MST3k 205 - Rocket Attack USA

[@NebLleb]

Well, It happened. This finally converted me, a Brit, to Mystery Science Theater 3000. More so the first part featuring episode 2 of The Phantom Creeps than the main event Rocket Attack USA (I find the movie drags). It's not just that you get a free movie and a free short, it's that you also get genuinely fantastic comedy and commentary with it, and some physical comedy sketches in the wraparound host segments. It genuinely feels like a full package of comedy and B-grade schlock.

[@analogkid01]

Well done Ben...you've just taken your first step into a larger world...

[@GenY42]

I hope you enjoy it. MST3K is a perfect slice of Midwestern American humor, like the Zucker Brothers of The Naked Gun and Airplane! Considering that Shaun of the Dead is possibly my favorite comedy, I like to think that we're not so different across the ocean. We're all just looking for some silliness to distract ourselves from the daily unhappiness of modern life.

[@m.a.packer5450]

You should watch the fugitive alien episodes

[@termingyou]

It's amazing how commercials become interesting once they're old.

[@abborne1]

Penn Jillette thought AbFab was done 20 years before the most recent episode, which was four years before the theatrical film. In their most recent productions, Joanna Lumley (Patsy) is older than June Whitfield (Gran) was on the first episode. (Actor ages never bothered them much, though, unless Edina had Saffron when she was 10 years old.) Speaking of nostalgia, did anyone else play the Flash-based AbFab game on Comedy Central's website? (Don't buy the scrunchie.) I should pick up some Ivory Soap. Lorenzo Music (Garfield)'s dearly departed voice could sell me just about anything.

[@alexewing7264]

Correction: everything and everyone becomes interesting when it’s old.

[@Nekulturny]

Agreed. I will complain to no end about the fact that I pay for YT Premium so I don't have to see ads while not screwing content creators out of ad revenue by using adblocks about the fact that content creators will have paid promotions in their videos that I still have to scroll through for things like VPNs, earbuds, audiobooks etc, but I'll spend an hour looking up old commercials on YT for things like Palaner All Fruit and the Flintstones back when they used to do cigarette commercials lol.

[@hypertonification]

Freaking Lorenzo Music talking about soap.... Then a puppy!!!!

[@Face2theScr33n]

It's like the movie Demolition Man, in which all the radio stations played old jingles for stuff like Oscar Mayer...

[@TheStapleGunKid]

I never realized spies, espionage, and nuclear devastation could be so boring before I watched this.

[@analogkid01]

Spies are given cyanide tablets due to the permeating dullness of their jobs.

[@NebLleb]

Me too, the first part featuring Phantom Creeps converted me to this show, but the main event is just boredom.

[@peterallen5575]

Done properly, it is. Spycraft only gets exciting when everything has gone to hell and you need a quick extraction.

[@Commanderziff]

I wonder just how long it took for props to convert that FoosBall table. Individually painting each and every little figure to be either Forester or Frank... that's dedication you don't see nowadays.

[@rangel20]

1:32:56 "Really a fun film, guys." Tom Servo's total contempt in saying that line gets me every time.

[@Capng123]

So around 1:13:00 Radioman says "I can't work over the phone like those other guys!" The hell? He's a RADIO announcer!! He has one of the few professions in the 50s where one COULD conceivably work over the phone with no difficulty at all!

[@tantalus0971]

Painting the foosball water polo figures to look like Frank and Dr. F was a nice touch. It's the little things.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

And, if you recall from the Megalon vs. Godzilla episode, Dr. F dressed as the goalie, by attaching two lengths of ABS drainage tubing to his arms.

[@ciscopath1]

JOEL: Which early 60s CIA covert operation was considered their greatest failure of the decade? CROW: The Kennedy Assassination!!! JOEL: No, I'm afraid that one was a SUCCESS Dang..lol

[@VaciliNikoMavich]

cisco path Ouch xD

[@Rhomega]

You know, for a plane spiraling out of control, they're getting around the cockpit pretty well.

