I hadn’t seen “Mystery Science Theater 3000” in years when I received this set to review. What a shame that it’s not in reruns anywhere, as it’s easily one of the funniest shows ever. Yes, it’s not for everyone, but for those of us who understand “MST3K,” the show was a religious experience way back when it was airing on Comedy Central and The Sci-Fi Channel.
Rather than present the series in chronological order, Rhino has been mixing it up in each of these sets. The four-disc Volume 10 set offers up two episodes from the Joel Hodgson era—“Godzilla vs. Megalon” from season two and “Swamp Diamonds” from season five—and a pair from the Mike Nelson years: “Teen-Age Strangler” from season five and “The Giant Spider Invasion” from season eight. “Swamp Diamonds” and “Teen-Age Strangler” also feature hideously bad 1950s shorts, “What To Do on a Date” and “Is This Love?”, that Joel, Mike, and their robot pals riff on mercilessly.
“Godzilla vs. Megalon” is a favorite among Misties (as “MST3K” fans are called; yeah, it’s kinda lame, but isn’t that the point of anything “MST3K”-related?). I had forgotten how hysterically funny the “translated” lyrics from the Jet Jaguar song were. How anyone, in Japan or America, can make so many horrifically bad movies is beyond me, but I’ll always thank them for this show’s existence.
Of course, the other episodes in this set are highly recommended too, but if you’re new to this whole thing, try “Godzilla vs. Megalon” first. Everyone is aware how cheesy the later Godzilla films were, so it’s a good frame of reference for the jokes, which come so fast and furious that I can remember missing many of them because I was laughing so hard at the previous ones. Thank god for the rewind button.
This set also includes a few extras. On disc one, we have a collection of behind-the-scenes photos that are fun to check out, but unfortunately no one bothered to label them. Disc three includes about 15 minutes of outtakes full of characters, human and robot, screwing up their lines, messing up the set, and otherwise ruining the take. Finally, disc four features the “MST3K Video Jukebox,” which consists of 15 musical bits culled from various episodes over the show’s history. Misties will eat this stuff up. Others may be satisfied with just sampling an episode or two.
