MST3K (211)

211 - First Spaceship on Venus - A surprisingly diverse cast for the time, cool visuals, some good ideas, and still not a fun movie. I think this is mostly because the film constantly grinds to a halt under the weight of its thick technobabble. In fact, anything that takes place on the ship -- which is the majority of the movie -- is pretty tedious. There's lots of banter between the scientists aboard about topics I don't want to hear about.

The sparse scenes on the surface of Venus are creative and interesting. The little metal bugs that serve as the Venusians' historical records are imaginative, despite JatB's contention that they're Johnson Smith products. The sequence involving the living, black ooze was the best in the movie. Even the surface and atmosphere are effectively alien.

The guys just didn't have it in them this time around. The riffing isn't as funny as it has been earlier this season. I'm not sure what the deal was with the space ape. I don't think XT-5000 will be returning. In the ACEG, Murphy says that they immediately went on vacation (presumably for Christmas) after filming this episode and offers that as an explanation.

I did get one solid laugh from one riff. Astronaut: "I'm completely surrounded by thick clouds." Servo: "Mostly produced by my own body."

The Klack host segment was great fun in the tradition of SPACOM. The rapid-fire, completely weird food items were worth an immediate re-watch. Again, there was no 800 number, so I wasn't able to order this wonderful product.

"Everything's better in the Crawlercopter." Yes. Yes it is. (6/10)

film d. Kurt Maetzig (1960)
mst d. Jim Mallon (29 Dec 1990)