cheer for the main character as he killed innocent security guards, but the antagonists really weren’t any more likeable. There was still a lot of fun to be had even though it wasn’t as epic a film for a transition episode as say Mitchell or Laserblast.
I’ve typed it before and I’ll type it again. This was a horrible movie to end the series with.
For me,this falls into the “cute,but could’ve been better” category because I feel the movie isn’t all that bad,kind of cheesy,but still fun.I would’ve preferred if they did a really bad black and white monster movie like From Hell it Came or maybe do Wild Guitar with Arch Hall…I’d like to watch this one without the riffs..I thought the last host segment was cute and fitting..I give it 2 and a half stars..nice,but you can’t dance to it..lol..
I loved the ending which is rare as most series finale episodes always annoy me in one way or another. The bots hanging out with Mike in his new apartment with the Crawling Eye playing was absolutely perfect, anyone having a problem with it in any form really needs to just relax. The effect they were going for couldn’t have been made with The Crawling Eye’s cold open and Crow and Servo as characters had seen the movie before. As for Diabolik, the riffing was passable but not their best work, but I was never a fan of the spy movies in MST3K even in my preferred Joel era.
I would like to thank this site for motivating me to check out the Sci-Fi era of the show which I had bitterly avoided at the time of its original airing. There was some good stuff there but I still think overall it wasn’t as good as the Joel years. Although I would rate the SciFi years above season 6, which I didn’t enjoy much at all.
Adios, viejos amigos
The first time I saw this I was underwhelmed too, but that’s probably because I was bawling too hard to have any chance of enjoying it. Now that it’s been years since that fateful day, I really like this episode and I’m perfectly fine with the choice of movie. Sure, maybe a Corman film or something with Peter Graves would have been more poetic and “full-circle” and whatnot, but what we get here is a wonderfully goofy, stupid, and colorful movie– just because it’s the finale of a beloved and influential series doesn’t mean they can’t have some fun. I’ve even successfully used this one as a starter episode… after doing the necessary explaining, of course.
“Roger. Affirmative.” “Do something affirmative, Roger.”
“If he had stolen just a little less, I could see her ass right now!”
“With my salary, I’d be rolling around in some loose change.”
“Wow, the addition blends right in!”
“I’ll take a picture using the LARGEST CAMERA IN THE WORLD.”
“I’ll bulge my eyes at you!”
And then there’s the suit that lets you swim through the sun:
“Well, that’s what it said in the catalog, anyway.”
“Let’s go swim through the sun!”
“I forgot my swimming-through-the-sun-proof socks!!!”
I also love the AAA road map that just shows a single straight line for about ten pages between the SOL and Earth. Makes you feel kind of silly for even needing to look at it.
And Tom getting the last riff is a nice touch, since he also made the first riff in “The Crawling Eye.” (“This must be a Paramount Picture.”)
One of the best episodes of the final season and one of my favorites(probably in the minority here) of the whole series. I always like 60’s movies and this one pretty much summed up late 60’s film making. One of the hottest babes in 60’s movies(Marissa Mell) and the always “interesting” Mario Bava. He knew how to put things on screen to get your attention. Sure it’s a relic of it’s time. but what 50’s,60’s or 70’s movie isn’t. Also despite some of the earlier comments, Diabolik is a crime movie, NOT a spy movie.
I agree with you jjk (#171). I really like this one but I love almost all of the Scifi eps and they are some of the ones I rewatch the most. This one has solid riffing all the way through and one of the best stingers of the entire series. It’s sad of course b/c it’s the end of an era but it is a good episode. It’s got a silly song to (To Earth) and I love the songs so this one really has a lot going for it. I agree with all the people too who said this is one of the best series finale episodes. I love that Mike and the bots ended up up together still watching bad movies (and the first ep from season 1 which I also just like on its own).
…and an interesting four years it’s been! I have to admit, I skipped over most of KTMA and Season 1 as I find them hard to watch. Perhaps I’ll circle back now and take a look. As for this ep, the riffing isn’t the top of their game, but that’s not what it was about at this point anyway. I have The Last Dance: Raw burned to DVD-R here somewhere. Sampo is right: one viewing is plenty.
Ask not for whom that stud is coming. He comes for you.
There! I’ve finally gotten around to lamenting my wish, and Clacky the Keyboard Sprite has returned my keyboard to me. Seems he has no power over Virtual Keyboards (that’s Tappy’s domain), so he’s spent all week trying to get me to need a real keyboard.
