Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 21, 2021

It might not be fair to say that Mystery Science 3000 redefined television but it would be fair to say that it revitalized old, bad movies, suddenly giving purpose to purposeless cinema and entertainment value where little or none previously existed. The show was conceived by and starred Joel Hodgson who appeared as the lead in the first five seasons, the human forced to watch "bad movies" as part of a cruel, but ultimately humorous, experiment meant to test man's limits when exposed to crummy entertainment for prolonged periods of time. He was joined by a couple of robots -- Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo -- but would ultimately give way to a subsequent sufferer, Mike Nelson, for the series' second-half run. The show ran from 1989-1999, the bulk of which was on Comedy Central, and garnered an enormous fan base over that decade, not simply for the humorous jabs at epically bad movies but for the skits and sketches and fun character assessments and constructions that played out during some much-needed respites from the tortures of tortuous movie watching. And that fan base would prove vital to the show's resurrection in 2017 on Netflix. Season 11 was funded through Kickstarter to the tune of $6,000,000 (followed by a twelfth at half-length) and came to the screen with new characters and new movies but the same spirit of riffing in relaxation on board the famous Satellite of Love.

Don't you guys see enough bad movies as it is?

Season 11 brings with it a new cast and new movies following nearly a two-decade hiatus from the screen, but it's instantly recognizable for structure, style, and serious comedy. The plot sees cast newcomer Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray), a man who is essentially a galactic long-haul trucker, respond to a distress call that is actually a trap to pull him into "Moonbase 13" on the dark side of the moon. No sooner does he arrive, his new, evil overlords -- the greedy Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day) and her bumbling associate Max (Patton Oswalt) -- transport him onto the Satellite of Love where he is forced into watching epically bad movies alongside his robot sidekicks Tom Servo (voiced by Baron Vaughn) and Crow T. Robot (voiced by Hampton Yount). Forrester is a third-generation despot at Moonbase 13 whose goal is to build the MST3K brand so large that Disney will acquire it for the princely sum of one billion dollars. Can Jonah and the 'bots survive such terrible films as Reptilicus, The Beast of Hollow Mountain, The Land That Time Forgot, and The Christmas That Almost Wasn't?

New faces and places and movies (some of which are real doozies) are of no hindrance to this revitalized -- not reborn -- Netflix-based take on MST3K. The feel of perfect connection to the nearly two-decade-old series courses through all of the 14 episodes. The show is lovingly uncanny in its ability to reflect the original analogue spirit, even in a digital age (in the extensive documentary titled We Brought Back 'MST3K' there is talk of some more modern techniques and some new requirements for the movies in the HD era). But the show makes extensive use of miniatures, crude props, and other touches that engender a feel for that original nostalgic aesthetic in this show. And that is one of the driving factors for the show's success. For returning longtime fans, it's easy entrance and an instant return to that familiar realm. For newcomers, it might look a little chintzy and cheap, but whatever "drawbacks" there may be in the quaint production design the show more than makes up for with its biting and polished, yet conversational and easy flowing, humorous critiques of some of the worst movies on the planet.

The season enjoys solid working chemistry amongst Ray, Vaughn, and Yount as the critical commenters who are tasked with making the best of an unenviably bad situation. They mock, disparage, and just have a lot of fun at these movies' expense. But like classic MST3K the jokes are only as good as the material allows (and they allow quite a bit) and there are only scattered moments when the silence is too long or the opportunity for a serious laugh eludes any of the three. Fortunately for these characters, and for the audience, too, they are granted various respites from the movie where they take breaks to make small-talk and perform other humous tasks during breaks in the action, mercifully stretching and refreshing in the midst of the best examples of the worst of movies. There's not a serious amount of character growth in these vignettes but this is not a show that demands such. After the essential introductions are out of the way it's all about lambasting the movies and finding the fun in the asides. There are not any real classic episodes here, no Manos: The Hands of Fate or Mitchell, but there's enough humor to make each and every one of them worthwhile.

The following episodes comprise season 11. Summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packaging.

