Maybe this is more of a MST3K question...

[mrbasehart]

...but what the hell!

I was just wondering why the guys never did this movie? It's public domain, so there would've been no problem with the rights.  I don't think there's any problems with its classification (unlike perhaps NOTLD), and it's by Ed Wood! Did they think it would be too obvious a choice?

[trickfred]

'I haven?t seen it in some time, though I do remember we screened it for MST and we finally turned it down because it just had too much narration.  I don?t like narration on films.  It means they?re not doing their job.'

http://tom-servo.home.mindspring.com/special-events_interview_mike-nelson-2-main.html

'You know, for ?Plan 9,? I think we considered that at ?Mystery Science Theater,? then we decided for whatever reason not to do it. I think somebody said, ?Oh, we can?t take it on. It?s so famous, people love to watch it on its own.? But I just thought, well, that?s kind of what we do! So, yeah, for whatever reason, I think we voted not to do that. So when I had the chance to do it, yeah, I was pretty excited.'

http://www.bullz-eye.com/entertainment/interviews/2006/mike_nelson.htm

Odd that he changed his mind... Hmm...

[MrTorso]

For doing a funny commentary track it was fine. There are plenty of stretches where he doesn't say anything. On MST3K the riffs were constant so with all the narration I don't think it would have a made a good episode.

[gammer]

I have read/heard that MST3K didn't want to do it because it had too much dialog. I guess this made it hard for M/J & TB's to get their riffs inbetween the talking?? It was also stated that even though it was a bad movie, it didnt fit with the style of movie they wanted to riff.

[Tarantulas]

If you watch some of the rough cut tapes of the gang in action, there is always the discussion of wither the film or short is "too talky".

And believe you me, for fan riffers, its just a big of a problem.  If its too chatty, you can't get your riffs in.

On top of all of this, Plan 9 is sort of a holy grail of bad film.. they may have thought that it was so bad that it was not worth doing.

However, I do enjoy the Rifftrax treatment.

[LadyKenobi]

What struck me about this film was that it was so BAD... just SO bad... even by MST standards. I know that's the point, and all, but this had to be the most cheaply produced thing I've ever seen.  Did they even attempt to find competent actors?  And, I mean, the cardboard mausoleum...  Did Wood have a production budget of like a dollar and thirty-seven cents?

[gammer]

If you haven't seen it yet, I *HIGHLY* recommend watching the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie: Ed Wood

It gives you good insight into Woods life. It highlights some of the making of Plan 9. It was pretty funny and I liked it alot.

I've read that this movie is pretty accurate at illustrating Ed Woods life.

[punkmonkey]

Well, they left out his alcoholism, his manic depression and his descent into making cheap porn.

Ed Wood's porn was enough to scar me in a deep spiritual way.  It's not so bad it's good; it's so bad it's scary and depressing.

But Ed Wood is a fantastic film.  Martin Landau as Lugosi is alone worth the price of admission.

[gammer]

Well, they left out his alcoholism, his manic depression and his descent into making cheap porn.

You're correct. However, they didnt get to that part of his life in the Ed Wood film. They just did up to the release of Plan 9 and stopped after that. They did have a blurb on each person in the end credits to inform you 'where they are now'.

And yes, Landau's Legosi was amazing. Didn't he win an award for that? I was pretty sure he did.

[mrbasehart]

Yeah, I bought the movie a couple of years back from ebay real cheap.  And of course as soon as I'd seen it, I bought the Ed Wood box-set, containing all the usual "classics" but without The Sinister Urge or any of his later porn movies.  I think I read somewhere that a film historian was recently able to track down a print of a late Ed Wood film called Terrormania, or Horrormania, something like that.  I think Bride of the Monster is his best movie. 

[ZachsMind]

I just got done watching Plan 9 after buying the RiffTrax for it. I'd have to concur with the sentiments that it wouldn't have worked for MST3K. The bots wouldn't have been able to get their words in at some points. At other places though you could perform junior high school marching bands through it. This one worked much better with just Mike by himself. I'm glad they didn't try it during the series. With that said, why haven't they ever tried Attack of the Killer Tomatoes..?

*ducking*

[mixedupzombie]

Attack of the killer Tomatoes is one that's a natural for rifftrax, but my guess is it has the same too-talky issues as other rejected flicks.

And Re: Plan 9, was I the only one a bit uncomfortable after the 6th or 7th Lugosi-heroine joke?

[Petey Wheatstraw]

I think Bride of the Monster is his best movie.

Me too. It's the only time Ed Wood made a decent movie.

With that said, why haven't they ever tried Attack of the Killer Tomatoes..?

Because it was INTENDED to be a comedy?

[dlobro1080]

See, I would've thought that something like PLAN 9 should've been used for MST3K: The Movie, as opposed to This Island Earth.  PLAN 9 is the grandfather of bad movies, and it would've been perfect to lampoon/tribute its badness with the movie version of MST3K.  Instead they picked This Island Earth, which a lot of people kinda like. 

(This isn't to say I don't love MST3K The Movie -- I do.)

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Well, with the movie, they wanted to use a movie that had a larger budget than some of the stuff they had riffed on for the TV series, because they didn't think that anyone would actually sit down in a theater to watch these little shoestring-budget movies they used for the TV series. This Island Earth was an excellent choice, because it was owned by the people who were producing the film.