I really enjoy this episode. Yes, the host segments overshadow the movie (as stated above, they pretty much had to), but that doesn’t mean the movie & riffing were bad in any way. The movie was just plain silly, though it was very well made. My theory (as someone above mentions), is that Ginko is the real hero here, and they just made an artistic choice to film it from (mostly) the villains point of view.
Because really, how can anyone consider Diabolik a hero in any way, even an anti-hero? He does NOTHING heroic whatsoever. Every single thing he does is for his own greed. He casually murders countless innocents, all in the name of greed & sex. He’s not ‘bucking the system’ in any way, either. He’s not Robin Hood. He’s evil, plain & simple. Thankfully, it’s a groovy, goofy kind of evil, so it doesn’t fill me with as much rage as certain shows about criminals do.
Me, I didn’t get into MST3k until I saw The Magic Sword syndicated in 1995 or so. Then I only saw sporadic episodes until Sci-fi picked them up, and I watched most of that from (near-)start to finish. When Rhino started releasing tapes, I bought every single one I could find, then the DVDs. Anyway, my point is that seeing this final episode wasn’t as much of a bummer for me, since I knew there was still many, MANY episodes I hadn’t yet seen. Thanks to the internet, I’ve now seen every single episode (several times over).
Thank you, MST3k, for bringing some laughs into my life, and for being the last truly great thing on TV.
Now that we’ve reached the end of another run through the series, could the Thursday reviews go over ancillary MST projects? The Film Crew, Cinematic Titanic, Mike’s solo commentaries, Rifftrax video releases, Blood Hook, etc. These all represent releases that most of the fans own, could comment on, and are definitely connected to the show we all love.
Can someone clarify this The Last Dance Raw? I have a DVD from Cheepnis (which I haven’t got around to watching yet) titled BBI Tour: The Last Waltz. While the titles are similar I’m reasonably certain they are not the same thing. Is the Last Dance Raw available anywhere at present?
Yeah, Diabolik is a dick.
Anyway, about the closing host segment, I think it works well. Having not seen The Crawling Eye prior to the final episode, I had no idea that what Mike and the ‘Bots did was inaccurate. It works though, because the alternative is this:
Crow: “Hey, look, it’s The Crawling Eye. Remember that Servo?”
Servo: “Yeah, that was a long time ago, our voices were different then.”
Mike: “What are you guys talking about?”
@Dan in WI (#176)
“The Last Dance: RAW” was a VHS tape offered directly from the Info Club. You might find it used on Ebay or Amazon, but I doubt any more are available from BBI. I don’t know if it’s on YouTube.
By the way, isn’t it odd that we’re talking about the last episode of the original show just days after word that a revival may be on the way.
Before I dive into my review of DIABOLIK, I’ve got some other things to talk about:
First, I love this show. It has been a part of my life for about 20 years and I enjoy it on so many levels. The exploration of old B-movies, the enjoyment of them with friends, the low budget nature of the sets and the design, the lessons on filmmaking hidden within the show, the wit, the humor, and just how damn funny the show could be in so many damn different ways. MST3k hits all of my buttons. I love it dearly and I just want to say thank you, THANK YOU!, to Joel, Mike, Kevin, Trace, Frank, Jim, Bill, Mary Jo, J. Elvis, Bridget, Paul, Beez, Jef, Patrick, and everyone everyone EVERYONE who was a part of MST3k and helped bring it to life. (thank you)
Second, just like Dan in WI (at post #162), I too have been watching MST3k for the first time in sequential order over the last four years. One episode a week for, well, I guess 198 weeks. Including the KTMAs, it was something like 20 episodes that were first time viewings. I only watched one episode every week (keeping up with the episode guide here) the entire time, except for around Christmas when I would watch Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (and sometimes Santa Claus) because of TRADITION and because it’s not the holidays if I haven’t heard “Patrick Swayze Christmas.”
Also, like Dan in WI, I feel like my appreciation and perspective on the show has increased and deepened. It was a fun, semi-obsessive, and indulgent project to take part in. I really enjoyed it. As for others: I would say that you don’t NEED to watch the show in sequential order to truly enjoy it or be a fan or whatever, but I would suggest that if there are any MSTies out there that are looking for an assignment and are up for the challenge, watching the show in this way can be quite the reward.
