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UPDATE: 25th Anniversary Set ReviewsOur pal Bruce Westbrook has posted his review.
Dvdcorner.net has a review of the MST3K: 25th Anniversary Set (oh and it also has one for the RiffTrax DVD “May The Shorts Be With You.” Also, Eric Asperschlager of DVDVerdict.com is on the case. UPDATE: Ian Jane at Rockshockpop.com has an extensive review. 37 Replies to “UPDATE: 25th Anniversary Set Reviews”Commenting at Satellite News
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Another great release from SHOUT FACTORY! The extras look great too. Now if there was a SOL figurine then it would be a super great release.
Soon, they’re gonna release the episode list for the next volume! *squeals*
I have been a fan of the Shout! Factory animated menus, but I don’t understand why the Moon Zero Two is so goofy. It is 2D animation rather than the usual 3D animated robots with 2D elements from the episode, and the robots are really off model.
As I said before in another thread, this a wonderful set. Ballyhoo continues to do amazing work! And speaking of menus, nothing could have prepared me for a conversation between Mitchell and Jan in the Pan. Loved it!
Weepy Donuts,
I haven’t seen the menu, but is it possible that they’re trying to emulate the cartoon credits of the movie?
Revlillo,
I don’t think it’s a reference to the main titles of the film, rather a new creative direction. I can’t check the discs right now, but I’m pretty sure that Gorgo had a similar menu… complete with a scary clown character.
I mention it here because I truly found the Moon Zero Two menu misguided, (Joel is drawn with bugged-eyes. Sweet, sleepy-eyed Joel. Really?) and I hope Shout! Factory sticks with the previous aesthetic.
Now I’m curious to see the different menu style. I’ve always hated the CGI ones, it is just the exact OPPOSITE of the hand made aesthetic of the show.
Loved loved loved Bruce’s closing line of the review: “For a silver anniversary set, this one is gold.”
Going to leave this here for him as I did on his blog…
http://d2tq98mqfjyz2l.cloudfront.net/image_cache/1384990993521902_animate.gif
I absolutely hate the word “anny.”
Hulk smash.
After seeing the MITCHELL / THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE on one disc I think it would be cool if SHOUT did more double feature discs in the future.
I sometimes fall asleep to the MST movies and like the idea of having a second movie on the same disc to watch instead of getting up and taking
the disc out and putting in another disc, I’m old and very lazy. Also I sometimes spend all kinds of time looking at the movies trying to pick
out a movie I know I’ll fall asleep to anyway. Turning 57 next month and life has become so hard for an old fart like me.
A nice review, overall. I will take issue with calling “Moon Zero Two” “a poorly written sci-fi cheapie”.
It was produced by Hammer Films, who were not a cheapie knock-off house (though lower budgeted than the big studios, of course). The film, even with it’s cheeky “Moonopoly”-type in-jokes, tries hard to get the science right and it’s a solid attempt at an outer-space western, not really perfected until “Outland”. The model work is excellent and the cinematography alone should have told the reviewer it wasn’t a “cheapie”.
I do think this is one of those cases of a film’s reputation being unfairly tarnished simply *because* it appeared on MST3K. It doesn’t really deserve it.
I second what Mr Frey said about Moon Zero Two. It’s easily one of the best movies featured on MST3k, and I doubt they would have done it in later seasons. Being on the show might tarnish its reputation a bit, but nearly as much as that incongruous cartoon title sequence. The producers couldn’t have been happy about Warner Bros (I think?) tacking that on. Catchy song, though. MOOOON! ZEEEE! RO! TWOOOOOO!
Managed to grab the set today, and I’m looking forward to watching it. All four episodes are ones I’ve never been able to see before, so that already makes it a hit for me. And the chance to finally get to see Mitchell & Brain That Wouldn’t Die MiSTed again just makes it all the sweeter.
Someday I hope Shout! Factory can do the same thing for Eegah! That movie needs to come back into circulation. It’s been far too long.
Already noticed something about MITCHELL.
At one of the first commercial breaks where Mitchell is going through Deaney’s gun collection and looks back with that dumb Mitchell look on his face… Joel says “Whhaaaat??”
That has been missing from both the Rhino VHS and DVD.
Awesome…thanks Shout!
Another review over at the AV Club.
#13: I am an OCD-MSTie and I’m so glad to here that….I hated that edit because Joel’s “whaaat?” was one of my favorite moments of the ep.
Shout Factory is seriously the best!
I haven’t had a chance to watch the episodes yet, but is anyone else a little bummed that the Collector’s Tin doesn’t include an inner cardboard sleeve to hold the DVD cases? I keep my DVD sets all on one shelf but don’t keep them in the tins, but rather the cardboard sleeves that were previously included. I’m really bummed this one doesn’t have one. Now my shelf won’t look uniform and the tin takes up a bunch of space.
@ #16:
Yeah, that’s been eating at me too. I sent Shout a message inquiring about it, we’ll see what they say back. There’s a precedent: Back when Fox released the sixth season of The Simpsons, it was packaged in a plastic clamshell case instead of the usual cardboard slip cover. They later included a form so you could order the slip cover for the sake of uniformity (the slip cover is now he standard packaging for the set).
#16 and #17: I’m with you. As I’ve mentioned in another posting, we like to keep our Cheepnis orders in the tins, so I’m not happy with the change. I’m happy with the set (definitely!), but I also like uniformity.
And because I’ve always ordered from Amazon, I don’t don’t have a stress ball. Bummer, man.
16,17 18, Actually you might want to consider what I’m doing. I pulled the the slim dvd’s out of all the cardboard cases and stacked them on the shelf in broadcast order. I then took the Rhino discs out and put them in slimline dvd cases and used the wonderful DVD art made by JoshWay and put them into the order as well. The Shout cardboard sleeves have been flattened and put away if I ever need them again.
@19: That’s actually a really great idea. Where can I find slimline DVD cases and that art by JoshWay?
My only complaint about the tin is that it doesn’t have a door hinge on it. Although I agree, I wish the discs were in a cardboard box per usual.
I’m also disappointed with the packaging for this set. Every other volume (even Rhino’s) came with a cardboard sleeve. And so did the other Shout! releases that had a collector’s tin box. I hope this doesn’t become a trend with future sets.
$45.49 at Barnes and Noble online then use the code BFRIDAY30 online (you can also find a coupon to print out in-store) to get this for $31.49 + tax.
To anyone who wishes the set came in a cardboard sleeve. I would think after the tin box sets are gone SHOUT will have to have the set
in a cardboard sleeve. Do you think SHOUT will have the sleeves available for us to get? Back when JURASSIC PARK had the 3 movies out I sent
away to UNIVERSAL for a box to hold the 3 movies in and it came with a DISC called Beyond JURASSIC PARK. I’m sure it cost me something but I don’t think it was too much.
@19: The only dilemma with putting the slimline cases in broadcast order is where to put the Gorgo/Mitchell/The Brain That Wouldn’t Die case in said order (assuming you don’t have the Rhino singles or move Mitchell/The Brain That Wouldn’t Die to its own case). I’ll probably trade away my Rhino singles for 512 & 513 since they’re now redundant.
@ Mayor of Simpleton: That’s precisely what I do, except that I’ve modified Josh’s excellent covers to suit my very particular tastes. (Someday I’ll share them online when I’ve perfected them all.)
I highly recommend everyone visit mst3k dot joshway dot com. He did a tremendous job. Check out his Fun With Shorts fan riffs, too. He’s a swell guy.
Two commenters felt my calling Moon Zero Two a “poorly written sci-fi cheapie” was a bit harsh. I see their point if they’re fans of the film, though I proudly champion many sci-fi movies which are undeniably cheap. (Dark Star, anyone?). Besides that, “cheap” is a relative term, so to what do we relate this? Hey, how about other sci-fi movies of the era? In fact, the extra features for this disc place it in such a context by mentioning that Moon Zero Two was being filmed nearby and at the same time as 2001: A Space Odyssey. OK: Moon Zero Two cost half a million pounds (still under $1 million), while 2001 cost $10.5 million. Another sci-fi film from the same era, Planet of the Apes, cost $5.8 million. From the same year, Barbarella cost $9 million. So by comparison with these sci-fi movies, Moon Zero Two was relatively cheap, no matter how much bang they managed to get for their buck (or pound). As for “poorly written,” that’s to some degree a matter of taste. Oh, and I was well aware it came from Hammer, a studio I respect. But you’ve got to admit outer-space fare was not in Hammer’s wheelhouse. All that said, I love Moon Zero Two as an MST movie and as an early sci-fi foray for James Olson, who soon afterward appeared in The Andromeda Strain.
Just in case Shout! Factory is keeping track. I’d like to chime in with my disappointment regarding the lack of the cardboard box as well. Since the tin cases are used for special editions, I don’t see this becoming a routine. Which makes it that much more frustrating to have the one odd set. I absolutely love what they’re doing with the shows and the bonus features, but please keep the packaging uniform!
A reviewer on Amazon claims there are “digital artifacts” in the transfers that have nothing to to with the source material but with the transfer process to DVD. Anyone else noticing “vertical black lines” briefly appearing on any of the set? It’s difficult for me to believe Shout would not catch a “compression mistake” like he is claiming. He even went into detail about how Shout’s computer might have suddenly had another program start in the background or electrical spikes etc.
It sounds ridiculous, but since I don’t have the set yet, I was just wondering. He is the reviewer that gave the set 3 stars.
correction: he gave the set 4 stars
The Ian Jane review contains a usage flub that never ceases to irritate me – misuse of the word never.
“This one has also been notoriously hard to see as due to some copyright issues, it was only broadcast once and then never released on home video – until now!”
I disagree that sci-fi was not in Hammer’s wheelhouse. Just watch the Quatermass movies. Genius.
There’s science fiction, and there’s science fiction horror. Quatermass is the latter. Moon Zero Two is the former.
Bruce, dill is good spice! I will not have it maligned!
I know exactly how you feel, shippers. I am irritated when people do not apply quotes, resulting in what appears to be a sentence fragment:
incorrect: The Ian Jane review contains a usage flub that never ceases to irritate me – misuse of the word never.
correct: The Ian Jane review contains a usage flub that never ceases to irritate me – misuse of the word “never.”
Incorrect: being critical of grammar used by people who post comments on a website.
Correct: being critical of people with pretensions to journalism.
Meh! You’re just a whippersnapper, sonny! You are not off the hook just yet, shippers!