[@Capng123]

"Captain West, my paper would like an official statement from you." "GET BENT!" Is that official enough for ya? It's never NOT funny when Crow does that bit...

[@baraxor]

General Milley will probably say that to the next question about Afghanistan.

[@kurisurs]

"Oh, cut to New York, where Art Metrano and Harry Connick eat pizza and buy ties for their stupid girlfriends and Harry Truman gets off a plane by the sewage dump and then a blind guy goes by and says, "Help me.". What the hell was that supposed to be?!" Perfect summing up xD

[@999haunted]

The blind guy unconvincingly saying "Help me" was hillarious

[@saberdogface]

My favorite part of the movie.

[@kingvulturo]

I learned in the MST3K book the Blind Guy was the very first after credits scene done on the show because of how bizarre his scene was, and they started putting them into every one that followed.

[@Shades14]

I have to wonder about the scene itself. Were they filming this movie in order and were so done at that point that they didn't care that the take was horrible and unconvincing, or, my guess is, they were rushing production so it could be released topically and didn't have time to care.

[@LisaSimpsonRules]

The final "Oh, yes, we can" said by Joel and the Bots, was hilarious. How could they know that this was going to be such a famous slogan so many years down the line?

[@kurtreber9813]

cause the saying itself had been around for like, ever.

[@zoepaulastrassfield2664]

César Chavez had already made it a slogan in the 60s.

[@elusiverobertdenby3000]

I love that "eeeuck a-yee" thing Frank does 😂

[@gregoryfreeman9073]

What is that noise, what does it even mean?

[@damian6631]

I am impressed you found a way to type that.

[@logann7942]

@@damian6631 same

[@akumakorgar]

@@gregoryfreeman9073 Just a weird noise that Frank liked doing lol

[@GlitchanBlack]

@@akumakorgar I think Greg was referencing Wild Rebels, a later episode where Dr. F asks Frank that exact question.

[@Marshmallow_Trees]

"Uhh, we have to remember to pray for him." Cracks me up every time.

[@hamursh]

"Meanwhile at the Addams house..." "Is that Raul Julia?" MST3K predicted the 1991 Addams Family movie with Raul Julia as Gomez!

[@hamursh]

@Martha Whiteman This episode first aired in 1990! Who's high now?

[@AdamWestish]

I predict that in the future we will be watching MST3K on our phones, and nobody will worry about taking about getting high online.

[@AJadedLizard]

@@AdamWestish I'm watching it on my phone now.

[@AdamWestish]

@@AJadedLizard I predict that in the future we will all use machines that are at LEAST 3X FASTER than fax machines 😆

[@AJadedLizard]

@@AdamWestish *Three* times? That's crazy talk!

[@GeneralOlde]

Joel: Which early 60's CIA covert operation was considered their greatest failure of the decade? *buzz* Crow, Los Alamos! Crow: Uh, the Kennedy Assassination! Joel: No, I'm afraid that one was a success. Brilliant.

[@Crrrow]

More Brilliant with the recent clusterfuck with the documents being released regarding the assassination now. The only thing the release of the recent documents did was confirm my suspicions the CIA is actually hiding something. Seeing as most of the documents released were ones ALREADY ACCESSIBLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. That and i heard they somehow "Lost" some of the ones the Administration was declassifying.

[@12thofjulythemissilesband18]

Mark my words *Space Force Cadets,* that *JOHNNY DARK SPEAK* is going to *SOLVE* the *MYSTERY* of the *KENNEDY ASSASSINATION !!!* Gang, I think I smell a *WEIRD MYSTERY !*

[@servorobotva2955]

You did not just make that reference you did not just make that REFERENCE!

[@krisrose219]

Joel on the phone! Hysterical! He’s so cute and funny!!

[@WayWardWonderer]

Hey! @1:14:26 Mike is wearing Joel's original beige jumpsuit from the KTMA era!

[@dougjb7848]

1:32:05 Wow he sure is dealing well with the wave of grief and regret he’s feeling about the mistakes he made and the family he’ll never see again.

