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Shout to Re-Release Two More Single Titles

Our pals at tvshowsondvd.com have the news that Shout will re-release episodes 511- GUNSLINGER and 1009- HAMLET as single titles, as a pair, or as a four-pack with episode 517- THE BEGINNING OF THE END and episode 812- THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMIBIES, which were released in February. The street date is June 21. They will be $19.99 each, $39.98 for the pair and $69.96 for all four. More info here.

62 Replies to “Shout to Re-Release Two More Single Titles”

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  1. Matt D. says:

    I didn’t buy the previous ones, so I am interested in Gunslinger and Beginning of the End because I have never seen those episodes. 20 dollars for each movie seems excessive to me though as MST collections always come out to being less than 20 per episode. I still might buy Beginning of the End at least at some point.

       0 likes

  2. Johnny Ryde says:

    Wow… We’ll never see the sales figures, but I’d be curious to see how well HAMLET sells… Not very well would be my guess.

       0 likes

  3. MikeK says:

    I bought both Shout’s previous single DVDs, even though I already had TISCWSLABMUZ in Rhino’s DVD set. I got that one because I like that episode a lot and it doesn’t hurt to have a back up.

    Gunslinger and Hamlet, on the other hand, are nothing special and I already have Rhino’s DVDs. I like Hamlet more than most people, but I don’t need to buy it again. Gunslinger is pretty bad, so I’m not buying that DVD either,

       1 likes

  4. Pfft.

       1 likes

  5. Steve A. Laimo says:

    I was really hoping for The Wild Rebels along with Women of the Prehistoric Planet for the next releases. In my eyes, Gunslinger is average and Hamlet is by leaps and bounds my least favorite episode of the entire series. It is also suprising to me because the Rhino volumes these movies were originally on have been relatively easy to obtain over the last year. I bought both for around $40 brand new last fall. I love Shout!, but I think they dropped the ball here.

       0 likes

  6. JimmyBruce says:

    The Hamlet dvd would be a good use as a coaster.

       1 likes

  7. Food Man Chu says:

    I love you Shout, but RIP OFF! $20 for one DVD? Them’s 1997 prices. Feel really stupid that I didn’t pick up that Beginning of the End DVD at Half Price Books a couple months back (I opted for the Hellcats DVD instead). Oh, and Hamlet? Still have never seen more than 15 minutes of that one.

       1 likes

  8. MickeyBruce says:

    one of my all-time favorites is Revenge Of The Creature, which was the first Sci-Fi Channel show. or perhaps a John Agar themed collection, which would include The Mole People.

       4 likes

  9. Sharktopus says:

    @ Matt, I highly recommend Beginning Of The End. Classic host segments (“Clay, Vicki’s on!”) + Peter Graves + Bert I. Gordon + grasshoppers? Movies don’t get much more perfect for MST3k.

    I still don’t understand why so many MSTies dislike the Hamlet episode, and I never get a specific answer. I love it and have watched it over and over, and always enjoy it, which is more than I can say for some fan favorite eps. But hey, to each his own – I’m just curious what I’m missing. (I like Gunslinger, too. :silly: )

    I have the Rhino versions of all four of these, but it’s nice to see Shout making them available again. Overpriced, though. And Shout Select titles aren’t available through other retailers, are they? Not cool, Shout.

       4 likes

  10. Sharktopus says:

    Mickey, don’t hold your breath for any of those first nine episodes from Season 8. (But who knows? It’s not completely impossible for Shout to make with Universal. Maybe a super deluxe 10-disc boxset (throw in This Island Earth, too) with a $200 MSRP…)

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  11. dsman71 says:

    Im passing on these since I have them…It is good for those that did not get them earlier but they are pricey….The one I hope they do re-release is The Atomic Brain because Rhino’s does not have the stinger

       1 likes

  12. hellokittee says:

    Ugh I don’t get this. These two are pretty easy to purchase still aren’t they? Heck you can get them on Netflix!

    @Sharktopus- I liked Hamlet. Wouldn’t rank in my faves by any means, but I had a few chuckles for sure. I would think people wouldn’t like it because I feel like the dialog on the film is REALLY hard to hear. I mean we are all familiar with the story, but its not like I have it memorized…

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  13. Captn Ross Hagen says:

    When the last two single DVD’S came out I said I bet they start doing more singles of stuff that’s out of print. And a lot of you out there said no way this was a one time thing. WELL, WELL, WELL…. Oh and 20 skins each is a lot to pay for a single DVD. But if you have to get all the shows for a collection I’m sure people will still buy them.

