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According to the Universal website, this is coming on August 28th.

http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/c ... land+earth

and the chances of a reissue of the MST3K movie as a bonus feature with this are...?

nil.

Potentially very good news.
Their site says "full frame", although IMDB reckons theatrical OAR was 2.00:1.
I'd be happy if it's "open matte", not cropped. But remembering what this studio did to their 2004 release of "Colossus: The Forbin Project" - cropped to 4:3 from OAR of 2.35:1.....

2.00:1 was the maximum ratio that the studio advertised at the time - during the widescreen boom - so that as many cinemas as possible would project it, but it was filmed for 1.75 or 1.85:1.

Great film, I feel. Much more poignant and culturally important than people give it credit for. I have a DVD-R of the OOP Image disc, so I'll be happy to replace it with a legit edition, hopefully with a new transfer, though it chould be anamorphic widescreen, frankly. Universal have had a documentary of their 50s sci-fi films on the shelf for some time now. It was produced for a sci-fi boxed set that never came together.

richast2 wrote:and the chances of a reissue of the MST3K movie as a bonus feature with this are...?

nil.

I would hope that any bonus feature would include photographic evidence of Universal burning the negatives to that worthless "movie". I'd even preorder this at full MSRP if they did.

I am still very angry at Universal for Colossus The Forbin Project dvd release. I have the widescreen laserdisc in which the movie plays better than the pan & scan dvd which shows half of the movie!! Lets hope This Island Earth gets better treatment!!

richast2 wrote:and the chances of a reissue of the MST3K movie as a bonus feature with this are...?

nil.

Thankfully nil --- sick and tired of defending this film to people who have ONLY seen the MST3K version!

unclehulot wrote:Thankfully nil --- sick and tired of defending this film to people who have ONLY seen the MST3K version!

Seconded.

Well, I rather like their take on it, but I also will happily defend it against unreasonable slurs. I saw it first around '89 and have always liked it. All '50's SF films have a certain colorful goofiness, but I tend to generally find that endearing.

This film certainly has its moments, Exador's (spelling?) forehead being one but also one of the most iconic and recognizable "monsters" (mutant really) in 50's sci-fi. I have a giant latex Metaluna Mutant mask that sits right next to a rather large, framed, This Island Earth poster. Is this movie cheesy? yes. But it never fails to be a fun watch. The old disc was crap and looked no better then a VHS. I can't wait to see this get a proper treatment, and with a decent Forbidden Planet on the way as well!! Someone must have heard my prayers. Well, actually, no that can't be because then we'd be getting Invasion of the Saucermen. if you have not seen that one you really need to.

DVD Beaver comparison of the Image Entertainment and new Universal:
www.dvdbeaver.com/film/Reviews/tie.htm

A much sharper, brighter and more colourful transfer from Universal, but the left and right edge cropping marks it down. It isn't it obvious that this film should be at least 1.78:1 and not 1.33:1 - surely the telecine op noticed the redundant headroom? Great to have this gem back in print, though. One of the great rainy-sunday-afternoon entertainments.

Broadcast this month by a UK "digital" channel in 1.78:1 anamorphic, so I now have a reasonable digital-to-digital copy on DVD. I'll be getting the Universal disc in due course.

unclehulot wrote:
Thankfully nil --- sick and tired of defending this film to people who have ONLY seen the MST3K version!

Seconded.

I only seem to emerge from my lurking to defend Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Odd...

The writers of MST3K stated on MANY ocassions that they didn't always make fun of "bad" movies, but rather they usually looked for a dated film that had sufficient pauses roomy enough for comments. While many of the films they skewer are not very good, they did take on several flicks that could be considered minor classics, including "This Island Earth" and "Marooned."

If you watch the wraparounds for "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" closely, you will notice that they never once say a negative word about the film. Dr. Forrester even refers to it as "...the Universal CLASSIC 'This Island Earth.'" And no comment in the movie trashes its artistic merit. I view it as more of a movie satire myself, making fun of characters, line readings, etc. (and the presence of The Professor). While this will not enhance your enjoyment of said movie, I do not find their presentation to be deserving of hatred by fans of the movie. If you don't like folks talking during your flicks, fine, but if the jokes are good enough, I say they are more than welcome.

