I wonder how this will compete with Blame Society's riff of the same movie.

[N.E.S. TOR]

I'm surprised this topic wasn't already mentioned.

[Doc Steve]

I shall return in roughly two hours to let you know. 

[Jonny Jit]

This one was a lot better.  The BS had it moments but I laughed much more this time around.

[BathTub]

Pretty sure it came up in the announcement thread.

[Doc Steve]

Well, I feel bad.  I had begged, whined, and pleaded for them to do this movie.  Now that they have done so, I'm not that impressed. 

Considering this is a movie that they have allegedly wanted to do for at least a decade, the Riff seemed pretty flat.  It's almost as if they watched the Blame Society version, then cut half the jokes from their script rather than risk being too similar.  There is an awful lot of "dead air" compared to the BS riff. 

The Rifftrax is superior in a few ways.  It has a lot more references to the other five movies, for example.  Also, the BS version doesn't do much with Star Wars fandom, the stupid names that Lucas gives everything, or the subsequent career choices of the principals.  That doesn't go very far in counterbalancing the contributions of Chad Vader, though. 

At this point, I have seen the Rifftrax once and the BS version about six or seven times.  I hope it improves with repeated viewings. 

I would give the BS iRiff a 9 (out of 10) and the Rifftrax a 4 (out of 10) at this point. 

[bratpop]

The Blame Society riff was much funnier, perhaps partially because of the sheer surprise that it would be funny. But just more my type of humor. A totally different perspective than these OLD guys.

The dead air felt leftover from MST3k, as if they thought people needed to be able to follow this strange movie they've never seen before. But there were a lot of extended rants used to fill up space, and I have to say that feels like... well, FILLER.

It was still a good riff. Trax. I'm not very good at judging one against another. I don't have dozens of Rifftrax. Maybe a dozen. They seem pretty consistent to me. Holiday Special was something special and can never be topped. I enjoyed Prisoner of Azkaban more than usual. Maybe they just had more ideas after watching the other two movies. I haven't really heard any too far above or below average, which makes them all average to me.

A lot of the jokes feel like they're coming from a very obvious place. It's perhaps that I'm a bit too familiar with these guys. The ways they say the movie is bad. The almost elderly approach to fandoms and knowledge in general. The types of references. The style of gay jokes. The bacon. I feel comedy has to be surprising to work, and MST3k was so consistently surprising and funny because all they did was point out how funny the movies already were. Rifftrax doesn't really add a new twist to something like Star Wars. I already know Luke is whiny and that Chewbacca growls. Blame Society added some observations I hadn't thought of. I DIDN'T think Chad Vader was the highlight of that riff, maybe for the same reasons Rifftrax feels like more of a friendly commentary to me than fresh humor. I'm pretty familiar with the style of Chad Vader, so his bits were expected. Plus, yelling is always funny and Chad doesn't yell. It's a very dry delivery that's hard to master. And hearing him say silly things has lost its novelty.

All in all, I'm an idiot. I'll keep buying trax for movies I have. I must say I was pretty distracted judging the quality of their impressions. I hope time allows me to redub Star Wars someday, but I'm so busy trying to unload these Bib Fortuna action figures.

[Jonny Jit]

At this point, I have seen the Rifftrax once and the BS version about six or seven times.  I hope it improves with repeated viewings. 

I watched it twice today with different people today and the second time was better.

A lot of the jokes feel like they're coming from a very obvious place. It's perhaps that I'm a bit too familiar with these guys. The ways they say the movie is bad. The almost elderly approach to fandoms and knowledge in general. The types of references. The style of gay jokes. The bacon.

I can see where your coming from but I love a running joke.  I like to over do jokes.  That's why these guys appeal to me.  The BS version was a different approach and I thought it was also very good.  I laughed a lot.  I just laughed more with the Rifftrax version.

Comedy is subjective but I feel ya. 

[Doc Steve]

A lot of the jokes feel like they're coming from a very obvious place. It's perhaps that I'm a bit too familiar with these guys. The ways they say the movie is bad. The almost elderly approach to fandoms and knowledge in general. The types of references. The style of gay jokes. The bacon. I feel comedy has to be surprising to work, and MST3k was so consistently surprising and funny because all they did was point out how funny the movies already were. Rifftrax doesn't really add a new twist to something like Star Wars. I already know Luke is whiny and that Chewbacca growls. Blame Society added some observations I hadn't thought of. I DIDN'T think Chad Vader was the highlight of that riff, maybe for the same reasons Rifftrax feels like more of a friendly commentary to me than fresh humor. I'm pretty familiar with the style of Chad Vader, so his bits were expected. Plus, yelling is always funny and Chad doesn't yell. It's a very dry delivery that's hard to master. And hearing him say silly things has lost its novelty.

