Thursday, August 30, 2012

MST3K: Episode 902 - The Phantom Planet

I'm watching all of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes in order. More about that here and here.

Episode 902: The Phantom Planet

First aired: Sci-Fi Channel on 21 March 1998
Availability: iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon (Volume 8), Rhino (Volume 8/out of print), Best Brains (Volume 8)

It's quilted soft.
Remember that the previous episode was one I hadn't seen before I began this project? And that I thought it was okay but not great?

Well, this episode is one I have seen many, many times. I saw it several times when it aired on MST3K. It aired 13 times, and I'm wondering just how many of those I saw. Several, that's for sure.

Since this episode has been released on video, I own the DVD as well as the iTunes download, so I can fire it up online anytime I like.

Caucasians to the rescure.
And I like.

I really, really like this episode.

Yes, The Phantom Planet is bad, but it's watchably bad.

So bad, it's good.

And beautiful.

Heh. I just love that line from the movie that the co-pilot says:
Every year of my life, I grow more and more convinced that the wisest and the best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful, if you just take the time to look at it.
And, yes, M&tB seized on that line and rode it for all it was worth. It's just one of the great really bad scenes from the movie.

Balancing the good and the beautiful
A spaceship disappears, so the space agency sends another space ship to look for it, piloted by a Steve Canyon and the other guy from the La Quinta commercials, but space rocks kill the guy looking for the good and the beautiful, proving he wasn't the wisest and the best, so Steve Canyon lands on an asteroid and breathes the air there, causing him to deflate, so he gets captured by the small people that live there and they put him on trial and sentence him to live there with them, but a bunch of space dogs attack and Steve Canyon helps defeat them, so the little guy that's in love with one of the same women Steve Canyon is all hot over (the other is the Leech Woman) decides to help him escape back to earth, so he's rescued and wonders if it was all a dream, but the La Quinta guy is still dead. The end.

Great, really bad, film. The Host Segment reminded me of something from way back. Back in Episode K17: Time of the Apes, Joel Hodgson had an out-of-town commitment and was unable to film that episode, so they had the story go that the Bots had locked him outside the Satellite of Love. And, they used a doll ... excuse me, action figure ... to represent that. This episode had Mike outside the ship, and wound up representing him with an action figure.
Joel floats outside the Satellite of Love in Episode K17.Mike floats outside the Satellite of Love in Episode 902.
Now, it's actually a take-off of the scene were the La Quinta guy floats off in space. But, I couldn't help but think of that episode from the KTMA Season.

The bits with Pearl were pretty good. She so much wants to be hated and despised, much like her son, and finally succeeds, although by accident.

Fun, fun movie. Okay Host Segments, but, fun, fun movie.

This episode is one of my favorites.



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