On a related note, Mike Nelson's hilarious commentary track on the Legend Films' DVD of "Carnival of Souls" has not harmed my enjoyment of the original black & white Criterion presentation in the slightest.

mrannouncer wrote:If you don't like folks talking during your flicks, fine, but if the jokes are good enough, I say they are more than welcome.

Now how can we get everyone else to realize that their jokes aren't?

-Toilet Dcuk

toiletduck! wrote:

mrannouncer wrote:If you don't like folks talking during your flicks, fine, but if the jokes are good enough, I say they are more than welcome.

Now how can we get everyone else to realize that their jokes aren't?

-Toilet Dcuk

I've never really found MST3K all that funny. They were never crass, or low-brow enough to be funny in a really awful way, nor were their jokes ever high-brow enough to get chuckles from the initiated. Humor, like many things in life though, is highly subjective, so to each his or her own.

Actually, the funniest thing about MST3K, and something that mrannouncer alludes to a little, is that you can pretty much skewer any film. I remember when I was in high school we watched Citizen Kane and the class inappropriately laughed when Kane wiggled his ears in front of the mirror for Marion (they thought it was some kind of dirty joke). Hell, last spring I watched The Swimmer and the guy sitting next to me howled through the movie. I mean, we're talking about adults (educated adults to boot) here.

mrannouncer:

Now, I haven't watched MST3K: The Movie in a long, long time, but it was my understanding that the premise of the movie was that the three protagonists (if you can call them that) were being confined to watching "the worst movie ever made" (This Island Earth). Am I wrong about that?

Oh, and just to get back to the topic at hand, even though I'm not the film's biggest fan, I might just pick up a copy of this DVD and have a fun night watching it with my friends.

I happen to love MST3K and according to interviews, although they claimed to watch the worst of the worst, they said they didn't even scratch the surface. It was more about what they could get rights to, and also how much they could riff it and make it enjoyably funny.

(They claimed that this movie was the worst they ever watched, and decided it shouldn't be a show as it was too disturbing to even attempt to capitalize on.)

Manos The Hands Of Fate became classic from them, but I must say that IS the worst film they have ever riffed on, and even with their comments, it did not make the movie at all enjoyable. Even Joel and the robots couldn't save that one.

As for This Island Earth, it is a fun movie in the first place, but so easily attackable being a 'classic' 50's SciFi. Most of the movies played on the show was somewhat originally watchable, and they happen to throw in their little fun. Its been so many years since watching 'The Movie' and one thing I remember was Crow saying 'Shit' for the first time.

For people interested, MST3K The Movie is available on DVD in Germany, with This Island Earth the complete version on the second disc

manicsounds wrote:Manos The Hands Of Fate became classic from them, but I must say that IS the worst film they have ever riffed on, and even with their comments, it did not make the movie at all enjoyable. Even Joel and the robots couldn't save that one.

Manic, you might enjoy reliving this snippet from that episode:

The haunting Torgo theme

Personally, I always thought MST3k was a brilliant show -- and occasionally hilarious. The two big problems were that (1) they became more limited in what movies they could choose when they moved to the SciFi channel and (2) too many GenX-ers thought they could be just as funny but were merely annoying when they tried to do the same thing in movie theaters or home video showings.

Via_Chicago wrote:Now, I haven't watched MST3K: The Movie in a long, long time, but it was my understanding that the premise of the movie was that the three protagonists (if you can call them that) were being confined to watching "the worst movie ever made" (This Island Earth). Am I wrong about that?

