816 - PRINCE OF SPACE

Genre:  ’50s Japanese Sci-Fi (1959, B&W)

Don’s Synopsis:  This movie is yet another typical Japanese cheesy sci-fi film, as invaders from the planet Krankor are trying to take over the Earth and the only person standing in their way is the Prince of Space.  The Prince of Space: a mild-mannered shoeshine man by day, superhero defending the Earth from beak-nosed chicken-like aliens by night.  Of course, the Prince of Space (PoS) is a friend with children, two young boys in particular (the PoS is starting to sound a little more like the King of Pop).  The invaders are lead by the Phantom of Krankor, who laughs like the Penguin in the old Batman TV show, and who continuously tries to shoot the Prince of Space with rayguns even though, as the PoS constantly reminds him, the guns have no effect on him.  Although the rayguns have no effect on him and the PoS could end this invasion at anytime, he always withdraws after every confrontation even though he never gets hurt.  The Phantom of Krankor even figures out who the PoS really is, a mild-mannered shoe-shiner, but does nothing with this information.  And the Phantom of Krankor then takes a group of scientists back to his planet to use them to convince the Earth to surrender.  Of course, PoS shows up and frees the scientists and finally defeats the Phantom of Krankor.

Don’s Review:  This is one goofy cheeseball movie that would be pretty funny on its own without the MST enhancement.  The riffs by M&tBs are pretty good for most part (although a surprisingly high number of them fall flat) and the host segments go through more arc development as both the Mads and the SOL are sucked inside a wormhole in space.  This is a fan favorite of the Sci-Fi era of the show for good reason.

Don’s Rating: 

Forrest’s Synopsis:  The "story" starts out with some guy named Wally, and three kids that he always hangs out with in their boot blacking job. The kids are named Mickey...and, er... Goofy and Pluto. Anyway, one night, after Wally insulted one of the kids by saying he wished he could teach them something other than boot blacking (apparently these kids like it VERY much), on the television the chicken men (yes, they are men dressed like chickens) of the planet Krankor appear. The "phantom of Krankor" says that he will invade earth just because he is evil, and ends his speech with an evil laugh that would even make Dr. Evil jealous. Apparently, even though these chicken men have mastered spaceflight and can travel from other solar systems, somehow some Japanese guy has created a rocket fuel that is far more advanced than Krankor's (?). The aliens, out of everywhere in the world, invade Japan with one small spaceship (that also looks like a chicken, and I'm not being a smart ass folks, this movie is as stupid as it sounds). That's when the Prince of Space shows up. And from there on out, it's a blank. I don't remember what happened, nor do I care.... I can see something about a giant monster that battles Prince...It turns out Prince was Wally...and the phantom dies. Good. The end.

Forrest’s Review:  Upon viewing this film, you might say that it is in fact the worst thing to come out of Japan, ever. But just a few episodes later you will be proven wrong.  I think this episode really ages well, and it gets funnier and funnier on repeat viewings, if only because of the totally absurd film being shown.  Obviously this movie was intended for little kids, bit even then, even then it's too unintelligent for even the most brain damaged little kids.  It's just an incredibly bad movie, with some cheesy charm, which was thankfully saved by brilliant riffs by the SOL crew.  Bill Corbett in particular is very funny, as he has reached his peak and has defined Crow's new personality by now.  The host segments are also very funny, especially the visit from Krankor (also played by Bill Corbett).  So, this is a very funny episode that repeats well.

Forrest’s Rating: