1001. Soultaker (1990)

One of my favourite MST3K episodes! A Soultaker appreciated thread also appeared on Reddit the other day.

Maybe MST3K crew is getting the rights back and working on a tribute episode (let a guy dream :slight_smile: )

5 Likes

The digs and references are very strong. I was struck how swift and on target the humor is. Watching it Sunday, the speed of the punchlines and the intensity of the riffers truly pulled me in. A much better result than I recall.

3 Likes

lol. I toil away for pocket change on things I don’t choose for myself almost every day. I feel confident that if I cracked the lock on the time machine and went back to meet the riffers at the point in time you describe, none of them would volunteer to trade places with me. Even if they too could scroll up any cinema they wanted while the boss was away. :wink:

1 Like

I like Soultaker a lot. The movie is rather Out There and high concept (and it’s easy to get caught in the suspense a little). The riffs are exceptional (They were so next level locked-in by Season 10) and, of course, Joel and TV’s Frank! (I very much remember being genuinely shocked when they showed up the first time I watched this)

Also features one of my all-time favorite riffs:


“Father Dude”

7 Likes

Creative types are unique creatures. You hear celebrities complain about the most frivolous and silly stuff almost every day. It might not be what WE relate to while it doesn’t make it untrue. I’m just explaining what I see not necessarily defending it.

1 Like

last i checked the wonderful zapp rowsdower also had the full episode up on YT if you look hard enough :wink:

3 Likes

Yeah, I know. I don’t regard this all as a battle to the death. Not even by internet standards. I just find it interesting.

Example: If we weren’t having this discussion, I would never have realized that Soultaker was filmed in Alabama, too!! :open_mouth:

Also, I AM a creative type. Just not one who ever made it pay.

3 Likes

It’s there. It’s how I caught it yesterday.

We need to set up an unpaid creatives club! I think it’ll be very popular.

I managed to save a local copy one of the last times it was online. :wink:

1 Like

Oh I didn’t think DS was good, though I think it had elements of goodness (it had a plot and decent makeup, unlike many riffed movies) – I just think that on a per-dollar basis they got more for their money than ST. So I’m imaging if the execution could scale up with costs, it could have been actually good. But… maybe not :woman_shrugging:

1 Like

Has anyone actually got a quote from the writers about their so-called hatred for this movie? Lots of this sounds like projection to me. What with all the hours and hours of interviews everyone has given about MST3K, it should have popped up sometime.

This conversation started over objections on the material employed during Soultaker (1990). The treatment is observable and remarked upon by several here. It is a read a couple have shared and is their opinion. No Haknudsen, no overt evidence exists they detested the film. However the context is such we are well aware Sci-Fi and Best Brains differed on suitable projects to riff and this contributed to their falling out. Further we have viewed experiments previously that were rites of passages and obstacles for the riffers and these had certain tells, indicators, and a tad more aggressiveness to the commentary normally than typical episodes. Soultaker (1990) exudes all those signs to me but I may be wrong. Who knows. This isn’t projection though. I have no animosity to the movie and believe it to be a fun show to watch. If I was projecting, I’d contend they had a wonderful time doing this not the opposite. Stepping back from myself which is not projection, the demeanor of the guys, their energy exhibited, and the candidness of highlighting the film’s seams appears to suggest something and that is one possible read based on my observation but not personal feelings on the experiment.

2 Likes

Never wrong!
black and white concert GIF

2 Likes

Note: I’m a passionate writer. Avoid interpreting that passion as bias however. In intense exchanges, my intensity might be mistaken as having a beef when in truth I feel so strongly this is felt in the writing. My conclusions have a conviction of my certainty and intuition based on my life experience and purposefully attempting to read behavior to understand myself and survive the behavior of the people around me. In so doing, I analyze everything and focus on what I see not what I prefer. As someone who combated insanity, delusion, projections, emotional whims, and madness in my own family, I take particular effort to remove my own personal factor from my analysis. Obviously one has to retain who you are to some extent no matter what it is regardless I go out of my way to be impartial and factual to what I notice as that is what keeps me centered to improving my own life to now. I say this to give insight and to specify the energy is the product of a ton of deliberation and forethought not none at all. Thanks.

1 Like

Sorry for all the words. You raise a worthy concern. Speaking for myself, I have a hunch and nothing more. Clang holds her thoughts as do you. These conversations are a widening debate whereas nothing is etched in stone nor intended to be. Your words are appreciated. Speculation is par for the course on forums. For what it’s worth, thanks for the conversation.

1 Like

I’m just conjecturing. So, no. But that closing credit story had a different tone than the earlier version of it we heard in Hercules. It just sounded much meaner. Which is true frequently of these later episodes. Often the writing does sound angrier and meaner, both with the films and with the host and/or robots.

1 Like

The whole closing credits story was a slam on Mike and the 80s, not the movie.

Aren’t you thinking of Space Mutiny? That’s the one where they jeer, “You and your precious 80s,” etc.

1 Like

Joel Meets Mike.

7 Likes

Are you autistic? I ask, because I am, and you sound like me here.

1 Like