Now that I’m done with the project, I’ll probably go back to my old viewing habits: watching whatever random episode, whenever the mood strikes. I’ll most likely be hitting up some of the Joel years soon, as it has been too long since I’ve seen any of Seasons 3 (except for SCCTM) or 4. I might even hit up a couple KTMAs, which might sound like crazy talk, and, well it is, but it’s been four years since I’ve seen them, so. . .
–
Anyway, with all that out of the way,
let’s talk about DIABOLIK!
Some people seem to not like this episode or the movie selection. I couldn’t disagree more. I think this is a solid episode, with some great Host Segments and a great final moment. As for the movie, Diabolik is sort of like last week’s Squirm, in that it isn’t THAT bad of a movie and is something that I personally kind of even like. Let it be said: the Brains took it easy on themselves with these last couple episodes.
Diabolik is fun and colorful, with some cool photography. The story or plot is secondary, but that happens a lot in Italian genre cinema. Director Mario Bava is great, a legend really. He is a pillar of the Italian genre film, having a hand in Italy’s first sword and sandal picture (Hercules), horror movie (I, vampiri), and science fiction film (The Day the Sky Exploded), before making classics of his own like Black Sunday, Kill Baby Kill, Bay of Blood, Planet of the Vampires, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and Blood and Black Lace, the last two of which helped spawn and inspire the very successful Italian sub-genre of giallo films.
I’ve never seen Mario Bava’s uncut version of Danger: Diabolik, but I think I need to get around to it. I also really like the music by Ennio Morricone, even if the “dee-dee-da” song is repetitious and outstays its welcome. The “wa-wa-wa” song during the underwater scene is rad, as is the funky little guitar part where Crow sings “Driving off to the store / Gonna pick up some bread / maybe stop by the post office.” It’s got that cool, 60s spy movie groove that I dig.
Michel Piccoli (who played Inspector Ginko) is a great French actor, having worked with Jean-Luc Godard (Contempt), Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Doulos), Jean Renoir (French Cancan), Alfred Hitchcock (Topaz), and a string of great films by Luis Buñuel (Diary of a Chambermaid, Belle de Jour, The Milky Way, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Phantom of Liberty). I very much recommend all of them (well, except for Topaz. It’s minor Hitchcock at best, comparatively speaking).
–
As for the MST episode,
The bits with the SOL Employee Handbook are pretty good, especially for anyone that has ever worked for a large business that likes to hand out a thick binder on your first day or orientation and says, “here, read this and sign this here saying you read this.”
The accidental sending of the SOL back to Earth by Pearl seems like an easy out for the writing staff, but it works. Pearl’s “cry face” is a thing of terror. Like I said way up at post #15, I love Brain Guy’s nonsense double speak (caused by Pearl pouring Mountain Dew in his brain pan), especially the taunt of “chilly squint.” Also, Mike and the Bots celebration of returning to Earth with a hearty “it was done by someone!” and “it was done!!” is funny stuff.
Host Segment #1 is good stuff. Servo has 517 of him at last count, which he then proceeds to blow up, which is a nice bit of (literal) house cleaning for the show. Also, Crow has some loose paella in the bottom of his bag if you want to dig in.
HS#2 gives us the details on what the Mads will most likely be up to after the end of the show. I like that since the SOL is coming back to Earth that Pearl and Co. just completely pull the plug on the whole “mad science” thing. It really shows that she (and by extension, they) weren’t really all that into the whole project of keeping a man trapped in space and forcing him to watch bad movies. I wonder how her stint as dictator of Qatar went? I wonder if she ever got them that letter U? I’m sure Bobo is loving “working” at the zoo and Brain Guy is surely still having “lots of stuff going on.”
HS#3 has the great, final song of the show, “To Earth.” It’s one of those nice jaunty little ditties that they do so well and that we’ve seen so many times before on the bridge of the SOL. I’m really glad they put a song in the final episode. Crow being scared of Earth because of traffic accidents and wild pigs (hilarious!) and the reappearance of Crow’s mother (classic!) are both highlights, but what really sells the bit to me is that as Crow gains confidence in going to Earth through the song, Servo becomes more fearful of the trip, eventually wedging himself under the desk. Very funny.
The Ending brings things full circle for the series. I approve.
Servo: “The Crawling Eye: The Marty Feldman Story.”
Crow: “This movie looks kind of familiar, doesn’t it?”
Servo: “..hmm..”
