MST3K – Episode 201: Rocketship XM
I think this is the first time they had the opening disclaimer; “Turn down your lights…where applicable.” It serves as an instant reminder that now the show really begins. Like how the Pink Panther movies really begin with ‘A Shot in the Dark,’ ‘Rocketship XM is the beginning of the MST3K we know and love. Let the epic begin!
This is one of the most appropriate movies for MST3K, in terms of the episode’s significance. Rocketship XM was not the first sci-fi film of the 50’s, nor was it a particularly good one, but it showcased many, many ‘firsts;’ a rocketship, aliens, the subject of nuclear power, a female scientist who falls for a military hero, a hopeful, but cautionary view of science, and an awareness of something greater than science; themes and aspects that would define sci-fi for the next decade are here presented in their earliest incarnation.
Much the same way, many aspects that we’ll generally associate with MST3K are here for the first time; the opening, TV’s Frank and his relationship with Dr. F, Kevin Murphy’s distinctive voice as Tom Servo, the put-together look of the ship’s bridge, the hexfield view-screen, the visits from odd characters, and, most of all, the brilliant writing are all on display here. Previous episodes may have been clever and funny, but here the writing really takes off, possibly thanks to their new ‘head writer,’ Mike Nelson (who also makes his first appearance as Valeria, more on that later).
So, a historic episode with a very appropriate movie. Rocketship XM tells the story of the first trip to the moon (also, apparently, the first manned space flight; they don’t waste any time in this universe). Unfortunately, there’s a problem half-way there, so the ship stops (in space) and the two scientists have to recalculate their fuel. Due to the male scientist’s pig-headedness, they get it wrong and shoot off for Mars. There they find the remnants of an ancient civilization which had been wiped out by nuclear war. They also find martians, who attack the party, killing two and injuring one. They then find they don’t have enough fuel to make it back, so they crash and all die (really).
Sorry, not too much to say about this one. For a very good (if, I’d say, a little too sensitive) review of the movie, check out ‘And You Call Yourself a Scientist’ (seriously, it’s a great site: http://www.aycyas.com/rocketshipxm.htm).
Personally, I found it alright; a quite stupid, sometimes annoying movie with a few genuinely good moments. Plus it featured the first sci-fi appearance of Morris Ankrum, who would show up in movies like this a lot (not a lot of MST3K films though), usually playing a general. Here he plays a scientist, and is typically good. The riffing already shows a great improvement over the previous season, and it’s just gonna get better from here on out.
Thoughts while watching:
Ah the familiar opening song video; it was different in the first season, and this one is (slightly) more polished. It would remain the same (except for the brief film clip, which would change a few times, and an added scene or two at the end) until Mike took over in season 5.
Opening: Servo’ new voice. Joel indicates that some ‘In show’ time has passed, and points out the changes in the satellite. Indeed, the set is much more decorated; more familiar, with the spray-painted gadgets all stuck on the wall. The only thing that really remains is the Hexfield, which is just a shade now. They’ll complete that in a few episodes. We also get to see the rarely-seen extend-o-neck on Servo.
Servo’s first words in the voice we’ll grow to love. Kevin Murphy will define Servo, but for right now he tries to sound a little like Josh Weinstein. Oh, and our first meeting with TV’s Frank! They just say that Dr. Earhart is ‘missing’ (Joel will come up with an amusing alternate theory next season). Jerry and Sylvia, the Mole People who help out in Deep 13 for one season, also show up. Man, a lot going on here!
Invention Exchange: Joel; the BGC19. It’s basically a powerlifter (think ‘Aliens’) with drums. Frank invents the exact same thing. (Frank tends to fail when he handles the invention exchange).
The bots are already in the theater.
Yeah! Morris Ankrum!
Crow: “Stupid name by Ferde Groefe”
Crow: “And now the cast of ‘I Married Four Astronauts’”
‘All newspapers’? The room is about the size of a classroom; I guess there really less news agencies back then. Oh, and call me cynical, but I don’t buy the idea that the press would sit on a story because the government said so.
So, the first manned spaceship is a moon-shot? Man, they didn’t waste any time back then!
Scientific mumbo-jumbo.
It must be said, the Rocketship XM itself is kind of a nice design; the nose-fins are a nice touch.
Crow: “Uh, could you repeat that part about the Moon?”
Reporter: “Have you done any flying?”
Joel (slyly): “Oh, yeah!”
Comic-relief navigator. Of course, he’s Texan.
Of course the guys openly leer at and joke about the girl. This is one of the really annoying thing about these movies.
