riffing good movies = mistake

[dlobro1080]

I might (and probably am) be in the minority here, but I have to say I think it's a waste that Mike is riffing "Halloween" -- a horror classic, and a good film through and through -- as well as having riffed "X-Men," a solid sci-fi film.  I thought the whole point of MST3K/Rifftrax was to stick it to bad, bad movies.  With dreck like "Fantastic Four" and "Elektra" out there, why pick "X-Men?"  With crap like "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5," why pick "Halloween?"  Makes no sense to me...

[Variety of Cells]

I invite you to read this post I made in another thread.  I thought a lot about it so I don't mind posting it twice.

OK, I've been saving this little speech for my 250th post. 

I have a feeling that an Uwe Boll film will not become a Rifftrax, at least not any time soon.  They may be good MST3K material, but they don't quite fit into the criteria of a good Rifftrax.

There are a few reason for this.  One of them is that they aren't very popular.  Mike and friends are trying to Riff movies that you have at least a chance of owning.  I'm not sure any one owns an Uwe Boll film. 

The bigger reason is entertainment value.  The movies need to be at least moderately entertaining to carry you through the whole film.  That's an awful lot of work for Mike if he's the sole source of entertainment, and we now know how hard it is to write riffs.  Horribly bad movies worked for MST3K because they had host segments to break it up and give the audience/writers a little breather.  The days of host segments are no more, now it's 2 hours of uncensored mediocrity. 

Next is a reason that I don't have any external support for, it's just my musings.  By riffing big movies like Top Gun and The Matrix, a message is sent, and it says "We are not blind.  Your movie may be flashy but it's no where near perfect.  In fact, it's rather silly".  But by riffing an Uwe Boll film then that message isn't there.  Everyone already knows it's a crappy film.  Mike is mediocrity bane, combatant to the common, warrior to the uninspired.  Mikes riff's can penetrate the heart of any huge, over budgeted, beast of a movie, so why waste them on rats like Uwe Boll?  Any one can make fun of an Uwe Boll film, but it takes something special to get away with riffing The Fifth Element or Top Gun.

Based on that, I draw the conclusion that Uwe Boll is not the prime Riff meat I had once thought him to be.  Maybe some day, but not any time soon. 

Rifftrax is not MST3K.  I understand that it would be very easy to assume that it is, but they have taken it in a slightly different direction.  I'm not opposed to riffing bad movies, but I feel the emphasis should be on the bigger films.

[SaucyRossy]

Wow the X-men fanboys are strong in the force....


Seriously though what constitutes a good movie from a bad movie is different from person to person. To assume that everyone LOVES X-men and thinks of it as a classic Sci-fi movie is just wrong.

I for one can't stand the movie, there about five scenes with redeeming qualities in it and the fact that it totally messed with characters I grew up with just pissed me off.

[MrTorso]

Funny is funny. I don't hold movies sacred. If Mike makes fun of a movie that I like and the Rifftrax is funny then so be it. Out of the 10 Rifftrax so far I have owned 5 of them. No big deal to me.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Makes no sense to me...

Apparently you missed out on the times Mike provided commentaries for Legend Films' colorized DVD editions of Night of the Living Dead (now available as a RiffTrax Classic), House on Haunted Hill, and The Little Shop of Horrors--all good movies with hilarious audio commentaries.

[Bob M.]

Funny is funny. I don't hold movies sacred. If Mike makes fun of a movie that I like and the Rifftrax is funny then so be it. Out of the 10 Rifftrax so far I have owned 5 of them. No big deal to me.

Well put. That's exactly my response. Actually, I'd love if more movies that I listed as favorites were riffed, because unlike movies like xXx (which are horribly painful to watch in their horribleness), I'd be overjoyed to sit through a movie I thought was great AND laugh my tuckus off

[dlobro1080]

To assume that everyone LOVES X-men and thinks of it as a classic Sci-fi movie is just wrong.

Um, I never said that everyone LOVES it, and I definitely never called it a classic.  So please read more carefully before you go putting words in my/other people's mouths.

I know a lot of people who dislike the movie -- but the general consensus is that it is a good sci-fi film.  It was well-received by critics and made a lot of money (which is not a barometer of quality, but still).  And I know it's not perfect, by any stretch.