I find these last moments to be satisfying and an almost perfect way to end the show. Mike and the Bots continuing to live together (after a pretty good and funny crash sequence) just makes sense. It makes me smile. And then the end credits theme plays and you realize it’s all over (for the show) and things almost get a little emotional. . .and then it hits you with the stinger, “IS THAT STUD COMING?”, and it makes you laugh. Thanks for that, MST3k.
–
RIFFS:
Crow: “Oh no, is this a Pink Floyd video?”
Mike: “Well that was an inappropriate response.”
Servo: “Whoa, it’s getting groovy.”
Crow: “Makes the hall to our theater look efficient.”
Servo: “Might as well throw these Hardee’s wrappers away now that I’m here…”
Servo: “Dan Quayle announces his candidacy.”
movie: “Is that stud coming?”
Crow: “I beg your pardon?”
Crow: “A sex-clown!”
Crow: “Step aside, Voltaire.”
movie: “The fuse must of blew.”
Crow: I don’t blame it.”
Servo: “I’ll go find Nova and hang out with her for awhile.” —-Planet of the Apes reference.
movie: “Yes he’s ready.”
Crow: “For sum foootball!”
the “organ alarm” goes off,
Mike: “Dr. Phibes is drunk again.”
Crow: “He’s basically an eyebrow delivery system.”
–
While I do find this to be a great episode, I feel as if the combination of the riffing and the movie itself don’t really add up to a “classic” type of status. The quality of the riffing is solid in parts and the movie is watchable, but I still don’t think DIABOLIK quite measures up to the other “big moment” episodes of the series, like MITCHELL, LASERBLAST, or even this season’s earlier SOULTAKER, which featured the return of Joel. Still, as I said, this is a great episode.
I give DIABOLIK,
4 out of 5 studs, who may or not be coming.
@Watch-Out-For-Snakes (#179)
I recommend the uncut “Diabolik”. While it does have a brief but unpleasant scene where a bad guy tries to rough up Eva, it has another funny bit with Terry-Thomas and, as I previously-noted, Diabolik’s novel attempt at tax reform.
I liked Diabolik. But, hey, I like coffee and pie. More sad it was last episode than the actual movie, which, may have fit better for Joel.
I keep meaning to check out the comics. Movie was okay. Decent enough EU spy guy thing, decent enough riffing.
Also didn’t Lupin III (who clearly doesn’t resemble Diabolik in any way nuh-uhh) shill for Esso/Exxon in some tv ads?
Man, I sometimes feel like the most cynical creature… When I heard this would be the final episode, I thought, hmmmph! it figures!–and when I watched, I didn’t feel mournful; I just thought, well, I was lucky to have it as long as I did. Having watched the episode many many times, it’s reached a status of being a B+ for me, goofy movie with amusing host segments. No emotion-laden flashbacks, but a fairly good time.
Love Pearl’s post-cry makeup horror look, love Brain Guy giving the “L” for loser signal over his forehead–that was actually a thing I’d seen before, probably done by one of my college friends (who had never seen the show).
And as Mary Jo mentioned in the guide, I can’t help but marvel at Diabolik’s laugh ‘o’ triumph. It would kinda take a long time to get out of the melted gold….hope he didn’t drink a lot of water before everything went down. It took me forever to figure out John Phillip Law was also in “Space Mutiny.”
I’m rather glad Gypsy finally got to use that big brain of hers for her own benefit, in the end, by the way. :)
Strangely, this was the first episode I ever saw. I was too busy in college to watch it when it first came on, and after it I didn’t have cable TV for a few years.
Dammit, I just started watching it and the show was over?
jjk #171: Also despite some of the earlier comments, Diabolik is a crime movie, NOT a spy movie.
That may be true, but the two genres do have quite a bit of overlap.
After the tv specials why not do the Film Crew movies. You get to
see Rue Macclanahan stripping! And lots of Greeks in diapers.
“The final bit, in which Mike and Bots settle in and start riffing on “The Crawling Eye,” the movie Joel and the bots riffed in the first national episode, is cute and kind of satisfying. But a lot of fans noticed a little goof: We can’t see the screen, of course, but based on their riffing, it seems that the first thing they see is opening credits. The problem is that “The Crawling Eye” doesn’t start that way. It starts with a cold opening, showing some characters mountain climbing (and then one of the characters is killed). The credits don’t begin until several minutes into the movie. Kind of ruined it for some people.”
Some people really, desperately need to get a life.