[@hrdknox2000]

LOVE the Dr. Stangelove reference! "Of course Vomen Vould be selected for zer seck-sual prowves, unt animal vould be bread aund SLAUGHTERED!"

[@dougjb7848]

Matched up with the “yeeeehoo!” When the woman bailed out of the airplane.

[@analogkid01]

*Circulating* the tapes. Passing a tape would be...unpleasant.

[@dougjb7848]

Gonna need a _lot_ of prune juice.

[@christianglosner4128]

-"Oh, what's up?" -"Your number, pink boy."

[@UKISOCIETY]

"Usually I just get the puppy drunk." - one of my favorite lines from MST ever.

[@knightclawer]

The Host segment which Joel displays various children's characters being "part" of Sen. Joe McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee Hearings [HUAC] is funny!

[@applemask]

The Soviet Union still existed when this was broadcast. The Berlin Wall didn't. The Cold War wasn't over, but it was falling apart. This episode is a genuinely fascinating snapshot of that brief moment.

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

Huh, so this was made at the time when MST3K existed, in 1989-90? I thought they only riffed older 60-80 movies.

[@Tori-di2cf]

The movie was released in 1958 and then in 1961. MST3K broadcasted this in 1990.

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

Ah, thanks.

[@CheshireFatorum]

@@Tori-di2cf So, Applemask is wrong - the Berlin Wall didn't exist *yet,* and the Cold War was still in the process of escalating, not falling apart...

[@michaelccozens]

@@CheshireFatorum I think there's been a misunderstanding. @Applemask was, I think, referring to the original 1990 broadcast date of the MST3k episode that featured the 1958 movie, "Rocket Attack USA", rather than to the date of release for the movie itself. An easy mistake to make!

[@Bunny-ro7rd]

"Speak up man!...you sound like a manure salesman with a mouthful of samples" hahaha

[@HenryvKeiper]

Ah yes, this was the episode that introduced the "zinger" at the end. I remember reading in the show's guide that they found the scene with the blind man so ridiculous they put it at the end of the episode as a joke. They liked that so much they started doing it for every episode.

[@babaloo42]

+HenryvKeiper When did they start saying "Start seeing motorcycles"? It was in a bunch of episodes but I don't know which one started it.

[@HenryvKeiper]

I don't know offhand when it got started. I know the joke is making reference to a bumper sticker/campaign ad that was meant to raise awareness for drivers on the highway to keep an eye out for motorcycles.

[@babaloo42]

HenryvKeiper So not necessarily related to what's going on in the movie(as far as the first time used, like "watch out for snakes" etc.). More than I knew before :) thanks

[@HenryvKeiper]

Yeah, it's not like "Watch out for snakes," "You and your daughter are doomed," "Shut up, Iris," or even "Ha ha ha ha YOU'RE STUCK HERE!" I think the "start seeing motorcycles" stuff is more popular in the midwest, or areas with a larger motorcycle subculture, hence why it's lost on a lot of fans. The MST3K guys have admitted in interviews that sometimes their jokes are too regional, and they'll look back on an episode and essentially say, "Crap, I don't think anyone outside the midwest got that."

[@ambergruszeczka4549]

+HenryvKeiper I have to say, I love when they do those northern midwestern accents...I'm from the south, so hearing their exaggerated accents gives me the giggles every time, dontcha know

[@Avengersenpai]

Mike appearing in a spaceship with 2 robots, oh the unexpected foreshadowing lol.

[@kurtreber9813]

i thought the bot on the right looked like Beavisth

[@GrimmShadowsII]

Not sure foreshadowing is the correct term, that suggests plans and Mike taking over was never planned it was almost a last minute subsitution. I guess since it ended up happening we can call it unintended foreshadowing maybe.

[@mamacindyrogofsky495]

I hated Mike... Er for the host... I was used to Joel...

[@applemask]

"This is my skull. Stick around to see how that could have happened!"

[@smoothvirus]

That airplane changed from a DC-3, to a tiny Beech 18, and then into a Ford Trimotor!