All in all, I'm an idiot. I'll keep buying trax for movies I have. I must say I was pretty distracted judging the quality of their impressions. I hope time allows me to redub Star Wars someday, but I'm so busy trying to unload these Bib Fortuna action figures.

I agree with all of the above, except the Chad Vader bit.  His lines are some of the funniest in the BS version.  ("Listen to your father!" and "My brother was always a master of the one-handed technique" come to mind.)  The running joke that Chad is the only person in the world who hasn't seen the original Star Wars was also hilarious.  I don't think hearing a James Earl Jones impersonator say silly things will ever get old to me. 

To Bill or Whoever Was Doing the "Wookie Impersonation":  Please stop.  You're not good at it. 

[Indomitus]

Since I'm doing a full-fledged reauthor for this riff, I think the BS riff will by default become my second iRiff, and I'll just put it on the disc as an alternate track.  I've actually been holding back buying it because of Chad Vader.  Funny lines or no, the gag of inhaling before every single line blows his comedic timing all to hell.  Their shorts and movies are funny, but it just doesn't translate as well into a format like this.

But as to how they compare, I'll have to watch them both back-to-back first before I can comment.

[Doc Steve]

Since I'm doing a full-fledged reauthor for this riff, I think the BS riff will by default become my second iRiff, and I'll just put it on the disc as an alternate track.  I've actually been holding back buying it because of Chad Vader.  Funny lines or no, the gag of inhaling before every single line blows his comedic timing all to hell.  Their shorts and movies are funny, but it just doesn't translate as well into a format like this.

But as to how they compare, I'll have to watch them both back-to-back first before I can comment.

Aaron and Matt force Chad to turn off his ventilator during the opening.  It' not heard on the track.

[Indomitus]

Aaron and Matt force Chad to turn off his ventilator during the opening.  It' not heard on the track.

Fantastic.  Can't wait to check it out.  Probably this weekend.

[dalem]

I tried the iRiff of Ep IV a few weeks ago and the Real Deal on New Year's Eve.  My reaction to both is "meh".

I think my opinion of both the Riff and the iRiff are tainted by the following fact:  I could write a funny Riff script, or portions of it, for Star Wars.  I don't know enough about pop culture, history, or moviemaking to qualify for water-carrying on 99.9% of the MST or RT movies chosen. But I know Star Wars.  And I'm the perfect crossover - geeky enough to know the details about props and costumes and trading cards and the like, but normal enough to know how silly it all is and laugh at myself.  Hell, I've been riffing SW to myself, the dog, or poor tolerant friends of mine for a decade anyway!  And if I think I can do something I'm a bit of a harsher critic.

For example, I can't paint.  So when I look at a painting I can decide if I like it or not, but I can't really say "that's a bad painting."  On the other hand, one of my hobbies is building and painting models - tanks, spaceships, planes, etc. - and I'm fairly decent at it.  I can look at someone's 1/35 scale Sherman tank model and think "Mmmm, that's not really great."

So I think in the case of the SW riff I had a bit of the "go ahead, make me laugh, I dare's ya!" going in my head, and I was giving a mental downcheck for every riff I feel they "missed", but I bet if you had a laugh meter running I was actually laughing quite a lot.  I remember some really funny stuff.  So the short of it is I liked it but I need to see it again and chill the F out about it.

-dale

[RoninFox]

I tried the iRiff of Ep IV a few weeks ago and the Real Deal on New Year's Eve.  My reaction to both is "meh".

I think my opinion of both the Riff and the iRiff are tainted by the following fact:  I could write a funny Riff script, or portions of it, for Star Wars.  I don't know enough about pop culture, history, or moviemaking to qualify for water-carrying on 99.9% of the MST or RT movies chosen. But I know Star Wars.  And I'm the perfect crossover - geeky enough to know the details about props and costumes and trading cards and the like, but normal enough to know how silly it all is and laugh at myself.  Hell, I've been riffing SW to myself, the dog, or poor tolerant friends of mine for a decade anyway!  And if I think I can do something I'm a bit of a harsher critic.

For example, I can't paint.  So when I look at a painting I can decide if I like it or not, but I can't really say "that's a bad painting."  On the other hand, one of my hobbies is building and painting models - tanks, spaceships, planes, etc. - and I'm fairly decent at it.  I can look at someone's 1/35 scale Sherman tank model and think "Mmmm, that's not really great."

So I think in the case of the SW riff I had a bit of the "go ahead, make me laugh, I dare's ya!" going in my head, and I was giving a mental downcheck for every riff I feel they "missed", but I bet if you had a laugh meter running I was actually laughing quite a lot.  I remember some really funny stuff.  So the short of it is I liked it but I need to see it again and chill the F out about it.