So, wait, there’s only eleven minutes until launch and the astronauts are holding a press conference!? They’re really flying this whole ‘moon’ thing by the seat of their pants, aren’t they?
Ankrum: “Everybody return here after the takeoff.”
Crow: “Uh, except the astronauts, we need them on the rocket.”
Servo: “You’re an astronaut if you’re wearing dungarees and you’ve been training for two years.”
And they stand there talking! Man, the rocket’s gonna launch without them!
And I love the way the scientists simply say, “I can’t think of anything we’ve over looked.” Yeah, no need to check or anything. I mean, only five minutes to go!
Joel starts climbing the ladder!
I like the ‘good-night’ quips.
Servo: “I hope this new chin holds out.”
And they’re off!
Standard ‘strained astronaut’ scene. Of course, this didn’t actually happen when people went into space.
First host segment: The Reporters of Rocketship XM. Joel is really having trouble with his lines here. The sketch, though, is really funny; “Hugh Beaumont’s brother Spike.” Man their writing has really improved!
So, she pulls the guy away from the controls of a rocketship to look out the window?
Joel: “The press is a bunch of wussies! You alone in there?”
(to a guy in a room full of reporters)
Doesn’t anyone do any work on this rocketship?
“We’re on our way!”
Another frequent call back line.
Man, Ankrum is young here!
Pretentious speculation, bad comic relief.
Really stupid ‘zero-gravity’ scene. Of course only a few things float around, since that takes time and money (fifty-cents a yard on the string).
Standard ‘What’s a girl like you, blah, blah, blah.’ Again, that was a rather annoying aspect of some of these things, even for a social conservative like me. It’s not quite as bad as the stuff in ‘Project Moonbase,’ but it’s annoying nonetheless.
By the way, the guys are making pig noises during the above.
Crow: “Uh, Huston we have a problem, Lloyd’s making moves on the babe here.”
Joel: “Well, we stared at it, that oughta fix it.”
Crow: “Dear diary; well, we’re all going to die and it’s the men’s fault. Our fiery demise is imminent, but at least I still have my health. Knock on wood…”
Crow: “Oh, great, a harmonica, as if this guy weren’t annoying enough!”
Really annoying scene where the male scientist insists on using his own findings rather than the girl’s. She actually has a good point, but is ignored, since she’s a woman.
How did the Rocketship stop/slow down dramatically in space?
And the doctor fell asleep. So much for the ‘time is of the essence’ thing. Lloyd tells a completely pointless story.
Servo: “uh, he’s waking up, start telling that story again.”
Another one! I’m with the bots (they’re yelling ‘Shut up’)!
Crow: “Have you ever tasted human flesh?”
Second Host segment: Selective gravity demonstration. It’s pretty funny; Joel acts like a class-room demonstration. Crow isn’t paying attention. It gets weirder and weirder.
Wait a second, there’s something written on the back of the flash-cards…are those Joel’s lines?!
Joel (on the ‘romantic’ dialogue): “Oh, that’s romantic, I think I’ll go slit my wrists.”
Girl: “You are speaking of its (the moon’s) effect on men and women?”
Servo: “No, tree-frogs.”
Lloyd: “Did you ever park in an open convertible on a cliff overlooking the Pacific?”
Joel: “and then drive off, laughing maniacally?”
Crow (after the Swedish scientist-girl describes a romantic walk): Und zen I measured ze velocity of our walk.”
Again, they’re wasting a lot of time when they’re supposed to be saving everyone’s lives.
Joel, that’s like the fifth time you’ve used that ‘Where do you want to be in two years?’ quip; it’s not that funny, drop it, buddy!
The very first meteorite shower of fifties sci-fi! (practically EVERY other movie that featured a rocketship had one of these).
And they’re making a lot of noise despite the fact that a) there’s no sound in space and b) even if there was, there’s no air, so there’s nothing for them to be making sound with!
More speculation that maybe ‘someone’ doesn’t want them to get to the moon. One thing I do like about these sci-fi movies is that they do tend to acknowledge God in a respectful way.
The male scientist is really smug and annoying.
And the new fuel proves disastrous. It knocks everyone out and sends them way off course. All because male scientist guy didn’t want to admit he might be wrong.
Oh, so now they bring up the inertia thing? Sorry it’s too late now!
And they end up at Mars (the big reveal of it through the window is pretty cool, actually).
The male scientist immediately asserts that ‘something inifinetly greater’ has taken over. Actually, I think that’s your chauvinism, buddy; this IS all your fault, after all.
By the way, I know they’re supposed to be scientists and all, but really, I don’t think anyone would be mad at them if they went back and tried again; they’re kind of out of their way and likely to die if they don’t.