• 1101: Reptilicus: During a space mission, Jonah Heston is kidnaped by Kinga, Dr. Forrester's ambitious daughter. Jonah does a major redesign on Gypsy.
• 1102: Cry Wilderness: Pearl Forrester, Bobo and Brain Guy pay an awkward visit to Moon 13 revealing fractured family dynamics. Jonah starts working on a space suit. Special guest stars Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy and Mary Jo Pehl.
• 1103: The Time Travelers: Jonah introduces a series of new robots to Tom and Crow, with unexpected results. The Satellite of Love receives visitors Larry and Dr. Varno. Kinga and Max celebrate the 200th episode of MST3K.
• 1104: Avalanche: Max ruefully considers his affection for Kinga while she openly declares her love for online soul mate Neville LaRoy. Together they sing the hit song, “Our Love Is On Wings (You Can’t See).”
• 1105: The Beast of Hollow Mountain: Crow and Tom don mysterious costumes inspired by the film and perform an unnerving parade. Jonah and the bots discuss how other popular movies could benefit from dinosaur attacks.
• 1106: Starcrash: Kinga and Max pitch several money-making ideas to big-time space venture capitalist Freak Masterstroke. The bots obsess over their newfound devotion to a character in the film.
• 1107: The Land That Time Forgot: Jonah and the bots realize the Mads have been stealing their ideas for Invention Exchanges. The Satellite of Love attracts a giant space squid, and Kinga and Max debut a promotional ad for their new venture, Dinosaur Barbeque.
• 1108: The Loves of Hercules: The bots subject Jonah to a herculean trial as the defendant in “Court of Axe Appeal.” When Jonah introduces another new bot, M. Waverly, Tom and Crow make their feelings known.
• 1109: Yongary: The Mads invest heavily in a new brand of coffee by a rising entrepreneur named Todd Hitler. Jonah breaks down for Crow how to properly create a mix tape for listening to during space travel.
• 1110: Wizards of the Lost Kingdom: Max finds a mysterious key that unlocks a gigantic, powerful robot he befriends and names Reptilicus Metallicus. Jonah sings a poignant song to Tom Servo illustrating the responsibility of magic powers.
• 1111: Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II: Kinga seeks advice from Gramma Pearl (Mary Jo Pehl) about how to boost ratings but is rejected, and has to settle for Pearl’s clone, Synthia. Kinga’s new liquid medium, Kinga Chrome, continues to misfire, while Jonah creates a training video with the bots for a grille and inn franchise.
• 1112: Carnival Magic: Jonah and the bots are visited by the great space circus ringmaster, P.T. Mindslap, who wants to recruit the bots for his circus. A glitch in Kinga Chrome reveals a strange specter of another host with the bots.
• 1113: The Christmas That Almost Wasn't: Santa pays a visit to the Satellite of Love and Jonah puts the finishing touches on his space suit.
• 1114: At the Earth's Core: It is Kinga’s wedding day and she coerces the Manager of the Hive Mind to fill the seats at Moon 13 with guests. Max, disheartened, receives a manly pep talk from Doug McClure. An unexpected guest officiates the wedding.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Although the "real movies' fill most of the frame for most of the runtime across all 14 episodes, there's little point in analyzing the picture quality to any degree of exactness. These are public domain films and presented "as-is;" there was certainly no thorough restoration work done to them for the purposes of presentation on MST3K, if any work was done on them at all. But fans are going to be somewhat surprised by the broader quality, anyway. None of them rate extremely highly, but many of them fare quite well: appropriate grain, good detail, fair (but sometimes somewhat faded) colors, and minimal-to-moderate print damage are the norms. The Loves of Hercules is an example of one that looks really quite good (see screenshot directly above).

The beginning and interlude materials look quite nice, too. Again there's not a lot to critique here. It's all fairly static and there are precious few fluctuations in lighting, clothing, and the like. Deviations are usually in the form of various props the characters bring to their little stages. But essential clarity is fine. Noise and compression artifacts are few and far between. Basic facial and clothing details impress for core clarity and definition. The charmingly cheap props and sets reveal the minimalistic textures and details with ease. Colors are lively; Jonah's yellow jumpsuit is a particular standout and the purple light-bathed backgrounds hold steady, too. Black levels and skin tones are fine. This in no way looks extraordinary and it in no way looks poor. It's a good, simple 1080p image that will satisfy all viewers.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

MST3K's 11th season arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is very well done, finding a nice bit of depth and breadth to music and sound effects alike, the former generously spaced in both directions and the latter, particularly in the "real" segments rather than the "movie" segments, enjoying impressive spacing and detail. The track integrates some fine examples of spatial awareness as doors open and close, sound effects drop in here and there, and the general sense of "place" seems accurate and satisfying. Dialogue is clear and center focused. The movies usually struggle to impress; the sounds are very basic, enough to convey the action, usually under Jonah and the bots' banter, but there's never any need for superior audio here. In all cases the track sounds fine.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 only includes one supplement, but it's a doozy. We Brought Back 'MST3K' Documentary (1080p, 1:13:16) is a feature-length making-of that looks back on the property's conception and past history. It moves on to look at its transition to Shout! Factory, fan desire to make new episodes, funding the new content through Kickstarter, crafting a new plot and building new characters for season 11, bringing the new show -- and its $6,000,000+ in fan funds -- to Netflix, the process of writing new episodes, and the transition to high definition and the type of films that would play well in the new era. This supplement also explores new characters in great detail, the new season's production design, gags and skits, guest stars, and more.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's a shame that the revitalized MST3K only aired for twenty episodes (EDIT: great news; a new Kickstarter campaign is underway for a thirteenth season!). Any movie buff knows that there are countless more films out there just waiting to be plucked from obscurity and made famous by Jonah and the bots or, perhaps, yet another entirely new cast. But short-lived as it may be, here with season 11 encompassing more than two-thirds of the show's new era content, it's a home run return for the fan-favorite show. The look, the feel, the structure, the style, it's all been loving recreated and reworked to fit into the universe and bring fans the exact sort of content they have demanded for nearly twenty years. Shout! Factory has put together an excellent Blu-ray set, eight discs of MST3K bliss. Included in the set is a very good feature-length making of in support of rock-solid video and audio presentations. Highly recommended!