Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVI (DVD Review)
- Review Date: Aug 03, 2015
- Format: DVD
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Director
VariousRelease Date(s)
Various (July 20, 2010)Studio(s)
Shout! Factory- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: B-
- Audio Grade: B-
- Extras Grade: B+
- Overall Grade: B+
Review
WE’VE GOT MOVIE SIGN!!!
Here we are again with Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Shout! Factory’s Volume XVI DVD set. These boxed sets are released tri-annually with some nice extras and better quality episodes than what you might find floating around online or on bootlegs. The price is kind of steep, but if you’re a fan of the show, you know that these sets are definitely worth picking up.
I’ve gone into a good amount of detail about MST3K and my love for it in my review of the movie, so I won’t bother getting into that. We’ll keep things short and sweet and just cover the set itself. With this release, you get the following four episodes: The Corpse Vanishes (Season 1, Episode 5), Warrior of the Lost World (Season 5, Episode 1), Santa Claus (Season 5, Episode 21), and Night of the Blood Beast (Season 7, Episode 1).
The episodes in these boxed sets usually feature two hosted by Joel and two hosted by Mike, which is a good balance. The quality of each episode varies, with some episodes being better than others. The Corpse Vanishes is a Bela Lugosi mad scientist standard, Warrior of the Lost World is a post-Mad Max cash-in, Santa Claus (a fan favorite episode) tells the tale of Santa having to deal with the impish demon Pitch and his evil influence on children, and Night of the Blood Beast is a Roger Corman monster movie... need I say more?
As far as image and sound quality, everything is sourced from the original master tapes, which were on video. The episodes look generally good, especially in the latter years of the show, with an occasional minor green band or video-source anomaly here or there. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles. Short of Shout! Factory putting some extra money into producing these sets in high definition, these are definitely a major step up from circulating bootlegs of the show.
As for the extras, you get a few from disc to disc, most of them newly-produced just for this set. For The Corpse Vanishes, you get the movie’s theatrical trailer only. For Warrior of the Lost World, you get an interview with the film’s director David Worth, as well as some of the film’s production stills. For Santa Claus, you get the Santa Claus Conquers the Devil: A 50-Year Retrospective documentary, the movie’s theatrical trailer and radio spot, a still gallery, and a teaser trailer for The Wonderful World of K. Gordon Murray in Colorscope documentary. For Night of the Blood Beast, you get the Turkey Day ’95 Intros and the movie’s theatrical trailer. Also included (as is standard with all of the MST3K boxed sets) are 4 paper insert reproductions of the artwork from each DVD in the set and a neat Tom Servo figurine in the larger boxed set form.
All in all, this is another solid boxed set release of MST3K goodness from the fine folks at Shout! Factory. If you’re a fan, you’ll definitely want to pick it up. Now push the button, Frank.
- Tim Salmons