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MST3K XIV ReviewA nice long appreciation of the show and the upcoming release from Shout! Factory at DVDTalk.com.
37 Replies to “MST3K XIV Review”Commenting at Satellite News
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My only problem with Shout! Factory is that they don’t have scene selection. So if you can’t watch the entire movie all at once you’ll be fast forwarding A LOT to get where you left off. Not all DVD players have memory as to where you left off when you turn off the machine. It’s just annoying.
What’s the use of Chapter Selection? The chapter stops are in basically the same place in all episodes. Not like Cinematic Titanic.
I agree. I even wrote to Shout! Factory about that. Scene selections are one of the most basic options on DVDs that’s a part of even the lowliest DVDs available.
One thing I am worried about is the Cheap Seats episode is not the full episode, but only the “theater segments”. That does seem a bit disappointing, since Cheap Seats has it’s own charm and it’d be nice to contrast the Sklar Brothers riff style with Mike & The Bots.
My own review of the newest MST3K DVD set volume XIV is the top review on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Science-Theater-3000-XIV/dp/B001G8SX04/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
I wish every reviewer would devote this much effort in giving a proper review that the show deserves.
^ Yeah, you can tell that the man’s got a deep understanding of the show. Which is good.
I agree with the chapter stops. I really don’t like hearing the theme song (to any series) every time I watch an episode; I always skip it whenever I can. With the Rhino releases, there was a chapter stop right after the theme, and I’d always start there.
interesting… me? I couldn’t start watching an ep without hearing the theme song first. It warms me up.
But I agree with chapter breaks ( however, since my dvd player has memory I can’t really kick about it too much ).
A solid review, but I disagree with the
view of host segments. Frequently they’re
great, and amplify the movie, for example
Pearl’s PBS telethon with her duet with
Brain Guy, TS being doppled to the nanites(not a wise move), and Pearl’s wise choice of Ortega
as her phone bank, accompanying “Overdrwn
At The Memory Bank.”
I thought there was supposed to be a documentary called “Toolmasters: The Men Who Built MST3K”?
I wonder if Shout! has a system for choosing the episodes. (I mean, beyond that their budget probably requires they do one or two public domain movies per set.)
If I were doing the sets, I might evenly divide the remaining episodes into “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D” groups, according to their popularity, and choose one of each per set. After all, if you had the four strongest episodes each time, the sets would gradually become less and less strong.
I just wonder because “The Mad Monster” seems like it came from column “D.”
I wouldn’t complain about getting any Season 1 show on commercial DVD sets. Those episodes got pulled from the airwaves fairly early at the request of Best Brains and of the two previous Season 1 shows to make it to DVD, one of those went out of print very quickly. A lot of fans will be glad to have Mad Monster even if it’s not on most people’s list of favorites.
I agree with “Petite” — can’t watch MST3K without hearing the theme song (even if I’m in the midst of a marathon and have heard it four times already that week :>).
But for folks watching these via DVD players they absolutely ought to have scene selections and better chapter breaks. It doesn’t cost anything to add such features (except for a *tiny* fraction of time).
Since I transfer all episodes onto Apple TV/iPhone format it doesn’t matter much to me personally.
Chapter breaks are also good if you have favorite parts of MST3K episodes. I have a DVD of Deathstalker from Cheepnis.com and I always replay the “Potatoes are what eat!” scene.
:mrgreen: I agree there should be a scene selection because sometimes you want to skip to your favorite scene instead of fast forwarding.I mean,at least have one,so that way we’ll have a choice either way.I hope that Shout!Factory will have in the future the specials MST3K did on the sc-fi channel,the one they did on Comedy Central(Little Gold Statue Awards Show) and so on.Too bad Shout! can’t get for the extras all the appearances/docs;etc. that Cheepnis.com has.That would be perfect!! Plus,more lengthy interviews with other actors and actresses,like Mamie Van Doren and others.And,another thing,I could care less if they ever had those mini posters of the movies either.It’s not really the original posters of the movies,but from the cover of the dvd.