Mike Nelson isn’t a SOL employee anyway. As a temp, he’s considered an independent contractor. Sheesh! Eyeroll!! What a blooper by the writers!!!
***ALERT for MSTies!***
Amazon is offering what looks like a REAL soundtrack for Diabolik through its mp3 music line for about 9 bucks. I got it a few weeks ago. Great tracks and no dialogue to get in the way. I haven’t seen a soundtrack CD on this (except for the one where the packager made the best of things and cut out all of the music from the film with dialogue). Of course, I started going “Deep Deep TONGUE!” at the appropriate moments. :-)
Enjoy:
http://www.amazon.com/Ennio-Morricone-Danger-Diabolik-Complete/dp/B00JAJVGBO/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1398471543&sr=1-1&keywords=Diabolik
#87 (Old Post): I kind of wondered how Diabolik was able to maintain suge a huge underground lair without any kind of detection. Does he have his own power source? Is it structurally sound? And where do you have those materials built and who built the place? My thinking is, somebody is gonna get suspicious.
I think some people significantly overestimate just how much the construction industry, you know, CARES. As long as the check clears. I think that’s the unofficial motto of the Eurospy Movie Universe, known for so many outrageous structures and scenarios and objects: “As Long as the Check Clears.”
Also, you can get one construction company to handle one part, another to handle another part, divide the labor out so that nobody ever realizes exactly what they’re constructing.
This approach was actually used over a hundred years ago by a serial killer who practically qualified as a real-life super-villain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes
“The ground floor of the [Murder] Castle contained Holmes’s own relocated drugstore and various shops, while the upper two floors contained his personal office and a maze of over 100 windowless rooms with doorways opening to brick walls, oddly-angled hallways, stairways to nowhere, doors openable only from the outside, and a host of other strange and labyrinthine constructions. Holmes repeatedly changed builders during the construction of the Castle, so only he fully understood the design of the house.”
Hard to tell from the photo, but the guy was only 35 when he died. He designed his Steampunk Murderworld at the age of 29. How much does the average movie criminal genius accomplish by age 29? Well, obviously, we’re almost never told, but still.
***
Off-topic, maybe this has already been posted somewhere around here, but who cares? ;-)
http://www.bleedingcool.com/?attachment_id=336931
While others are ending their run of watching the whole series over the past four years, I am just embarking on mine. Thanks to Shout! and Amazon I’m finally able to watch earlier episodes without resorting to Youtube. This was indeed a bittersweet episode, but I was so glad we still had four years of reruns to tide me over in between Rhino set purchases.
As for the episode itself, I always thought Brainguy said ‘Chilly squid.’ Seemed to make sense given he was just saying random words. And I had no thoughts of the writers just softballing it during the film itself. I sometimes sing the ‘Driving off to the store/hope they’re serving that ham’ song in the car. Besides, any film that gives us more of John Philip Law’s mellifluous evil laugh (and Diabolik can throw it too!) can’t be all bad. Here are some of my favorite riffs:
(During the trippy animation of Eva)
Crow: No, she wasn’t Hitler!
(Diabolik grabs Valmont and dives out of the plane)
Servo: But I’m an evil mastermiiiiiinnnnndddd!
And a callback (that I don’t think anyone has caught) to everyone’s favorite Hungarian, Bela Lugosi.
Valmont: Pull the cord! Pull the cord!
Mike: No, it’s ‘Pool de string’!
Finally, I vividly remember the final crash scene as Servo methodically reports the reentry damage to the SOL. “Deck four, BROKEN AWAY! Deck five, BROKEN AWAY! Deck six, melting and BROKEN AWAY! Poison gas, FILLING OUR LUNGS AND OUR NASAL PASSAGES!”
By the way, earlier someone lamented the lack of referencing Cambot or the Nanites in the final apartment scene. Well, Cambot must have survived too. Otherwise, who would show us M&TB kicking back to enjoy “The Crawling Eye”?
BUT WHAT OF THE NANITES! (Especially Shelley, a highly talented,
if eccentric, hair stylist). Hope they got a work order to evacuate
the SoL (hey, they don’t even go to the john without a work order).
#187:
Sure, you can SAY that, but what does it really MEAN? What is life, anyway? And if we don’t know what life is, how can we recognize its absence within one’s existence when its presence and its non-presence are identical? Is a life spent in nitpicking not nonetheless a life? Better for someone who likes nitpicking to have such a life than for one who doesn’t like nitpicking. For truly, has it been said, that what might be right for you may not be right for some, and this is life, the one you get, so go and have a ball again, laughter is calling for you.