-dale

I'm betting that's the problem for a lot of people, you can't help but have high expectations for something like this, and after a little time I bet several people will have a higher opinion of this track.

[Doc Steve]

I tried the iRiff of Ep IV a few weeks ago and the Real Deal on New Year's Eve.  My reaction to both is "meh".

I think my opinion of both the Riff and the iRiff are tainted by the following fact:  I could write a funny Riff script, or portions of it, for Star Wars.  I don't know enough about pop culture, history, or moviemaking to qualify for water-carrying on 99.9% of the MST or RT movies chosen. But I know Star Wars.  And I'm the perfect crossover - geeky enough to know the details about props and costumes and trading cards and the like, but normal enough to know how silly it all is and laugh at myself.  Hell, I've been riffing SW to myself, the dog, or poor tolerant friends of mine for a decade anyway!  And if I think I can do something I'm a bit of a harsher critic.

For example, I can't paint.  So when I look at a painting I can decide if I like it or not, but I can't really say "that's a bad painting."  On the other hand, one of my hobbies is building and painting models - tanks, spaceships, planes, etc. - and I'm fairly decent at it.  I can look at someone's 1/35 scale Sherman tank model and think "Mmmm, that's not really great."

So I think in the case of the SW riff I had a bit of the "go ahead, make me laugh, I dare's ya!" going in my head, and I was giving a mental downcheck for every riff I feel they "missed", but I bet if you had a laugh meter running I was actually laughing quite a lot.  I remember some really funny stuff.  So the short of it is I liked it but I need to see it again and chill the F out about it.

-dale

I'm betting that's the problem for a lot of people, you can't help but have high expectations for something like this, and after a little time I bet several people will have a higher opinion of this track.

I suspect this is correct, but some of the problems with the RIfftrax version aren't going to just go away.  I don't think Star Wars is a truly great film, like say The Searchers.  (I never realized how much the Star Wars series rips off The Searchers until re-watching them for the Rifftrax this last year.)  At any rate, the riffs near the end that talked about how horrible the movie was just didn't work for me.  It's not that I'm too sensitive as a Star Wars fan.  It just wasn't funny at all.  Similarly, time alone won't fill all of the dead air. 

I am going back to school this semester to complete the advanced accounting courses I need to sit for the C.P.A. exam.  Either I am burnt out on Rifftrax or Mike & the Gang are the problem.  I think I will sit out until June and give it another try. 

[RoninFox]

I tried the iRiff of Ep IV a few weeks ago and the Real Deal on New Year's Eve.  My reaction to both is "meh".

I think my opinion of both the Riff and the iRiff are tainted by the following fact:  I could write a funny Riff script, or portions of it, for Star Wars.  I don't know enough about pop culture, history, or moviemaking to qualify for water-carrying on 99.9% of the MST or RT movies chosen. But I know Star Wars.  And I'm the perfect crossover - geeky enough to know the details about props and costumes and trading cards and the like, but normal enough to know how silly it all is and laugh at myself.  Hell, I've been riffing SW to myself, the dog, or poor tolerant friends of mine for a decade anyway!  And if I think I can do something I'm a bit of a harsher critic.

For example, I can't paint.  So when I look at a painting I can decide if I like it or not, but I can't really say "that's a bad painting."  On the other hand, one of my hobbies is building and painting models - tanks, spaceships, planes, etc. - and I'm fairly decent at it.  I can look at someone's 1/35 scale Sherman tank model and think "Mmmm, that's not really great."

So I think in the case of the SW riff I had a bit of the "go ahead, make me laugh, I dare's ya!" going in my head, and I was giving a mental downcheck for every riff I feel they "missed", but I bet if you had a laugh meter running I was actually laughing quite a lot.  I remember some really funny stuff.  So the short of it is I liked it but I need to see it again and chill the F out about it.

-dale

I'm betting that's the problem for a lot of people, you can't help but have high expectations for something like this, and after a little time I bet several people will have a higher opinion of this track.

I suspect this is correct, but some of the problems with the RIfftrax version aren't going to just go away.  I don't think Star Wars is a truly great film, like say The Searchers.  (I never realized how much the Star Wars series rips off The Searchers until re-watching them for the Rifftrax this last year.)  At any rate, the riffs near the end that talked about how horrible the movie was just didn't work for me.  It's not that I'm too sensitive as a Star Wars fan.  It just wasn't funny at all.  Similarly, time alone won't fill all of the dead air. 

Not saying it was a perfect riff at all, just that time might help some people.  While the dead air might seem bad now, it might be because you had a joke or two in mind for that very moment over the years that they didn't think of.  I've only watched it once, and I didn't notice any dead air, so conversely I might think differently once -I- watch it again too.