Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars is a 1981 television film based on the 1960s British puppet TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Produced by the New York office of the series' distributor, ITC Entertainment, the film is a compilation of the Captain Scarlet episodes "Shadow of Fear", "Lunarville 7", "Crater 101" and "Dangerous Rendezvous".[1] It complements an earlier Captain Scarlet compilation film, Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons (1980).
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars | |
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Based on | Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson |
Developed by | Robert Mandell |
Voices of | Francis Matthews Ed Bishop Donald Gray Cy Grant Liz Morgan Paul Maxwell Jeremy Wilkin Gary Files Charles Tingwell David Healy Martin King Sylvia Anderson |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 91 minutes |
Production company | ITC Entertainment |
Release | |
Original release | 1981 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons (1980) |
The film was negatively received by fans of the original Captain Scarlet.[2] In November 1988, it aired as the second episode of the movie-mocking TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Plot
An attempt by Spectrum to survey Mars from space is threatened when the Mysterons murder an astronomer attached to the project and replace him with a doppelganger under their control. Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) track down and kill the reconstruction, but not before it sabotages the mountain observatory that is due to receive the images from the Martian space probe. The observatory is destroyed and the images are lost ("Shadow of Fear").
After the Lunar Controller declares the Moon a neutral party in Earth's struggle with the Mysterons, Scarlet, Blue and Lieutenant Green (voiced by Cy Grant) are sent to lunar colony Lunarville 7 to follow up reports of an unidentified complex being built on the far side of the Moon. They discover that this is a Mysteron installation ("Lunarville 7").
After reporting back to Spectrum, Scarlet, Blue and Green return to the Moon to destroy the Mysteron facility. They successfully extract its pulsating crystal power source, thus disabling its reconstructive capability and allowing it to be permanently destroyed with a nuclear bomb ("Crater 101").
Back on Earth, Dr Kurnitz finds that the crystal pulsator can be adapted to enable direct communication with the Mysterons. Transmitting to Mars, Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) requests an end to hostilities between the Mysterons and humanity ("Dangerous Rendezvous").
Video releases
The film had two VHS releases: the first by Channel 5 in the 1980s, the second by PolyGram in 1992. It was also released on Betamax and LaserDisc.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
On 24 November 1988 (Thanksgiving in the United States), Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars was broadcast as the second episode of the original version of the movie-mocking TV comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, transmitted by Minneapolis TV station KTMA.[3][4][5] It formed the second half of a double feature with Invaders from the Deep (1981), a compilation based on the Andersons' earlier puppet series Stingray, which had been shown the same day as episode 1.[6][7]
References
- "Miscellaneous — Multimedia: Videos". Spectrum Headquarters. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
- Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. Carlton Books. p. 121. ISBN 1-84222-405-0.
- Beaulieu, Trace; Chaplin, Paul; Jim Mallon, Jim; Murphy, Kevin; Nelson, Michael J.; Pehl, Mary Jo (May 1996). The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. Bantam Books. p. 40. ISBN 9780553377835.
- Cecchini, Mike (28 November 2016). "Lost MST3K Episodes Released". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- Spry, Jeff (29 November 2016). "Creator Joel Hodgson Reveals Lost Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episodes". syfy.com. New York City, New York: NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- Whalen, Andrew (25 September 2018). "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Season 12 on Netflix Gets a Premiere Date". newsweek.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- Adams, Erik (14 November 2018). "MST3K, Turkey Day, and 30 years of taking over the world before pie is served". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.