[@ramseydoon8277]

28:24 "Who pulls your strings?" I love Joel's existentialism. Very poignant segment regarding Mccarthyisn.

[@rustmoth]

Alex Ewing, the "frank noise" bit you referred to is in Wild Rebels. Yes, he made that comment a year ago, and i can't reply to him here apparently but... now the answer is out there.

[@puddingskin100]

That's my boss, always goin on about his life of danger, but look who does all the driving! We'll be right back.

[@MicrowavedAlastair5390]

OH NO! Not... A beeping ball!!! Oh, the horror!! The horror!!! Seriously, Sputnik's entire purpose was... to beep. They knew it would drive people nuts trying to figure out what the beeping meant. It was the greatest troll moment in history.

[@toddevangelista]

Did anyone else get the "Tonya? You mean Patty Hearst?" joke? Or was it too esoteric.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

Ya, I was born on the day Ms. Hearst either vanished, or reappeared. I don't remember which.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

@@ToTheGreatWideOpen Thanks...uh...how'd you know my birthday?

[@Dreamergrl80]

I'm so glad that I have discovered this show, it's awesome XD

[@catapuchin]

i love joel so much. also that fake spider from the first movie is so cute lol

[@darkprose]

A single segment of MST3K is worth Judd Apatow's entire filmography. Probably more. Okay, definitely more. Thank Christ for people like you analogkid01. Many thanks and kudos.

[@darkprose]

+Kent Manthie Yeah, thanks for your input, Karl.

[@darkprose]

***** It's John Cheater, actually.

[@collinsnider4179]

+Joseph Charles Hell yeah!

[@elhollins5988]

I love the many RUSH references and sunshi the midwest concert venue references like "Alpine Valley". Reminds me of the glorious fun I had in the 80's.

[@analogkid01]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoC2o3qNlNKDotU

[@phroney]

one of my favorite MST3K episodes of all time. thanks for posting.

[@mostmelon]

Can hardly believe used-toilet-paper-roll Tom was almost permanent. His silhouette looks too much like a legendary talking-sword heckling a movie, and that is just too silly for this show.

[@andrewmihovich4252]

That sounds like a good idea.

[@choosecarefully408]

He looks like Lumière, but without arms.

[@nihilvox]

Joel acquired all three talismans needed to break the seal on Servo, the Bot of Bad Movie's Bane.

[@Dreamergrl80]

i like how joel keeps 'climbing' onto the stuff on the screen XP

[@jonahfalcon1970]

1:13:58 It's the long awaited crossover with Project Popcorn!

[@sprybug]

28:16 "At least we know an era like that will never happen again" Oh, only if you could view the future you guys. Some people ignore history and are doomed to repeat it.

[@jasonmerrill88]

Yup yup yup

[@mikezylstra7514]

@@jasonmerrill88 3 yrs ago; 2 years ago. It's in repeat mode now - only this time the commies are on this side of the Atlantic.

[@fucktardmst3kfan144]

Sorri Andropoli! I couldn't remember the episode he was in. Awesome Sauce!

[@MisterSynyster]

"At least we know an era like that will never happen again..."

[@Anarchist86ed]

Without the riffing this movie is unwatchable.

[@orionbylsma7670]

Anarchist86ed you understand the conceit of the show right?

[@AwesomeAutismHC]

Anarchist86ed Isn't that the case with every movie they do though? 😊

[@arciks11]

Hardly. Russo-Finnish quartet is watchable without riffing.

[@michaelccozens]

Barry Mahon produced/directed/edited this thing together to exploit Sputnik's launch, and, man, was he shameless about it. This is less a "movie" and more just "footage".

[@wadecarmen7501]

With weed, anything is possible!

[@AJF786]

"Darn old apocalypse I just ignore them."

[@VaciliNikoMavich]

Hylian Fox Who knew the apocalypse could be...so annoying?

[@12boocat]

I watch mst3k 24/7, and this is my fav (so far)...tooooooooo funny.

[@carlabamford9154]

Gene, Gene, the Dance machine! I call my little grandson that but nobody gets it. I'm so OLD!

