The Film Crew: The Giant of Marathon (1960)

Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, three of the brilliantly insane minds behind Mystery Science Theater 3000, finally reunite to unleash their warped sense of humor on the cinema of yesteryear as The Film Crew. Charged with the task of giving all movies their own commentary, the Film Crew valiantly steps forward to tackle the best of the worst, continuing with Giant Of Marathon. Refusing to die without a fight, Athens greatest athlete and hero, Phillipides, Steve Reeves, leads the Greeks in a magnificent battle against the invading Persian army. Includes An Apology From Mike Nelson and Selected Scene Commentary by Walter S. Ferguson.

The MST3K crew still got it

I never feel quite right unless I don't get at least a few of the references made in MST3K and this reprise of the franchise, and that's why I was glad to see Mike, Bill and Kevin return to top form in Giant of Marathon. Although I enjoyed "Hollywood After Dark," it felt a little thin on the good one-liners and too relaxed compared to MST3K...I laughed, but not much out loud. This one, on the other hand, shows that the old gang still has a lot of comedic gems up their sleeves. It starts out a little slow, but the pace quickens throughout, and near the end I was frequently huddled over in extended episodes of guffawing (there's a several minute sequence that begins with Bill's line "Excuse me Anasazi Indians, coming through..." where the entire team is on fire). The references are often more topical, but there are still quite a few obscure ones that sent me to wikipedia for a good half hour. If you're an MSTie like me and are looking to see the gang return to their former splendor, check out Giant of Marathon! October 25, 2008

Without Crow and Servo, the magic isn't quite there

Much of the reason MST3K worked so beautifully was that the premise (poor shlub stranded in space with two wiseacre robots) made the central absurdity of the whole concept just click. As a fan of the series only slightly less devout than Pat Robertson is towards Jesus, I'll start by acknowledging how much I appreciated that the core SciFi-era riffing team of Corbett, Nelson and Murphy did their level best to give MSTies everywhere at least something approximating a revival/reunion.

The problem is that, with Jim Mallon owning the full rights to the old show and apparently being (to quote the popular insult quite often thrown about in the classic era) a dickweed about any chance at a proper reunion, the Film Crew gang is forced to come up with a weaker replacement concept: three schmoes working in the basement of a company run by a honcho named Honcho, who require them to riff on movies. Meh. Still, at least the Film Crew HAD a framing concept of some kind going in, whereas the other post-MST project, the Joel-led "Cinematic Titanic," stumbled on that account and didn't really establish one until three episodes in.

The riffing itself takes place as simple voice-overs, so it's like watching the old show, simply without the "Shadowrama" silhouettes of the gang in front of the screen. Yes, in its best moments, this comes pretty dang close to recapturing the magic. As you're simply hearing the voices, you can just imagine Mike, Crow and Servo back to their old tricks again -- an illusion occasionally shattered when you hear them refer to each other by their real names.

But here we run up against another disappointing issue: Guys, where the heck did that awesome RAPID-FIRE RIFFING that made the best MST3K episodes so gut-bustingly hilarious go? The riffing here feels very uninspired at times, with long pauses between each wisecrack. Often the jokes just mock some obvious things onscreen, like a nude statue in the background with prominent genitalia. No mistake, when the guys are on, they're on, as in the opening few minutes of the movie. But quite often, they miss prime riffing opportunities. Frequently I would wonder, "Why didn't they say something THERE? It was wide open!" They're on their game at times, and way off at others. It's uneven and never as consistently hysterical as the best of the original show.

On the whole, MSTies will want to own this, mainly to support the guys, and for the fact that, yes, here and there are snatches where the old lightning strikes. As a fan, I'm glad to see new material from them, even if this show feels at times like an MST3K knockoff that oddly happens to star the cast of the original. It's a shame that only four episodes were produced, too, because with a little time to work out the kinks, and get back into a comfortable writing groove, the Film Crew eventually could have gotten around to creating new direct-to-DVD episodes that would easily have been the equal of the better SciFi MST episodes. But if this is all we're getting, there's just enough here that works all right for fans to be appreciative. August 11, 2008

Getting my MST3K fix...

Since it's tragic end (MST3K could've done another TEN more Years!!!) I'm grateful that the actors have come back together of another go at it.

Sadly, the show seems to of not made the money they had hope to get and only four where made. So to all you other misties out there, grab up these bargain bins now before they're gone for good! August 10, 2008

I really wanted to like this.

The Film Crew: The Giant of Marathon I am one of the biggest fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that you can get. So when I found out that three of the guys from the show were back in action I wet my pants (not really) and bought the episode that I thought would do the best job in taking me back to the good old days of Joel/Mike and the bots. The simple fact of the matter is that MST3K HAD MANY WRITERS AND THE FILM CREW HAS THREE! They have also been there and done that over and over again and again. Further, I would like to see Mike and the others from this "crew" go back to MST3K's seasons three through six at random and get a healthy reminder of what funny and clever really is/was. There is not much to this I am sorry to say and I do not plan on getting any more of The Film Crew's lackluster hastily put together show that is also full of childish "humor" and not much else. However there is a show called "Cinematic Titanic" that stars the original crew from MST3K and that means 5 writers instead of 3 and yes it is much funnier and much more clever...I will be keeping an eye and my money on that instead. July 19, 2008

"I'm huge!"

The Film Crew consists of three alumni of the great movie-mocking TV show, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000. The premise for this project is not that Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett are trapped in an orbiting satellite; instead, they're three lowly employees at a DVD distributor, charged by their boss to create a commentary track for every movie they release, no matter how obscure or painful.

This is the fourth (and -- so far -- final) release from The Film Crew. When the list of four films was initially announced, this was the one I was most looking forward to as it was the only movie I had actually seen in its original form. THE GIANT OF MARATHON isn't a completely awful film. I think the worst thing that could be is that it's simply dull in the non-battle sequences.

Steve Reeves stars in this sword and sandal movie. While Reeves had played Hercules in two other films, here he is portraying Philippides -- the Greek soldier who is said to have run the entire 26.2 miles from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to deliver the news of victory. However, you won't have to tax your mind too much with the difference; the character of Philippides is virtually identical to the Hercules character from earlier films.

I had been anticipating this DVD and I ultimately was not disappointed. The Film Crew's jokes at the expense of the production are very funny. I'd say that this disc and KILLERS FROM SPACE were the strongest two of the four in terms of quality comedy.

I'd like to see more of these straight-to-DVD releases from The Film Crew, although from what I've read on the Internet that doesn't seem likely. Just getting these four discs released seems to have been a hassle with the distribution rights bouncing away from Rhino Entertainment and (eventually) into the ownership of Shout Factory (note that whenever the characters mention the name of their boss, the dubbing says "Bob Honcho" while their lips say "Bob Rhino"). With these three ex-MST3k members now seemingly wrapped up in their work with RiffTrax, GIANT OF MARATHON may be the last outing we see in this incarnation of movie mocking. And that's a damn shame. May 27, 2008

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