It IS true that in the introduction, Dr. Forrester does say that he forces the three to watch "the worst movies ever made." But that is quickly abandoned as he refers to the movie as a "classic" just minutes later. And if you've seen much of the show, you have seen episodes where they have savaged actors, directors, and the movies themselves. (Joe Don Baker reportedly threatened physical harm to any and all associated with the show after they tore "Mitchell" a new one, probably because of the excessive personal barbs they threw at Mr. Baker.) "This Island Earth," does not get subjected to the same manner of attack, and during the last wraparound segment the 'bots and Mike are actually referring to how the movie wasn't even bad. And besides all that, the premise of the show is not the central point, it's merely a hook to hang a lot of jokes on, the movie either does or doesn't speak for itself. I doubt their intent was for people to watch any MST3K episode and walk away saying: "Hey, they're right! 'Manos' IS a terrible film!" A viewing of the movie, sans jokes, would yield the same result. So obviously, their agenda is simply to present some humor, often at the expense of a film or those involved in it. (By the way, having seen most episodes, I feel the absolute worst of the lot is "Monster A-Go-Go," but that's just one man's opinion.)

Toilet Duck should know as well as or better than most of us that humor is intensely subjective. Trying to convince someone who doesn't care for it that MST3K is funny is like my trying to convince some of my friends that "Wedding Crashers" wasn't funny. (It doesn't stop me of course, so I do not expect you to stop with your opinions on what is and isn't funny, either.)

I have always found MST3K's humor rather gentle, betraying their midwestern roots, which appeals to me as a fellow born and raised in Montana. It's rarely edgy and almost never crude, and at its finest moments I feel they actually achieve wit, which is distinctly rare for any American television comedy program. The relentless pop culture references and somewhat-hip name-checking was a very new thing for 1989, when I first saw the show on satellite; after all, that's a good three years before Tarantino hit the screens and the same year "The Simpsons" debuted. Filled with obscure references and occasional meta- humor, it was an eye-opener to a junior high nerd such as myself, and is actually one of the first things that I can think back on that really made me start to examine movies in a critical sense.

I guess all of this is like the age-old discussion of whether you like mayonnaise on a burger or whether you think it's an abomination against God and all creation. The Discordian in me would say that both are right ways to think -- but I will say this, be it about films, relgion, or anything else we love and hold dear: If it has no ability to see the humor in itself and if it brooks no criticism whatsoever, then it is built on the proverbial house of sand. Only those with strong foundations can withstand attack.

mrannouncer wrote:Toilet Duck should know as well as or better than most of us that humor is intensely subjective.

Shit, man, that sounds like it might have been an insult...

Really, though, I get a chuckle from MST3K every now and again. I was actually referencing the boneheads who think that because it works for this gang, they can start half-witting their way through any random flick. Time and Place seem to have little meaning to the wannabes (Humor, however subjective, is often a little out of their grasp, too).

-Toilet Dcuk

Perhaps it was included in the series because it was commonly lumped in with lots of much worse films. I remember the BBC did the same thing when they did a season of 'crap films' (my title not theirs!) in 1994 under the name 'Spaced Out'. It had the film version of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century and so far the worst film I've EVER seen (by that I mean painful to watch!) Queen of Outer Space with Zsa Zsa Gabor and a death machine which looked like a giant wendy house with some sort of flower in the top of it!

But in the same season they also showed This Island Earth, Invaders From Mars and When Worlds Collide, none of which deserved to be put with the others. Sure they're quaint, wildly inaccurate and silly but they are also well made and fun!

I'd only seen the Mystery Science Theater film until recently but I've been catching up by watching the clips on YouTube. I wonder if someone on there will put up the Exploitica series which Channel 4 did - with its re-edits of horror and sexy films and adding of captions. The films being parodied were also shown in full after the programme so I got the chance to see Nudes On The Moon, She Freak, Confessions Of A Psycho Cat (with the real Jake La Motta!), House On Bare Mountain and even got the chance to fall asleep halfway through Alice In Acidland! I especially remember the Exploitica episode where the 'feature presentation' was I Spit On Your Grave and the climatic revenge murders were all given a groovy 70s dance beat - to show she was fighting back against the MAN!

DVD Savant has a review up, with thoughts on why the aspect ratio should be something other than 1:33.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2097this.html

So what do you think the story is on This Island Earth dave? Should I hold off on the PAL 1.85?

Yes Uni got Incredible Shrinking Man right in both ed's, compared here.