Tweet

One of the greatest crimes against entertainment humanity was the cancellation of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” The likes of Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett and Mike Nelson, best known respectively as the voices of Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot and Mike Nelson, took some of the worst movies ever made that didn’t star Dane Cook and turned them into something entertaining, unlike any movie starring Dane Cook.

The trio revive their funny formula from the Sci-Fi Channel graveyard as “The Film Crew” in a series of DVDs from pop cult DVD publisher Shout! Factory. Instead of robots and a janitor trapped in space, the three take a more blue collar approach to movie ridiculing as three film commentators working for a mysterious entrepeneuer named Bob Honcho, the Charlie to the Film Crew’s “Angels, who believes every film deserves a commentary track regardless of their lack of notoriety, star power or quality.

Other than the premise, a mid-intermission “Lunch Break” instead of random sketch breaks and the “MST3K” trademark sillouette of the commentors sitting in the front row of the theater, there are virtually no differences between “The Film Crew” and it’s predecessor. Fortunately, in this case, change isn’t a good thing.

Murphy, Corbett and Nelson are more than just smart ass wisenheimers sitting in the back row throwing Gummi Bears at the screen. They are brilliant writers, humorists and movie experts in their own right who can craft funny jokes out just about anything. Corbett has a screenplay in development and written many award winning plays. Nelson has a unique comic mind that he has utilized for everything from essays, books, scripts and columns. Murphy wrote the book “A Year at the Movies: One Man’s Film Going Odyssey” in which he details his quest to see at least one movie in the theater for an entire year, a book I personally consider to be one of the five best books about film ever written.

They know how to do more than just make fun of a horrible film’s inconsistences or cringe-inducing moments. They can make funny references out of anything from foreign politics to “The Flintstones” and they weave them around a horrible film to turn them into something that anybody can watch and enjoy. They hit so many topics and make so many different jokes that just about anything can find something that makes them laugh.

Of course, these DVDs would be hard to review without reviewing the actual movies themselves. “Wild Women of Wongo” and “Killers from Space,” two of the first four DVDs in the series, are pure C-grade crap. It’s got bad acting, horrible stories, fake special effects and an early performance from actor Peter Graves in “Killers.” They make perfect targets for “The Film Crew.”

Both DVDs also have bonus comedy features that only make sense if you watch the movie first. They aren’t as funny as the original features, but they are a nice supplement if the main feature makes you hungry for more.

Obviously, MST3K fans are going to want to buy this because they’ve already memorized the jokes from “Pod People” but it’s funny enough that you could never have heard of “MST3K” and still enjoy it. It’s comedy fired from a Tommy Gun at something that deserves to be shot at, and that’s no crime.