Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

I only watched this movie because I saw it rated as one of the top 30 sci-fi movies of all time by Yahoo!. While I do not think I could justify that, top 30 is really high and I am not sure Mystery Science Theater 3000 really qualifies as a science fiction movie, this film was frickin’ hilarious. The premise is completely ridiculous; a man is trapped on a spaceship by an evil scientist and is forced to watch crappy movies until his spirit is broken. That never happens, and the man spends his time watching movies and making sarcastic comments about them with two equally sarcastic robots. The film is definitely not for everyone, but if you are the type of person who really likes shows like Seinfeld or Arrested Development, you will enjoy Mystery Science Theater 3000. I am not sure whether or not the jokes were scripted or were off the cuff; either way they are hysterical. I will say that not every joke is a classic, some of the things they say are actually kind of stupid, but it is so rapid fire that any bad joke is immediately followed by a good; you have little chance to stop laughing. This movie is definitely not for everyone, it is kind of like watching stand up that is just a series of one-liners, but as cult classic, this format really works. If I am not mistaken, this was also a moderately successful show; anyone who liked the show would love the film. Although it is short, I do wonder whether or not I would have been able to sit through this movie in the theaters, but at home, with the ability to break it up with college football, I really enjoyed it. The idea that this movie was one of the top 30 science fiction movies of all time is just as ridiculous as the film. That said, the same list ranked X-Men 3, one of the worst science fiction movies, in the top 30 and listed Iron Man as number one. Iron man was good, but when you rank it number one, your list loses all credibility. My wife could not understand why anyone would want to watch this movie, but I liked it. I give Mystery Science Theater: The Movie 3000 3 stars.