Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) * *

Directed by:  Jim Mallon

Starring:  Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Jim Mallon

In the late 90's, MST3K (as it became known to fans on the fledgling Internet) was a Comedy Central show with a strong cult following.    (Although after a cult following becomes strong, can it still be a cult following?)    The premise was this:  A goofy doctor Clayton Forrester (Beaulieu) plans world domination by bringing the planet to its knees by showing them the worst movies ever made.    His test subject was the affable Mike Nelson (Nelson), who along with his two wisecracking robot friends Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, sat and watched the stinkers.    Their method of resistance was to rapidly fire wisecracks at the screen making fun of the movie's awfulness.     Or that was how they entertained themselves.

With a movie like this, the question is simply whether I laughed enough or not to recommend it.     We see the silouhettes of the wisecracking trio in the corner of the screen.     The movie skewered here is This Island Earth (1955), a typical scifi B-movie from the era that produced Mars Needs Women and Plan 9 From Outer Space.     With its cheesy visual effects and silly dialogue, the movie surely blended in with the rest of the scifi clunkers of the day and faded into obscurity.     Over time, these movies became parodies of themselves, so much so that anyone in the coming years who saw this film probably did the same thing Mike Nelson and his robots did.

None of the gags and insults hurled at the screen in MST3K are memorable.    I'm sure I chuckled a few times at some smart-ass wisecracks or goofy pop culture references, but I'm at a loss to recall them.     I can't say I laughed nearly enough to recommend the film, although fans of the show would like it.     It is highly unlikely the film would rally up support for a reunion show.     After a while, this stuff becomes repetitive.     There are breaks in the viewing in which Mike and his robots nearly destroy the space station that houses them, but it feels like filler to stretch the movie to feature length.     My guess is I'm probably not the intended audience for this movie.