It’s so funny that the MST3K movie is just an episode of the show with slightly higher production values where they watch a movie with slightly more expensive rights. I’m a Mike guy so I dug it.
Directed by Jim Mallon
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
A funny, rewatchable science fiction.
Science Fiction
Comedy
1996
1h 13m
In the not-too-distant future, the evil Dr. Forrester forces a temp named Mike into a series of experiments, where he's forced to watch cheesy movies so the mad scientist can monitor his mind. However, as Mike can't control where the movies begin or end, he'll try to keep his sanity with the help of his robot friends.
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Cast & crew
5What people say
As a teen, I was delighted when this movie came out — mostly because my local cable didn’t carry Comedy Central at the time, which meant I could only watch MST3K on vacations or when I visited relatives (which I did at length, which my loved ones were not always pleased about). Then I was frustrated because the movie was so short; far shorter than the original runtime of the film they’re riffing, or even of the weekly episodes on cable. According to the creators, it was not an easy movie to produce, with a lot of pushback from the studio. But I gotta say, the jokes hold up pretty well. And when comedy is involved, it is hard to argue with “I laughed.”
Realized halfway through this morning’s class screening that I had this thing memorized; re-reading Fujiwara and Rosenbaum’s screeds made me feel protective in spite of myself. Quite the artefact of an era that happened to intersect with my adolescence, and adolescence is the essence of MST3K’s appeal; it’s sadder, maybe, to grow out of it than to not. As a case study in about a half dozen industrial, intellectual and subcultural phenomenons, it’s essential, but the silence of the students was suggestive too.
Common questions
What is Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie about?+
A mad scientist strands a hapless worker on a space station, forcing him to watch notoriously awful B-movies while cracking jokes to preserve his sanity.
Who directed Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie?+
Jim Mallon directed the 1996 film adaptation of the acclaimed cult television series.
How long is Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie?+
The film has a brisk runtime of 73 minutes.
