Were Mike & Kevin Too Harsh?

[kodiakthejuggler]

This movie destroyed any dignity Lucas might have deserved for making the original trilogy.  If I'm not making myself clear enough, I'll put it to you this way: on a karmic level, this movie cancels out The Empire Strikes Back.  Hell, it would cancel out a million of them.

Sorry, my friend, but no amount of bad movies over the course of infinity could tarnish the greatest three movies of all time, the greatest being The Empire Strikes Back. We'll just forget you said that and let you live.


Just don't let it happen again.

[BBQ Platypus]

No, I refuse to take it back.  George Lucas has completely destroyed any of the respect I had for him as a director because of the original trilogy.  He has also cancelled them out on a personal karmic level; this movie makes Jesus cry, and God will make George Lucas pay for this cinematic atrocity.  The movies themselves, however, remain unharmed (except the versions that Lucas has edited.  I STILL haven't bought a single goddamn one of the "remastered" versions.  I'll stick with the VHS, thanks - I'll give you money when you've actually done something worthwhile, George).

[Busyman]

I think the only reason some people think they were too harsh was because it was Star Wars. George Lucas, while responsible for Phantom Menace, also made the original trilogy which so many people love. Also, I think many think he redeemed himself by making Sith (I watched it the other day on HBO, and it's a damn good movie IMO)and because of those two things some people think that he should get a "Get out of Jail free" card for Phanton Menace.

But, Phanton Menace was an awful, awful movie. One of the worst I have ever seen. I'd go as far to rank it "up" with the worst of the worst that were done on MST3K. That Lucas made good movies before and after does not mean that people should go easy on him for this one.

I stand by my original belief that the movie got exactly the respect it deserved: NONE.

One more thought: Tonight I listened to the Firewall rifftrax (which I found hilarious) and they savaged the movie the entire time. I think because of people's love for Star Wars, that in this instance the harsh riffs became more noticable hence the complaints.

[Pak-Man]

But they weren't ONLY Savaging Firewall. I'm fine with an occasional pause to say, "Hey this movie bites." or "This movie doesn't make sense." or "See right there, that's why this movie doesn't work." but the Ep 1 Riff seemed to loose its interactivity with the film at the expense of making broad sweeping generalizations about the movie. There's so much dialogue to play with! So many jokes to be made.

[Minnesota]

But they weren't ONLY Savaging Firewall. I'm fine with an occasional pause to say, "Hey this movie bites." or "This movie doesn't make sense." or "See right there, that's why this movie doesn't work." but the Ep 1 Riff seemed to loose its interactivity with the film at the expense of making broad sweeping generalizations about the movie. There's so much dialogue to play with! So many jokes to be made.

Although I am a HUGE fan of the episode one riff, I agree with you here... there are several possible riffs at every moment of this film, in fact I would like to suggest another riff for episode one because of its "special" quality

[Busyman]

I fadmit to being biased on this matter, since Phanton Menace is my favorite rifftrax to date, but I disagree. I agree that there were more then usual in terms of "this movie sucks" quality, but a lot of that I think is because there are long stretches where nothing is going on. I think they did make plenty of comments that were not of the "This film sucks" variety.

[Goshzilla]

I pretty much appreciated when a supposedly importantscene is carried out, and Mike tears it down for the facade it is. These include the quotes "You know what I like in my action movies, when characters stop in a hall and discuss trade routes," "You know what I also like in my action movies, dinner conversations," and "YES, speculation over a radio, this is cinematic gold."

[LadyKenobi]

I laughed at those too, because those were funny.  It was when the anger got in the way of the funny (IMHO) that it kind of fell apart for me.

[Sharktopus]

I laughed at those too, because those were funny.  It was when the anger got in the way of the funny (IMHO) that it kind of fell apart for me.

Yeah, the charm of MST and now RiffTrax has always been the good-naturedness of the jokes. The Phantom Menace Riff was uncharacteristically mean-spirited, and though still funny, felt out of character.

And Kevin's prolonged vomiting just isn't that funny. It's a one-note joke that lasts way too long, like an SNL sketch.

[Pak-Man]

"Mustn't hate. Mustn't hate."
"At least not so overtly!"
"Yes. Must DISGUISE our hate just a little."

(From MST3K: Final Sacrifice. :^))

[Sharktopus]

"Mustn't hate. Mustn't hate."
"At least not so overtly!"
"Yes. Must DISGUISE our hate just a little."

(From MST3K: Final Sacrifice. :^))

Exactly. They were joking about hate, not actually hating. It's a fine line.

[MSTJedi]

"Mustn't hate. Mustn't hate."
"At least not so overtly!"
"Yes. Must DISGUISE our hate just a little."

(From MST3K: Final Sacrifice. :^))

Ah, one of my favorite MST3K sketches. And yes, we must make fun of hate, not participate in it. It's one of the things that shows like MST3K and even South Park do so well - pointing out how ridiculous hatred can be.

[Johnny_Short_Torso]

I think it's also important to say that I was one of the poor dumb sons of guns who stood out in the hot sun for four hours for Phantom Menace tickets way back in 1999... there is nothing they said about this movie that is remotely too harsh.

[JinglyBells]

They could BOTH have REALLY puked through the ENTIRE movie and I would not have deemed it too harsh. As far as I'm concerned, TPM is a decent lightsaber duel with two and a half hours of mind numbing tedium before it. I would imagine that for anyone not overly interested in telekinesis fights, that would have sucked too, and thus the entire movie is a bust. Also they should riff episodes two and three. I can riff those myself without even trying, and I don't have 400 episodes experiece. I HATE those movies. May I also mention that the first three were awsome. Good characters....good acting.......good computer animation....good story....how do you take something that good, when YOU made it, and make three more that suck so bad everyone who watches them wishes the original reels were burning in hell?

[DeadlyCinema]

Believe it or not, I thought some of the most effective riffs from this Rifftrax were the occasional laughs without follow-up jokes. Somehow, the laughing itself said a thousand words. Love them.

Matthew
myspace.com/deadlycinema