       2 likes

  14. Joe Raygor says:

    I think most of the people who bash Hamlet have never actually watched it.

       5 likes

  15. Jon Parker says:

    @Joe Raygor: I haven’t. It’s the one episode I couldn’t make it through in its original airing.

       1 likes

  16. Jaynie says:

    I think most don’t like the Hamlet episode because it is one of the most stultifyingly bad productions I’ve ever had the displeasure to see. Without the riffing, I would have cheefully ripped out my own throat. Perhaps because it’s a stutifyingly bad GERMAN production with hideous dubbing? Plus, all the actors seem like they are on thorazine with a prozac chaser.

       1 likes

  17. Jaynie says:

    Oh, and if you actually read Shakespeare, Ophelia was actually a pretty fun girl until she drowned herself. Not here, though.

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  18. Chris says:

    I personally like the Hamlet episode.. I do wish however that they re-release episode 309 (The Amazing Colossal Man). I remember breifly having the original VHS copy way back when…

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  19. Gene says:

    Does anyone know yet if there will be any bonus stuff included? I already have the originals from Rhino, so wouldn’t consider getting these unless there’s something new included.

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  20. Yeah, I don’t mind Hamlet. I just doubt there was a real groundswell for a single release of it, as I’m guessing they’ll find out. I was hoping for The Dead Talk Back. There probably isn’t a real groundswell for that one, either.

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  21. Captn Ross Hagen says:

    SHORTS AS SINGLES OR AS A SET, I WANT VOL.3

       1 likes

  22. Jose chung says:

    #19 Gene
    If they’re anything like the previous singles than no they won’t have any special features.

    I think the reason hamlet is so bad is because it really seems like they just filmed a play. The German company didn’t know what went into the making of a movie. It was made by a tv crew for tv and they probably hadn’t much info on acctual movie making. Plus the uncut version is something like 3 hours in length, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it was probably the longest/most edited movie in MST history.

       1 likes

  23. Jose chung says:

    #19 Gene
    If they’re anything like the previous singles than no they won’t have any special features.

    I think the reason hamlet is so bad is because it really seems like they just filmed a play. The German company didn’t know what went into the making of a movie. It was made by a tv crew for tv and they probably hadn’t much info on acctual movie making. Plus the uncut version is something like 3 hours in length, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it was probably the longest/most edited movie in MST history.

       1 likes

  24. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    Yeah I can’t imagine Hamlet selling all that well. I don’t hate it, but I rarely if ever watch it all in one sitting. It’s just so LONG and BORING. Not the play, which is brilliant if performed well, but this version is terrible.

    Personally I have all the Rhino releases, so I can’t see myself being all that interested in these Shout re-releases, but I think it’s great that they are doing them, and I think they are going about them in the perfect way. The worst thing would be to mix them in with new releases in the regular box sets, or to mix and match them into new box sets (because then people might have one or two or three of them from the Rhino sets, but not the others, and then feel ripped off having to buy a full box set for only one or two episodes they need). The only options are to either re-release entire four episode box sets containing the same four episodes as the Rhino sets, or to just put them out individually, which despite the somewhat inflated $20 +shipping price is the right way.

    But one episode I already have, yet do really want them to redo so I can buy it again is “Quest of the Delta Knights”. I watched that recently and first noticed how incredibly DARK it is (it was the first viewing of it on my new-ish TV, and even adjusting the settings didn’t help much). The host segments are almost unwatchable they are so dark. That episode is one of the greatest of the Sci-Fi era, and needs an improved re-release.

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  25. Brandon says:

    Yeah, the Hamlet episode really does come off feeling like a KTMA episode. The movie is boring, and the riffing just doesn’t come at a great density like most episodes. It’s just a snoozer.

    The only riff that’s remotely funny to me, is Servo wailing, “Cut to camera 2!” during a long shot of Hamlet speaking to an off-camera ghost of his father.

       0 likes

  26. big61al says:

    ah Hamlet…you know sometimes the movie is painful….sometimes it’s supposed to be painful…deal with it…watch it …trust me, you’ll live ;-)

       6 likes

  27. EricJ says:

    Well, actually, Hamlet was a bit of a mistake:
    The description said “Translated into German and back into English”–Okay, right now you’re picturing something a LOT funnier than we got, aren’t you? So were the Mike-era Brains. :(
    They were just, well, stuck with it.