What the…they have a perfectly clear view of the earth and the moon from just outside MARS? Come on, you could’ve done better than that, guys; do you see Mars as a soft-ball sized object in the night sky? Good grief, this is ‘Loony Toons’ science!
Wait, the clouds are sideways! Good grief, they just turned the cloud-screen on its side to indicate they’re going down!
They land right in the middle of a storm.
Mars looks a lot like a desert. Rather like the south-western United States, in fact…
‘Planet of the Apes’ Reference.
And they find ruins. They speculate that it was nuclear war.
Geiger counter! One of the standard props in these things makes its appearance.
Sigh, more speeches.
Crow: “You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one of his speeches.”
Is this the first ‘and there on the handle was a hook!’ joke?
By the way, how much oxygen are they carrying in their small tanks, one a person?
Third host segment: Joel and the bots are trading pretentious phrases (and song lyrics) hey, Crow holds Joel’s hand! It starts getting dull when Servo brings up a line from ‘The Crawling Hand.’ Then Valeria visits (from ‘Robot Holocaust’?). First mention of Rocket Number 9. She’s played by Mike Nelson, in his first on screen appearance (and incidentally, sounds disturbingly like my senior year French teacher, Father Thompson). I love how Joel uses one of those ‘breath freshener’ things before he starts talking to her. And I love his bit with ‘Torque’ (who is just a skull here). It’s pretty funny, but goes on too long.
Servo: “Meanwhile, here in the day-for-night scene…”
Huh, that first indistinct shot of the Martians from a distance is actually pretty creepy. I like ‘indistinct’ scare shots like this.
Crow: “Let’s all run like fools towards the danger!”
Yeah, really!
Frankly, if I were there I’d say ‘look, bud, it’s your fault we’re in this mess, don’t go telling me what risks I have to take; if you want to go chasing into a cave, a night, after evil Martians on their home planet, be my guest, but I’m going back to the ship!’
Ah, so it’s just the male scientist and the comic relief guy. Good, people I hope will get killed!
Joel: “Jeeze, it’s an entire race of mimes, we’ve got to get back and warn Earth!”
Comic relief guy dies saving male scientist. Turns out the Martians are attacking by hurling rocks at them.
By the way, does this scientist *try* to kill those around him, or is it just an innate talent.
Well, he’s dead now; but the damage is done.
Servo: “Great, he’s dying and he’s still giving speeches!”
Up, another one bites the dust! This time it’s coward guy!
Oh, Servo, not you too! How did they get onto that ‘two years’ thing?
Lloyd declares love. Sort of.
And, they’re out of fuel.
Crow: “Well, this should really test Lloyd’s sunny disposition.”
No, girl, it’s not your fault; it’s the fault of that chauvinist pig, your boss whom you left back on Mars.
Crow: “Okay, story so far: we got lost, flew to Phoenix, got attacked, we’re gonna die.”
Servo: “There’s a Mr. ‘Oh, My God, My Hair’s On Fire’ on line one, sir.”
What the…Joel just pulled one of Ankrum’s nose-hairs out!
Morrey is pretty good here as he hears the news.
Joel: “I thought ‘worm-food’ was a bit strong, Lloyd.”
And they clinch as they’re about to die. And Lloyd does some stupid speechifying.
Girl: “Shouldn’t we wake him?”
Crow: “Why? So he can experience his own fiery death?”
Joel: “Get your shoes on honey, we’re about to die!”
And they all die.
Joel: “Uh, we scrapped off the runway, sir.”
Ankrum: “We’ve proved that inter-planetary space travel is not only possible, but practical.”
Crow: “And enjoyable, for all members of the family, though there’ll be carnage.”
And Ankrum declares they’re going to start on RXM 2. Right.
Closing: Joel and the Bots discuss how inappropriate it is to show them a movie about guys dying in a spaceship. Interestingly enough, Joel sarcastically suggests they send them ‘Marooned,’ which they will in a couple seasons. Letters. They try to trick Frank again. Frank messes up pushing the button.
Movie Quality Rating:
1. The Crawling Eye
2. The Black Scorpion
3. Mad Monster
4. Rocketship XM
5. Moon Zero Two
6. The Crawling Hand
7. The Corpse Vanishes
8. Untamed Youth
9. The Slime People
10. Project Moonbase
11. Women of the Prehistoric Planet
12. Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
13. Robot Holocaust
14. Robot Monster
Conclusion: Watchable, but annoying movie, but really good riffing and mostly fun host segments. Plus we’ve got Frank and Kevin Murphy as Servo!
Final Rating: 8/10
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