I watched it and laughed, but thought it was the worst of the Rifftrax so far -- and it goes back to my feeling that there's a lot worse stuff out there to make fun of.

[dlobro1080]

Makes no sense to me...

Apparently you missed out on the times Mike provided commentaries for Legend Films' colorized DVD editions of Night of the Living Dead (now available as a RiffTrax Classic), House on Haunted Hill, and The Little Shop of Horrors--all good movies with hilarious audio commentaries.

I admittedly haven't seen those -- only Plan 9.  I will check 'em out at some point though.

[subtr4ct]

I disagree.  Riffing good movies != mistake.  I listen to a rifftraque to laugh, and I maintain that it is perfectly possible to do so in the context of a good movie.  I would not describe myself as an X-men fanboy, but it was a movie that I enjoyed pre-riffing, and the rifftraque was great.   On the other hand, Crossroads is a truly awful movie, and having to watch it made the Rifftrax experience less enjoyable.  After that one, I am considering not purchasing Rifftrax for movies that I would really rather not watch.

I submit to the Rifftrax producers that the MST3K fans are going to buy the new product, even if the movies are not bad.  There is no need to feel stuck with the legacy premise of MST3K.

[Hank]

Since this was also asked in the X-Men section, I'll simply quote myself:

The history of riffing movies has been that these are bad movies that deserve ridicule. You can't ignore the whole MST3K pretext here. Rifftrax is clearly an outgrowth from MST3K. So, I would hope that MN is not riffing movies that he actually believes are good. That would strike me as simply malevolent. You don't make fun of something you really value and enjoy. It would be like making fun of your wife just to be making fun of her. That's mean.

I often make fun of my wife, but then I do her up proper and all is forgiven.


Actually, MST3K has historically done movies that were also easy to get. That's why they can do a little less obscure movies for Rifftrax (no royalties = less overhead). That's why they used Night of the Living Dead. The copyright was invalidated for some strange reason (I forget).

Remember, this isn't the first time that the "greats" have been riffed. They used to do those Oscar specials (remember "I'm Leonardo DiCaprio" from Good Will Hunting?) They even did a little snippet of Boron in one of their Summer Movie Blockbuster specials.

[Tarantulas]

There are no sacred cows. 

There are many movies on the AFI top 100 that could use the Rifftrax treatment.  Jaws for example.

The general concensus seems to be that riffing "good" (meaning somewhat watchable) movies makes for a better Rifftrax experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years..._100_Movies

[Rowsdower42]

I hope we can find a fine balance between riffing on films that are mainstream yet silly turkeys (face it: X-Men had some pretty horrible parts: "You call that a landing?") and riffing on truly atrocious pieces of cinema that are more recent.  I for one would love to see some Uwe Boll rifftrax, mostly because I've already suffered through them myself.

[MontyServo]

Add me to the list of folks wanting to see "good" movies riffed.    That AFI list that the spider dude linked to has a ton of great films that should be torn to shreds by Mike and his writing team!

Don't get me wrong, I love these movies.  But I would also love to see them riffed apart.  Well, except for Schindler's List.  That might be a tough one.

In fact, my 5 all time favorite movies are Braveheart, Lawrence Of Arabia, The Wild Bunch, The Searchers, and The Great Escape.  And I hope Mike rips them to shreds someday!

[mrbasehart]

That AFI list that the spider dude linked to...

Henceforth, Tarantulas shall be known as "the spider dude"! 

In response to dlobro: While I agree that perhaps X-Men wasn't best choice for a rifftrax (though there are some very funny moments in it), I disagree that good movies should be left alone.  I personally like to feel entertained by both the movie and the rifftrax, and for me, when Mike riffs (or riffed, as in MST3K) the bad movies, they made me weary and tired, unable to enjoy the comedy of the rifftrax because of the awfulness of the film. 

Plus, it helps knowing that my amazon recommendations will not be completely screwed up by rifftrax

[Hank]

Don't get me wrong, I love these movies.  But I would also love to see them riffed apart.  Well, except for Schindler's List.  That might be a tough one.

By the third viewing, I was starting to riff on it. Even a great movie like that has its flaws and oevr-the-top moments.

Even Seinfeld mocked it (with Judge reinhold) while it was still in theaters.