If you’d instead remarked “Some people really, desperately need to get laid,” well, that’d be something else entirely. After all, if sex is such a great problem-solver, why don’t doctors prescribe it?
@Kenneth Morgan #180: I’m on it!
In reference to the query from #190 and #191: WHERE ARE THE NANITES?
Well, they weren’t featured or mentioned at all during Season 10, so it seems to me that they were ret-conned out of the show.
After all, how could the SOL reach the critical failure levels it did in the first episode of Season 10 (Soultaker), requiring Joel to show up and fix things, if the Nanites were around and were, you know, seemingly capable of fixing the ship at the drop of a (very tiny) hat?
The lack of closure for the Nanites doesn’t really bother me at all because, as I’ve said before, I don’t like a single one of the Host Segments that they appear in. They are one of my least favorite aspects of the Sci-Fi years.
And Shelly was terrible at doing hair. :-P
As for Cambot,
Mike never addresses the camera that is in his apartment, neither do the Bots. Plus, the angle of the shot switches (or cuts) from behind the television to behind the couch (putting Mike and the Bots in their familiar “shadowrama” arrangement), something Cambot never did (it was a fixed, single lens camera-robot). This evidence suggests that there is NO camera in Mike’s apartment (this is a just a glimpse into his life) and there is most definitely NO Cambot in Mike’s apartment, which leads me to only one conclusion:
Cambot didn’t survive the crash of the Satellite of Love.
RIP, Cambot. Ye shall be missed. :cry: :camera: :cry:
The animated ID machine that prompts the riff, “No, she wasn’t Hitler. reminds me a lot of the Identigraph from some James Bond movie. I think it was For Your Eyes Only. While looking at it James even says, “I said nose, not banana”, when a clumsy technician elongates the nose on the image, in a way that reminds me of the MST riffer’s, “She wasn’t Hitler” remark.
Does no one else remember that blair witch fever was in full pitch at this exact same time? SciFi had just ran that faux documentary on said witch. Talkcity chat rooms had just turned the mst3k chatroom into the blairwitch chat room that very week.
Anyway me an the family drove from the desert southwest to florida that week. And of course a thunderstorm knocked the power out to the vcr(vcr hahaha)so we had to wait til ‘diabolik was repeated.
Good Times.
A great ending to the series. I like this episode more each time I see it. I’ve already embarked on starting the series from the beginning again!
“Having the service station attendant ask Eva if she wants a tail”
…results in a really obvious yet totally overlooked riff opportunity.
Attendant: “Would you like a tail for luck?”
Crow or Servo: “You’ll need more than luck to get any of this –”
Mike: “All right, we’re using up our allotment of sex riffs, let’s tone it down for a while.”
OSLT.
Watch-out-for-Snakes #194: After all, how could the SOL reach the critical failure levels it did in the first episode of Season 10 (Soultaker), requiring Joel to show up and fix things, if the Nanites were around and were, you know, seemingly capable of fixing the ship at the drop of a (very tiny) hat?
Well, it has been established that the Nanites have a highly bureaucratic union. If you don’t file a work order, nothing gets done.
Comment #200! Wooooooooooo!!
–@199: Yeah, but Nanite work orders seemed that they were able to be requested and fulfilled in a matter of, well, nanoseconds, and in Soultaker, with the ship messing up big time, Mike doesn’t even THINK to check in with the Nanites. Sure, Mike is a supreme dope sometimes, but I am sticking to my opinion that the Nanites were (rightly) ret-conned out of the show starting with Season 10.
;-)
–
And one more thing:
This is how I would rank the episodes of Season 10:
Soultaker (5 star)
Squirm (4 star)
Future War
Girl in Gold Boots
Diabolik
Track of the Moon Beast
Horrors of Spider Island
Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders
Blood Waters of Dr. Z
Boggy Creek II
IT Lives By Night (3 star)
Final Justice
Hamlet
I only ranked one episode a 5-star classic (Soultaker) but nine episodes came in at a great 4-star rating, with only three episodes landing a good-not-great 3-star rating. Looking at those numbers, I’d say this was a fairly great season.
Overall, I would say that I like Season 10 better than Season 9, and that it is possibly on par with the entirety of Season 8, but in honesty, the final 13 episodes of Season 8 are the best run of the Sci-Fi Channel years for MST3k.