Search - Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Crawling Hand on DVD

More spontaneous

Martin Andrade | Minnesota | 04/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Joel Hodgson has always been embarrassed by his early work. After a few seasons on Comedy Central MST and CO asked that their first year work not be rerun or used for all day marathons. They are the best judges of their work, and if you're not a huge MST3K fan I'd recommend taking their advice.However, I personally enjoy the early years of MST3K. My personal collection includes taped episodes of the original KTMA channel 23 episodes where Joel and Co got their start.The jokes are spontaneous, by not having a heavily scripted show one can almost relax a little bit, and see for themselves the .... in all its glory. "The Crawling Hand" is also one of my favorites from the first season due to the epic amount of word play and puns. There are several solid groups of bellyaching laughter when one pun after another after another are delivered by Servo and Crow. I also like the more homey feeling of the visual aspects of the film. I grew up watching MST3K on television with poorer picture quality and I get a bit nostalgic. But like I said earlier, Joel is the best judge of his own work, and if he is unhappy with the earlier episodes, I recommend you take his advice"

At its early best, MST3K delivers many 1st season laughs

Valnastar | Deep 13, USA | 10/31/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although MST3K would really hit its stride as far as pacing, themes, sets, cast chemistry and joke writing in season 2, this is one of the best episodes from season 1 and it's the only one you can buy on DVD at the time of this writing. The jokes run a wide range of topics from the absurdity of an animated severed hand to the acting ability of Alan Hale, Jr. Although the humor is not as dense as in some later episodes like Cave Dwellers or Pod People, there is still no shortage of humor tossed at this B grade science fiction/horror film. If you love MST3K, you'll want to see this early gem."

Not What I'm Used To

M. Waters | Maryland | 08/19/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but I was disappointed with "The Crawling Hand". At first I thought it was really cute because this episode was taken from the first season, so it was interesting to see the really corny sets and even cornier special effects. However, as I watched the episode more, the more bored I became. Granted, "The Crawling Hand" is not the most exciting movie to watch, but it just didn't seem as though Joel and the bots were as funny. Tom Servo had a completely different voice and Dr. Forrester had a different assistant.I know that this episode is a part of MST3K history and for that I give it respect, but I personally just could not get into this episode. I would suggest it, though, to other fans of the series so they can make their own decisions about it. Like I said, since it's one of the first episodes, it should be watched, but don't expect to be rolling on the floor laughing very much."

Rough around the edges, but still quite enjoyable

Jonathan Tavaris | Sunrise, FL | 07/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's true that this episode from Season 1 of MST3K is rough around the edges, but that doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable. The biggest flaws are long silences, some unfunny riffs ("Sure, next you'll tell me there's a ring around Uranus!"), and a couple awkward host segments (especially the intro). However, the novelty of seeing a first season episode is enough to make this episode worth purchasing, and it's actually quite entertaining. There are some really memorable riffs in this episode ("It's the Crawling Bladder!"), and at times they keep coming steadily, like in later seasons. The episode does get off to a shaky start (the intro segment is sloppy, and most of the bad riffing seems to be concentrated within the first 30 minutes), but thankfully gets much better as it goes on. I wouldn't recommend this to someone new to MST3K (get Manos: the Hands of Fate and I Accuse My Parents first), but it's a real treat for MSTies."