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Film Crew (The): Killers From Space
R0 - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (2nd October 2007). |
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The Film
 Ah, "The Film Crew" is back again for another dose of commentary madness and hilarity, for the uninitiated these guys are consist of the crew from "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988-1999), and they lend humorous commentaries on some of the worst films ever made. Cheesy heist films, horror and sci-fi are covered in this collection. Each DVD covers a specific film and this one takes a look at the 1954 camp sci-fi flick "Killers from Space" which stars Peter Graves of "Mission Impossible" (1966-1973) fame. Graves played James Phelps in the popular series but before he appeared in a lot of low-grade features and occasional TV appearance in guest starring capacity. "Killers from Space" is probably not the best film on his resume in fact it appears as an embarrassing footnote for all involved. This makes it a perfect candidate for this commentary by Bill Crobett, Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy. "Killers from Space" tells the story of Dr. Douglas Martin (Peter Graves) who uncovers an alien plot to take over the world. They plan on doing so by unleashing giant insects and reptiles. In an effort to spot the invasion he finds himself alone battling against the aliens using Earth's technology. Much like the previous entry into "The Film Crew" series of DVDs, "Hollywood After Dark", this film features some lazy writing that often features leaps in logic, tepid dialogue and uninspired structuring. Added to the mix is equally lazy acting, in fact it certainly appears as if everyone involved really doesn't want to be there and finally the piece de resistance, the production design and costumes, all of which appear no have been done by a retarded 5th grade class. The aliens featured in this film are laughable at best (including their stupid looking bug-eyes) and deliver rather clich'd and often unintentionally funny lines. The three commentators do their best to joke about the various set-ups, costumes and sets among other things but generally fall a little short sometimes. While their antics were mildly amusing on the "Hollywood After Dark" here it gets a bit tiring and it seems like they are struggling to think of anything funny to say, while the odd zinger is delivered it's rested mainly in a sea of mediocre and often juvenile jokes. I can certainly see where they are going with this, the concept is fun but I suspect this is one of those things that needs to be seen with a large group of people, preferably all drunk. Mildly entertaining while sober I find that their "Mystery Science Theater 3000" days were much better and far more funny than "The Film Crew", at least with this second outing, there's still a third release "Wild Women of Wongo" (1958) to check out.
Video
The film includes some segments featuring the hosts, these segments are presented in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. These segments shot on a DV format are clean and feature no major problems, aside from the fact that it's non-anamorphic and the image is flat. The film "Killers from Space" is in its original ratio of 1.33:1 full frame and like most public domain films made that have been made in the 50's they suffer from poor transfers. Usually the source material is not the best and the result is a lackluster black and white image that appears with plenty of grain and dirt as well as lack of depth and contrast issues. These films are not the best candidate for a restoration and thus the transfer will never be pristine.
Audio
A single English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround track is included, the film's original soundtrack is not included and has been replaced with this track featuring the commentary. It's all dialogue focused and purely front heavy, the dialogue is clear and presented without distortion. It's as basic a track as they come and works fine for this feature. The disc does not feature any optional subtitles.
Extras
A single English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround track is included, the film's original soundtrack is not included and has been replaced with this track featuring the commentary. It's all dialogue focused and purely front heavy, the dialogue is clear and presented without distortion. It's as basic a track as they come and works fine for this feature. The disc does not feature any optional subtitles. Extras: Shout! Factory has released this film with only a very minute collection of extras that includes some outtakes and a couple of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. The only substantial extra (if you can call it that) is "Did You Know" which features some outtakes from the recording of the commentary and features various takes on the clip featuring different jokes. These clips are introduced by Kevin and his intro runs for 1 minute 13 seconds. The scene from the film is where the alien talks backwards (supposed to be an alien dialect). The outtakes include: - "Pissing me Off" which runs for 11 seconds. - "Stupider" runs for 10 seconds. - "This Costume" runs for 10 seconds. - "My Last Day" runs for 12 seconds. - "Dressing Room" runs for 10 seconds. Rounding out the extras are a couple of start-up bonus trailers for: - "The Film Crew" spot which runs for 1 minute 8 seconds. - "Zack Galafianakis Live at the Purple Onion" which runs for 1 minute 10 seconds.
Overall
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