[@AJF786]

"In my own little corner, in my own little chair, I can be whatever I wish to be..." Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella reference!

[@jamesreid9284]

I think I'll imitate the dull announcer in the film now... Ahem... _The fanfiction author inserts his favorite characters into a story about romance... attempting to get the point across that the pairing is acceptable and fitting. His readers critique him on his choice and say he could do better. Then he flies into a rage and throws a multitude of F-bombs at his peers._

[@NullZer0]

Ending theme makes me so nostalgic. Thanks!

[@vistulagibsoncooper2420]

Bunji Jumping, SPORT OF FOOLS!! 😂😂😂😂😁😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@LisaSimpsonRules]

1:21:00 That alarm bell, emergency bell, radio signal... whatever was annoying as hell! It gave me headache! I didn't think the film was so bad up to that moment.

[@WayWardWonderer]

I prefer Servo's gumball machine look over the cylinder. But gotta' try something new every now and then I guess!

[@davidstevens6705]

KTAVERILL Just today I finished making the cylinder Tom Servo head, for my replica Servo.

[@WayWardWonderer]

Nice! True MiSTis will recognize him!

[@doctorcraptonicus7941]

+David Stevens - Tom's entire head is a gumball machine (beak and all), I know cause I bought the exact same one in a charity shop here (North of England) so they must get about a bit. Check eBay & stuff.

[@davidstevens6705]

Doctor Craptonicus I know that I bought that one on eBay. Mine was brown.

[@hamursh]

"If you're like me when I think of the 70s I think of one thing." Disco? "Foosball!" Oh well close enough!

[@msgfrmdaactionman3000]

OMG, that was a deep hurting film!

[@dougjb7848]

Ssssssandstorm ….

[@emitindustries8304]

The bit with the nuclear war quiz is one of their best.

[@PetProjects2011]

28:40 Servo has trouble getting into his seat.

[@michaelzielinski4030]

And I can’t stop watching these on their channels on streaming tv..

[@carlabamford9154]

The crazier Dr. Forrester's hair, the happier I like him. I like him so happy in this episode.

[@emitindustries8304]

1:06. "2001" monolith music.... Classic MST3K.

[@dougjb7848]

What? There’s no “2001” music during the intro.

[@faithfulgrl]

Mike's Russian accent is absolutely on point. One of the best I've ever heard and my family's Russian.

[@gregoryfreeman9073]

He really does a lot of good impersonations and accents

[@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253]

Protest war in Ukraine furiously then, please.

[@prometheusunbound7628]

Yep. Except that it's Joel in this episode.

[@MrShigura]

It’s Joel, stupid.

[@Meatwad440]

“Stoi” *shoots* “That must mean ‘pull’ in Russian.”

[@babaloo42]

I always enjoy Joel's phone voice.

[@dougjb7848]

50:00 I just realized that, for the 50s, this movie is almost Behind the Green Door.

[@spiritofthersites7578]

I made the mistake of watching this movie without Joel and the bots and it was damn near impossible to follow.

[@wadecarmen7501]

Trump loved when Russians killed the American agents.

[@DavidSmith-oh3re]

@@wadecarmen7501 Stupid Libtard

[@planescaped]

Well... the two comments replying to this range the idiot spectrum. >__>

[@jasonmerrill88]

Hahahaaajhhhh

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

just read "Wall Street and the Russian Revolution" by Professor Richard Spence. thanks

[@nazicat6406]

I remember being told to duck and cover in case of nuclear war. it was a insanely terrifying time period. we feared the end of human civilization.

[@mikezylstra7514]

Remember placing a white dinner plate out on the porch before you went to bed then examining it for fallout the next morning?

[@etanaedelman9011]

Believe it or not this movie was directed by the same guy who directed the Thumbelina segment from "Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny".

[@Phantomphan613]

I believe it

[@ImpetuouslyInsane]

"Captain West, my paper would like an official statement from you." "'Get bent', is that official enough for ya?" I like the cut of Crow's Jib on that one.

