Synopsis:

In 1996, the creative team behind 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' brought their small puppet show to the big screen! But after test screenings garnered mixed reviews, Universal Pictures imposed trims, cuts and re-shoots. The result was a theatrical feature that was actually shorter than a standard episode of the TV series. Notably, a complete host segment was cut and the ending was re-shot drastically. In 2013, Shout! Factory released a Blu-ray with deleted scenes available as a bonus feature. Sadly, the footage was in bad shape, but I knew there was a way around it….

Intentions:

My goal was to make this the definitive version of MST3K THE MOVIE for fans of the series who wish to see the complete cut in the best quality possible.

Change List:

00:00 – Replaced the modern Universal Pictures ident with the accurate 96 version 17:00 – “Fries are up!” / “Sorry Joe…Been working long on that?” 17:50 to 20:00 – RESTORED SCENE 40:37 – “Can we still go out sometime?” / “Can I still use my courtesy fridge?” 40:47 to 47:46 RESTORED SCENES & MOVED “SERVO’S ROOM” SEGMENT 47:49 – “Oh hairball!” / “Hey get off my mousie! You’re on my mousie!” 48:49 – “Uh, pudding?” / “Uh, jelly?” 49:20 to 49:52 – RESTORED SCENE 50:29 – “Now it’s time for the Brak Show!” / “Now it’s time for the Brak Show!” 50:51 – “Eat my photons, small heads!” / “Eat my forehead!” 50:58 to 51:30 – RESTORED SCENE 52:00 – “Ooooh! Ahhh!” / “And his coffin will be made entirely out of coconuts!” 52:06 – “I got tubes in my ear!” / “Saw a big old perch down there!” 52:11 to 52:31 – RESTORED SCENE 1:03:10 to 1:07:52 - RESTORED SCENES & RESTORED “STORM SHELTER” SEGMENT 1:08:18 to 1:09:08 – RESTORED SCENE 1:10:57 - Bootsy Collins! / Leona Helmsley! 1:20:44 to 1:23:35 – RESTORED “MUT-ANT” ENDING

Additional Notes:

Although little could be done to improve the host segments, the deleted scenes where Mike, Tom and Crow riff 'This ISland Earth' could be enhanced by keeping their jokes but replacing the picture with the original un-riffed film. I then added the silhouettes back, taken from when Mike and the bots riff their own closing credits. To help make the transitions with my reconstructed scenes seamless, I color-corrected the footage of THIS ISLAND EARTH to make it match its surroundings better. A friend of mine also rotoscoped the theater door for scenes where M&TB enter or leave the theater. Since the deleted scenes included alternate versions of riffs, I included 2 audio tracks: Audio 1 - Original riffs from the deleted scenes Audio 2 - Re-dubbed riffs from the theatrical release Finally, I re-ordered some scenes to accommodate the 3rd added host segment, based on their original placement.

Other Sources: