John Gibson, mk. VIII

Or Exeter is my great-great-great-great grandson. All hail eugenics! Director Errol Morris has more on what was once a sci-fi classic, now—who knows what it means. Kinda like the Bill of Rights that way.

Comments

[jf]

Well, it was important enough to be the riffed movie in MST3K:The Movie, which is the only place I’ve seen it.

[ray]

I was just thinking the same thing, incidentally MST3K also happens to be the greatest thing ever too.

[just another lurker]

The 1970 movie Airport– the one with the big star studded cast, Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Helen Hayes, George Kennedy, etc– arguably started the modern disaster movie formula. According to IMDB:

“Trans Global Airlines was the name of the notional airline for the film. For many years it was not unusual to see props from the movie (with the fictional TGA logo) in other Universal films where airliner interior scenes were shot.”

Coincidence? Conspiracy? Or just the studio trying to save a few bucks by retreading props?

This would make a good connect-the-films drinking game, a la 7-degrees of Kevin Bacon.

[Slainte']

Assuming Cal Meacham took Physics in college, he wouldn’t think Exeter looked non-human. One of my Physics prof looked a lot like Exeter. Some of my other Physics profs looked pretty weird, too, just not quite like Exeter. Perhaps the Metalunans have been among us for a long time.

By the way there used to be a CNN anchor who looked a lot like Exeter. Lou something (not Dobbs).

[Akira MacKenzie]

Tom Servo: “Then I’ll ram my ovipositer down his throat and lay my eggs in his chest… but I’m not an alien.”

[mitch]

I really like the end of “This Island Earth,” the art direction of the alien world, with all the meteors hitting and exploding, and the hideous mutants. I can’t even recall the begining, which sounds silly from the linked article.

[Akira MacKenzie]

…and who can forget…

“Give Uncle Scrotor a hug!”

[meursault]

Ruth…I farted again

[Justin Slotman]

BOY golly, those doggone Zaygons are really licking us, huh? Well, let’s go get your brains scrambled. Humdy dum dum dum….

The fact that I’m not even the third person with a MST3K reference proves once again why Hit & Run rules.

[Jeff P.]

Oh, everyone knows Exeter is actually Nathaniel Branden:
http://www.rageboy.com/2003/10/science-fiction-double-feature-yes.html

[Todd Fletcher]

Does This Island Earth have the first instance of the-monster-with-the-exposed-brain? Cause that thing itself sure got reused around that time. It was in at least one Lost in Space for starters.

[jf]

The fact that I’m not even the third person with a MST3K reference proves once again why Hit & Run rules.

I’m just happy that MST3K gets good run here, seeing as how a good number of posters seem to actually hate Rush (the band, not the radio host).

[Slainte']

I was thinking of Lou Waters.
http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=1064

Regarding MST3K, Joel was waaaaaaay better than that other guy whose name I can’t remember.
(I seem to be having a problem with names today.)

The original Invaders From Mars had a creature with an exposed brain. I haven’t googled it to see which movie came first.

[Jack]

Slainte’ wrote: “Regarding MST3K, Joel was waaaaaaay better than that other guy whose name I can’t remember.”

Mike (Nelson) was the second host.

[SmokingPenguin]

Joel was waaaaaaay better than that other guy whose name I can’t remember.

Agree in general, but the early “Mike” episodes were pretty good. Mitchell was one of the best I’ve ever seen. By the time they got to “Pearl” though, it should have been obvious to everyone that the shark was a distant memory in the rear-view mirror.

[crimethink t. robot]

Lemme see my calculations… Breach hull, we all die. Heh, even had it underlined.

[Robert]

Who was the author — maybe Peter Brimelow — of the “1984 Palipsest”? I bring it up because one might call Trace Beaulieu a video palimpsist — one who supplies other words on top of existing videos, as in MST3K, “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, and an animal clips show whose title I forgot.

My interociter’s way better than that one.

[Robert]

Who was the author — maybe Peter Brimelow — of the “1984 Palimpsest”? I bring it up because one might call Trace Beaulieu a video palimpsist — one who supplies other words on top of existing videos, as in MST3K, “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, and an animal clips show whose title I forgot.

My interociter’s way better than that one.

[Jack]

Smoking Penguin wrote: “Mitchell was one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

“Isn’t this the point in a killing spree where you usually turn the gun on yourself?”

[kevrob]

Hmmmm…

Exeter. Exidor.

Any connection?

Kervin

[Gene Berkman]

After Cal Meacham builds the interociter, and Exeter appears on the screen, Exeter identifies himself as “a scientist, much like yourself.” Then he says “I realize I appear immaterial, but no matter.”
I love that line…prosaic, as well as philosophically deep.

[Gary Farber]

Excellent. Linked to the piece with a couple of pictures and comments here. Thanks.

I don’t associate TIE with MST3K, though, since I saw TIE a dozen times or so as a kid, decades before MST3K.

[Sandy]

You realize Mike was head writer for most of Joel’s run? I’ll defend him–he brought a lot of even goofier midwesternism. The Perl thing was kinda lame, but I’ll put up “Time Chasers” and “Space Mutiny” up against “Teenagers from Outer Space” and my personal favorite, “I Accuse My Parents”.

Thanks for this, I need to go back and watch the MST Movie. It’s been too long.

[JD]

I liked the dynamic of the show better with Mike – Joel was more like a father figure to the bots, while Mike was an equal (or less, sometimes).

[Coiley]

Heh heh, no springs!!!!!

[SmokingPenguin]

“Isn’t this the point in a killing spree where you usually turn the gun on yourself?”

Jack – there were a few good lines in it, but that one was a killer. The thing that got me the most was when they’d shout “Mitchell!” every time JD Baker would punch someone.

Sandy – Time Chasers was one of your favorites? I thought it was near the bottom of the “Mike” shows. Light on cultural references, full of insults for a movie which (compared to others they’d done) was not so bad. I Accuse My Parents was a great one, though.

Sandstorm! Sandstorm!

[Tom Servo]

I love Coiley!

[Hee hee, no springs in your ke]

[Spring Disrespecter]

Please Coiley, bring back the springs! I didn’t realize how important they were! I’ll do anything you want, just make my keyboard work again!!

[Pro Mike]

“This is when science didn’t have to have any specific purpose.”