@Bob #5…
Where did you get your copy of the DVD so early? I’m assuming that you have and have viewed the actual DVD’s being released by Shout Factory. Otherwise it’s not so much of a review, and more of an educated guess. Sure we’ve all seen the episodes already and could say whether they are good or not, but the Amazon review section is not a place to review the episodes, it is a place to review the whole DVD package including but not limited to those episodes. But what if there are massive problems with this release that we can’t foresee right now, like bad audio or video issues that negatively effect the viewers ability to enjoy the episodes, faulty discs, etc.? It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened with an MST release. I’m of the firm belief that Amazon’s review sections should be locked until the day of release to stop people from “reviewing” things they haven’t actually experienced first hand yet. No one knows what the DVD set will actually be like yet since none of us have actually seen the DVDs yet.
“the weakest MST is still funnier than just about anything on television”
Amen.
Cronkite #17:
I agree – this is why they call it a “review” not a “preview”. I notice all to often that Amazon “review” sections are becoming bloggy.
Cronkite #17:
Yeah I remember when season 11 of the simpsons was coming out, everyone was giving it great reviews. Then when the thing came out people realized the packaging was crap, suddenly the people who said the dvd was great were saying the set wasn’t worth buying.
dunno why- but I love Final Justice- Joe Don Baker- a big fat cheater- and he even asks about the Maltese Falcon. “The last thing a sausage sees!”
Amazon.com has dropped the pre-order price on this latest MST3K DVD set. It was $53.99, they are now charging $44.99.
@ Cronkite Moonshot:
Yes, your comments are nothing new, we’ve all heard that argument before, reviewing the material vs. reviewing the actual physical set. There are arguments for both and yes, reviewing the actual discs is great. For example, see my review of Fawlty Towers where I comment on the bad quality of the transfer to the DVD. What a shame because it’s such a great show.
Nevertheless, people interested in buying the set want to know all of the things included in the review I provided. They want to know who hosted each episode, what season it’s from and they want to know about the movies a bit and the extra features. I provided ALL of that in my review, so while I can’t comment on the actual discs or the packaging at this time, I nevertheless provided people with a lot of useful information that they want when trying to decide whether or not to pre-order it.
So while I see your point, which is hardly a new one, I don’t see how the material I provided is unwelcome or unhelpful. It’s as much as can be provided at this time and it is highly useful information that a lot of buyers don’t already have. Not everyone is that well versed in every episode and a lot of people have shown much appreciation for these types of reviews, both my own and other people’s, on MST3K and a million other products on Amazon. If you can’t see how all that information I was able to provide is helpful then I your view may be a bit narrow as to what is helpful.
You gave it a 5, how do you know the set isn’t crap? I love the show too but it may be packaged horiblly (like the last set). The transfer quality may be terrible. To say the set is great before even seeing the set is like saying a peice of music is great before you’ve even heard it.
My rating was clearly based on the material in the set, assuming you read the review. Most people who have read it are smart enough to realize that and found the information helpful. Why all the acrimony over providing people with useful information? The right people got it.
As for the last set, I happened to like the packaging of the last set and this one will be the same, four narrow disc cases in a cardboard sleeve. Why all the acrimony over this? What’s the real beef? Certainly there are more important things wrong in the world to be steamed about. :roll:
I must say I also think the 20th Anniversary
set with four seperate containers is fine,
although it could also have had some kind of cover rather then an open side.
I’m glad some people are finally commenting on chapter selections. Hey, some of us need them. I’m one of those people who need things that some others don’t. After all, we believe in diversity don’t we? :wink:
Normally, when I get home from work, the first thing I do is take off my coat and check my mailbox. Until Volume 14 comes, I don’t think I’ll bother taking off my coat! If I was excited when I knew it was coming out, this review has me practically jumping off the wall!
As for the fan base being “opinionated”, the reviewer sure has us pegged. :wink:
P.S. Dear Shout! I have but one request: just one more Sacrifice before we go? Please? :grin:
Your review takes attention away from acctual reviews by people who acctually bought the set. Anyone can look up the episodic content of a box set, I want to know about the dvd, not the show.
Well, you’re in the minority. Most people going to Amazon BEFORE a set is released are interested in the EXTENSIVE information I provided and find it quite helpful. Just because it doesn’t meet your personal rigid idea of what you want to see is no reason to go on some personal campaign against it. All the people who want all the information I provided about each episode should be deprived of it just because you don’t like it? It doesn’t take attention away from your odd idea of what a “real” review is because there are NONE like that BEFORE the set is released. I suppose it would be better to leave people with no information at all. :roll:
Regarding scene selection/chapter breaks…
I don’t remember exactly what the 20th Anniversary set had, but one has no chapter/scene selection in the main menus, BUT there’s chapter breaks at each point Rhino used to have them. You don’t have to fast foward to get to the chapter you want to be at.
