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Sep 01, 2015 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

“Wait,” you might be thinking. “Volume I? Weren’t they just reviewing Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXIII?” You would be correct. This new release isn’t a case of renumbering; it’s a full-on reissue of the first MST3K DVD collection originally put out by Rhino all the way back in 2002. Thanks to the insanely complicated rights issues that go into releasing any given episode of the show, many of the early sets—particularly those that came out before Shout! Factory stepped in to take over MST3K on home video—are long out of print and have skyrocketed beyond affordability on the secondhand market. These re-releases will bring back those hard-to-find and expensive episodes for fans who missed out the first time.

The highlight of this particular set is The Skydivers, a really strong Mike-era episode with a film about the exciting adventures of skydivers paired with a vintage short about shop class. That’s followed by The Creeping Terror, a terribly-made science fiction movie that features more voiceover narration than actual dialogue and a monster that looks like a lurching sleeping bag. The Catalina Caper—a ‘60s beach party movie featuring a performance from Little Richard—and Bloodlust!—yet another The Most Dangerous Game knockoff—round out the set as solid-if-standard episodes from the series.

While this new collection loses the brightly-colored individual cases for each episode that we’re accustomed to in Shout! sets, it puts all four discs into a slimmer plastic case which conserves shelf space. They’ve also knocked $15 off the typical retail price for a four-episode volume, which is a great incentive for MSTies on a budget. The most significant new addition—and one that may almost justify a double-dip from hardcore fans—are a quartet of new bonus features, including a Ballyhoo-produced documentary on Crown International Pictures. (Completists may want to hold on to their previous edition for the uncut versions of the movies—if they can fathom watching them unriffed—because they’re no longer present here.)

All in all, it’s a good set made even more attractive by the new bonus documentary and lower price point. We’ll hope this re-release does well for Shout! Factory, and they’ll continue to reissue the out-of-print Rhino box sets: Volume II contained Pod People, one of the all-time classic MST3K episodes.

www.shoutfactory.com/film/film-comedy/mst3k-volume-i

Author rating: 6.5/10