[@Tori-di2cf]

I like the water polo game. Thought Dr F was going to say something else when he said "candy adding machine". 😸

[@cryptodentist]

Inflection. Intonation. Emotion. These things mean nothing to the actors.

[@TemmiePlays]

Toms head bugs me in this one >_>

[@gisellem927]

23:53 “This is great! I can pick my nose and sing to the radio and no one will see me!”

[@robertskipcurran8401]

The 2001 monoliths sounds instantly cracked me up.

[@analogkid01]

Hmm...this episode first aired in October 1990, and the Addams Family movie was released more than a year later, in November 1991. Is it possible someone had their nose in Variety and learned the cast list? Interesting observation!

[@werwere8102]

Sometimes I seriously wonder if these guys had a time machine....

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

Joel did have some comedy fame - he was on SNL or was it just David Letterman a couple times? He must have known people in Hollywood. Josh got a job in Hollywood when he "left" MST3K. So ...

[@masterskrain2630]

"I...WOULD...LIKE...A...MENU...PLEASE!!!!"

[@PetProjects2011]

Servo: "Is that Raul Julia?" Me: "Nah, wait about 6 seasons."

[@LarryLeeMoniz]

Throughout this entire movie, if you look at the end of the seats, you can clearly see that the seat next to Crow on the right hand side only extends to half a seat! you can see the light from the movie coming through! They didn't get the camera in tight enough. This is where the foam core ends!

[@happyspandex]

I made the mistake of lifting weights and watching this. I nearly dropped a barbell on my windpipe when Tom made the Slimfast riff.

[@andrewfrankovic6821]

Wow, I suddenly noticed Tom's do makes him look like a cross between a Russian and Grace Jones.

[@madisons2117]

Does anyone else get a little sad watching these? I wish I would've pestered my step dad more to watch this show with him. He had almost all the original vhs tapes.

[@dougjb7848]

1:28:30 Why did the general have to beg and plead with the person on the phone to “just try” to save the lives of 10s of millions of people?

[@ivanezell1538]

I love Tom's Bart Simpson look in this episode lol!

[@blampfno]

This is so bad it could be a Francis Coleman movie.

[@ewintertyler]

Thank you for including the commercials!

[@charms2]

Always wear a white dress when sneaking into a secret compound at night.

[@devospud]

Stunned?! He took six bullets!

[@AmyLSacks]

When the dimwitted, pompous lech of a spy buys it I always cheer. (See also: the reporter from that other excruciating Cold War dud we suffered through.)

[@WhiskeyPieSometimes]

Someday I will finally watch through all of MST3k in order, instead of relying on the MST3k A Day Twitter to guide me. I'm always happy when they link something by Analogkid though!

[@analogkid01]

Thanks! Check out my blogspot link in the video description - that might help you down the chronological order path....

[@ThatSockmonkey]

I'm doing that here in the future! I've seen almost every episode already, but never even close to chronically until this May when I need(ed) a distraction from the impending apocalyptic event, possibly related to a combination of bird flu and stupidity.

[@dougjb7848]

33:31 “You’re the best agent we have … and, yes, things are that bad.”

[@capncrusty556]

This is great! I can pick my nose and sing to the radio and no one can see me!

[@battlestarmarc]

Funniest show of the 90s. Joel was the best host. Ford Beebe !!!!

[@dougjb7848]

Beebe!!

[@vonzigle]

I never thought the end of the would be so annoying! 😊😺😈

[@thehappysheep2023]

Love the new head do Tom Servo.Oh, Dah-ling it's soooo you. Course I still love your original look also.

[@kimdkus]

We Cannot let this be .... The End!! Oh, yes we can!!

[@dougjb7848]

1:32:00 I don’t think the person on the phone can just “give” the general the White House.

[@DiggitySlice]

Wait, they survived that plane crash?

[@DiggitySlice]

Then the guy survived the gunshots? No wonder the doctor made those spider bombs, there's no other way to take someone out.

[@elricmb]

I love the Phantom Creeps. It's just a thrill every second!