Bob, I actually think your review is quite nifty, and for a casual viewer it would be quite helpful. I’ve seen plenty of reviews on multiple Amazon products prior to their release. And I’m sure if for some reason this set debuts, and the disks feature a lousy transfer, poor sound quality etc. then I’m sure Bob can go back and update or adjust his review accordingly. Otherwise the info provided is handy, and helps the uninformed make a better decision. It’s not like the review is carved in stone and cannot be altered if needed.
Post#30
Sorry, realized if left out the word “this”. Meant to say that volume XIV has chapter breaks at each commercial break, just like the Rhino’s did.
Many contacted reviewers receive advanced copies of product before release. That may be the way this DVDTalk review was written before release. Maybe the guy on Amazon got his hands on an advance copy? Just a thought.
Maybe the guy on Amazon got his hands on an advance copy? Just a thought.
Except that he freely admits he has not gotten his hands on an advance copy:
so while I can’t comment on the actual discs or the packaging at this time, (See Comment 23)
Personally, I would prefer that all “preview” reviewers on Amazon would clearly label their information with some sort of disclaimer. While I like that customers offer up information that the seller hasn’t seen fit to mention, I don’t need to read more than 1 “review” at Amazon including it – and in this case there are 4 mostly redundant “reviews.”
Sorry Bob, it’s not as simple as your fantasy delusions seem to make you think it is. And your cheap little trick of trying to make me out as the silly little person just repeating a played out argument doesn’t work either. My “point” might not be new, but since when does something have to be new to be correct? And did it ever occur to you that you’ve heard it all before because you have continued to fail to realize the facts? So don’t blame me if you are too dense to realize what a review actually is, keep making the same mistake, and keep getting called out on it. I’m not stating one side of a debate here. There is no debate about this. A review is not some vague thing where different people have various valid ideas about what it might actually be. A review is a very specific thing. People who write reviews professionally follow very strict guidelines when they do so (at least the honest ethical ones do), and the most very basic rule they follow that actually makes it a review is that the person writing it has actual first hand experience with the EXACT thing they are reviewing, be it movie, DVD, car, Book, whatever. It’s pretty simple. Seeing a movie in the theater is enough to allow you to write a review of that MOVIE, but not enough to be able to write a review about the DVD of that movie, and seeing a TV show on TV is not enough to allow you to write a review of the DVD of that TV show etc. There are no good arguments for calling what you did a review. It simply is not one in any sense of the word. All the technical information in the world about the episodes themselves doesn’t help make your thing a review of this MST DVD set itself if you haven’t seen the final DVDs.
Since seem to not grasp the simple idea of what a review actually is I feel I must state this very well known FACT yet again, and here goes… A review of a DVD on Amazon.com is meant for discussing the actual DVD. In your “review” you only discuss one aspect of the DVD. And you fail to meet the single basic requirement of having actually SEEN the final product that you are reviewing, which is the DVD set as a whole, NOT just the episodes themselves, and so you are totally unqualified to review said DVD set. There are a million reasons other than the quality of the actual episodes themselves for why this set might not deserve a five star rating, and the ONLY way to know that is to actually SEE the DVDs. If you want so badly to review the episodes then go to their individual IMDb pages, or start a blog or something, and have at it. Amazon is not the place to do it. Amazon is not your personal blog or Wikipedia. At best your writing should be called a PREVIEW, and should be placed in the proper spot which is in the general forums that are available on every product page on Amazon.com. That is where people go to ask or answer questions, or provide pure information on the film or TV show featured on the DVD’s being sold, as you did in your non-review whatchamacallit. But for some reason some people have this sad need for attention, and desperately want to be the first person to “review” something, and so they make an ass out of themselves by writing about something that isn’t even out yet, and that they haven’t even seen for themselves. And in your case you’ve convinced yourself that you are performing some kind of service by telling people about the episodes in the set, when in fact all you’ve done is save them a few minutes of looking on Wikipedia or any of the other numerous sources online for MST episode info. All of that might help make an actual informed review of the DVDs more informative to the person reading it, but it alone DOESN’T MAKE WHAT YOU DID A REVIEW.
So sorry for repeating so much, but it seems to be necessary.
or possibly pirated copy from china?
Couldn’t agree more. Can’t believe that there’s no Chapter selection!