    (And splitting up the boxsets to re-release as singles, okay?
    And what’s even better, packaging those singles as FOUR-PACKS! Now that’s logic!) ;)

       0 likes

  28. Stacia says:

    No discount for buying the pair?

    I’m one of the few people who likes “Hamlet.” The barren sets remind me of Orson Welles’ dank and cave-riddled Othello, and I have some pity on the filmmakers because they apparently ran into enormous amounts of trouble trying to make their critically acclaimed stage version of “Hamlet” work on film. Er, well, they DIDN’T make it work on film, but they tried.

       1 likes

  29. PrivateIron says:

    @24 Where did you get a commercial release of Quest of the Delta Knights? As far as I can tell that never happened.

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  30. Cola Central says:

    Judging by the comment that it was overly dark I’d guess they meant Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders… which I would agree with. An excellent episode, but has one of the shoddiest releases.

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  31. NormalView82 says:

    I Made sure I ordered “…Mixed Up Zombies” when it was released as a single. There was a payment processing mix-up(no pun intended…or was there?) and Shout! even sent me a free stress-relieving spaghetti ball to smooth things over!

    On the Hamlet front, the episode wasn’t a successful experiment for two reasons: 1)The riffs were too high brow (IMO). Yes, we’ve all read some Shakespeare at one point or another, but how many of us can quote the Bard as easily as the works of say Bill Murray or Will Ferrell? Not many. 2)The film is a black & white bummer. The sets are bland, the actors show a complete lack of energy and frankly, when the costumes are the most exciting element of your production, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

    I say get to re-releasing Mitchell Shout! Factory, so I can spend $20 on a new copy of one of the show’s finest moments and not $30-40 on a used one.

       0 likes

  32. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    Actually yes it was Merlins Shop. I don’t know why I was thinking Delta Knights when I left my comment. Starting in like mid-December and ending about two months ago I made my way through the entire series from KTMA to Season 10 in order, and on weekends I could make it through 3 or 4 or even 5 episodes in a day if I was just sitting around working on some art all day. I think they are pretty close to one another in the run so I probably watched them right around the same time, possibly even the same day. In any event I did mean Merlin’s Shop as the one I’d like an improved re-do on, though an official Delta Knights release would be awesome too.

       0 likes

  33. td says:

    Is there an updated list on what sets/singles are OOP? When I started buying the sets 9, 10, and some of the singles were already OOP. I had no idea 4 and 6 were, too. Luckily, I got all other than the aformentioned a couple years ago.

       0 likes

  34. SuperSwift says:

    Hamlet sucked donkey droppings. Complete waste of time watching it.

       0 likes

  35. Rich says:

    Surely the folks at Shout know how near-universally hated Hamlet is, yet they choose to release it. Maybe it has some wonderful, off the wall bonus item with it.

       0 likes

  36. PrivateIron says:

    For some reason, my copy of The Dead Talk Back has a lot of problems, probably just that specific disk though.

       0 likes

  37. The Dead Talk Back from the set has known issues. I don’t have that set but fortunately I have a good copy burned on DVD from VHS when I recorded it off Comedy Central back in the day, and the quality is quite good. So if they released a single of The Dead Talk Back, I wouldn’t even bother with a single release unless the problem reported in the original release have been fixed. And a few new extras wouldn’t hurt. But if that never happens, I guess it’s no big for me.

       1 likes

  38. Genericboardname says:

    According to the Shout website, ordering the pair gets you a stress ball and free shipping.

       1 likes

  39. Sharktopus says:

    If you don’t find a particular episode – say, oh, Hamlet, for example – to be funny, that’s fine. Everyone’s tastes vary. But that the movie they riff is boring is not a valid complaint. Especially not when Manos is a fan-favorite.

    Okay, I’ll stop beating my horse now. He’s been dead for a while.

    Anyway, can we expect Shout to eventually re-release Red Zone Cuba, I Accuse My Parents, Crawling Hand, and Hellcats, too? Why those specific episodes, you may ask? Oh, no reason. I didn’t put off buying those until it was too late, nosiree. And I certainly didn’t rent them from Netflix just to make copies… *cough*

       2 likes

  40. Alex says:

    By four-pack, would that mean like Gunslinger, Beginning of the End, Incredibly Strange Creatures and Hamlet as like one big volume pack? Or would it just be all the single DVDs put together?

    I might just buy Gunslinger to get it complete. These are all bare bones of course so they seem a little useless for an “upgrade”, for my opinion.

       0 likes

  41. Alex says:

    By four-pack, would that mean like Gunslinger, Beginning of the End, Incredibly Strange Creatures and Hamlet as like one big volume pack? Or would it just be all the single DVDs put together?

    I might just buy Gunslinger to get it complete. These are all bare bones of course so they seem a little useless for an “upgrade”, for my opinion.

       0 likes

  42. Alex says:

    By four-pack, would that mean like Gunslinger, Beginning of the End, Incredibly Strange Creatures and Hamlet as like one big volume pack? Or would it just be all the single DVDs put together?

    I might just buy Gunslinger to get it complete. These are all bare bones of course so they seem a little useless for an “upgrade”, for my opinion.

       0 likes

  43. You can still get the Rhino DVD set with ‘Gunslinger’ brand new for under $40 from Amazon.

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  44. Matt D. says:

    I’m sorry Sharktopus, but Manos is not a boring movie to me. It is embarrassingly bad, but it is so bad that I enjoy reveling (sp?) in its badness. But that version of Hamlet is not really that bad, but it is in fact mostly just dreadfully boring. I think that the Best Brains have had episodes where they overcome the boringness of some movies with their riffs. I do not think they were able to overcome Hamlet though.

    I will also admit that I agree with #31 when he or she said that some of the jokes from Hamlet were just too high-brow and too “Shakespearian” for me. I can’t get into that ep, sorry.

       0 likes

  45. Matt D. says:

    I’m sorry Sharktopus, but Manos is not a boring movie to me. It is embarrassingly bad, but it is so bad that I enjoy reveling (sp?) in its badness. But that version of Hamlet is not really that bad, but it is in fact mostly just dreadfully boring. I think that the Best Brains have had episodes where they overcome the boringness of some movies with their riffs. I do not think they were able to overcome Hamlet though.

    I will also admit that I agree with #31 when he or she said that some of the jokes from Hamlet were just too high-brow and too “Shakespearian” for me. I can’t get into that ep, sorry.

       0 likes

  46. Cronkite Moonshot says:

    I don’t think there is anything wrong with saying that a boring movie can make an episode bad even though the MST crews writing was still top notch. I don’t think Hamlet is a “bad” episode per se, but the movie is WAY too boring to take in one sitting, even with riffs. There are only a couple of episodes of MST that I only watch in parts over a couple of days, because if I sit down and try to watch them in one sitting I eventually get so bored with the movie that I wind up getting distracted and not even paying attention to the show at all after a while. But I can handle a half hour of Hamlet, and then go on with my life until later that night or the next day and pick up where I left off for another half hour or so. And I enjoy it much more that way because I can actually pay attention to the riffs from later in the episodes since I haven’t been bored into a coma by the film. And it is definitely because of the film, not the riffing. Hamlet is bad because it is a boring movie, not because the MST crew failed to write good riffs. Manos is bad, but most definitely NOT because it’s boring. And the riffing is top notch as well, so it all makes for a great episode. I would argue that Manos is actually a much worse film than the version of Hamlet they used, but I could watch Manos without the riffing two times in a row and not be nearly as bored as I am after a half hour of Hamlet. And again I don’t think that the MST crew failed to write good riffs for Hamlet, just that they get overshadowed by how oppressively boring the film is. I can’t remember my original TV viewing of Hamlet all that well, but I can imagine it was probably actually easier to watch when it had commercial breaks as well.

       2 likes

  47. So we went from “The right people will get it” and a Peabody award when the series aired, to “The riffs are too highbrow” now. I think this says everything you need to know about the shift in the show’s audience over the years.

       1 likes

  48. MikeK says:

    Too highbrow? “Me and Horatio took the bus to Copenhagen and got blaster on Aquavit,” is too highbrow? I think some people need to watch Hamlet again.

       1 likes

  49. CatraDhtem says:

    @ td / #33 – I’ve had a quick in-print Rhino guide at the top of my site for a while now to cover the collections. The only non-boxed sets from Rhino that are still in print are the “Essentials” set and the single-disc “Manos.”

       0 likes

  50. Sharktopus says:

    The “Losertes! Craplet!” exchange still makes me giggle. Highbrow, indeed.

       1 likes

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