1009. Hamlet (1961)

My stance towards this one has definitely softened over the years.

In fact, a few weeks ago, I chose this one on purpose because I was in a “Why not? I wanted to watch something I hadn’t seen in a while anyway” mood. Knowing what I was getting myself into, I actually had a good time.

It’s definitely a testament to how Next Level locked-in there were by Season 10 because they somehow make this just work enough. They clearly respect and admire the material too, as dour as the presentation is.

And their riffing on the “To Be or Not To Be” speech is one of my favorite underrated sequences!

Plus, I love how they even got to this anyway. From Mike’s “Three Card Monte” to subtly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (“It’s your choice”).

In the right kind of mood, Hamlet can be a lot of high-brow fun. Glad I gave it another look!

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Does it come with the Plantain Planks™ ? :yum:

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Hamlet (1961) and Red Zone Cuba (1966) aren’t alone. Other rays of sunshine covered.

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What’s worse than clowns? DANISH clowns!

And I’m pretty sure that this movie has the record for most material cut before being put on MST3K (by the MST3K crew, not like what Sandy Frank Productions did with “Time of the Apes” or the second “Fugitive Alien” movie).

Side thought: being that this wasn’t a cheesy movie story and such (production values are another issue yes), could this sorta be seen as a precursor to Rifftrax, doing stuff outside the MST3K norm?

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john travolta GIF

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Hamlet (1961) is an EXTREME example of this. Caring for the source material is crucial. Also the mixing of two unique properties into one. Notice not that many are in the middle. You either have no interest in Shakespeare and none in the episode, have familiarity in both and love both, or can’t reconcile the dual peanut butter and jelly of Elizabethean Theatre and MST3K. One might argue this episode is a bridge too far but not me. It is warm, refined, calculated, cerebral, and a high end Coleman Francis Experience laced with academia and not for everyone. Be glad Best Brains wasn’t forced to riff all of it like Gamera vs. Jiger (1970). Hamlet (1961) in its original form was 152 minutes.

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:joy:

Except that he’s way better looking than all of them.

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Note: A lionshare of our love of MST3K revolves around getting what the experiment is or attempts to be and sitting back to watch how it goes wrong. Being comfortable with Shakespeare and the tropes, fashions, traditions, and pleasures of people in leotards cavorting on a stage acting contrarian to what most of us are used to is the essence of what Mike, Kevin, and Bill are digging into. The theatre life, the theatre legacy, the culture, the references, and the works themselves the people cover and the temperment behind the arts parading in the plays. Hamlet (1961) is a failure how a Corman Picture is a failure whereas more of us get how to read Corman while Shakespeare is love it or leave it owing to its antiquity and dated elements. It is a greater stretch than 50s B Movies and this is where this episode is harder to relate to since the skewered elements are not to everyone’s taste.

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It’s like this: I’ll gladly revisit any episode* of MST3K. Hamlet applies. Does it reach the heights of Mitchell, Jack Frost, Mac and Me, or Beyond Atlantis in my book? No, and it doesn’t -have- to. It’s an MST3K episode, so we’ve got those fun sketches and great riffs. Some movies are murkier, bleaker, and more difficult than others, but it’s a testament to this crew that they can still glean laughs from such films.

*not The Castle of Fu Manchu, that’s more of a “FINE, OKAY, I’LL WATCH IT” begrudging revisit

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Hear hear optiMSTie. The structure of MST in whatever form is worthy. Hamlet (1961) is not a legendary episode and it doesn’t have to be. There are subjects and disciplines that when combined aren’t as satisfying to go down as others dependent on who you are. Shakespeare is a country to itself that presents factors that feed into personal takeaways. That’s what I’m saying. The lay of the land when Shakespeare is involved. No offense intended.

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Hey, it’s speedy delivery guy!

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Indeed!

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@Satoris720.

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Wow, this one is hard Bruce. it’s right up there with Manos and Hobgoblins. But Ricardo Montalbon saves this one for me. I had a Cordoba with Corinthian leather and I loved Star Trek 2! So, I’ll give this one a thumbs up!

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I have a forum post idea! Would love to see people’s tier list of episodes.

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Careful there, someone may mistake you for optimisTIC. :wink:

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Shakespeare can be very good when done right. There’s a lot of humour in his plays, you just need time to get your brain into the language gear.

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I’m gonna notch it up one click and say Shakespeare can be excellent when done right.

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My takeaway: this was a bold choice for them so late in the series, and it wins points for that alone.

Thinking on it further, it’s one of the last and yet it takes me back to the dawn of my time as a fan. Once upon a time, there was only one Gamera movie riffed, one Russo-Finnish fantasy riffed, one Hercules movie riffed, and so on…

And if I’m remembering right, all the sketches relate directly back to Shakespeare and show an obvious affection for the material. (I love them all. Though the game show one could’ve been a smidge shorter. The action figure with the 1000’ string being a great capper as it runs into the credits.) So appropriately enough, that gives it a connection to I Accuse My Parents as well. Anyone obsessive enough to have watched This Is MST3K on Comedy Central remembers Mike basically getting credit for every Shakespeare reference on the show. :wink:

It’s the last episode of that era that I’d personally call a must-see.

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I decided to use a lazy Sunday afternoon to finally watch this one, and it wasn’t that bad. I doubt it’ll be one I rewatch very often, but it’s better than Fu Manchu. The riffs and sketches carry the plodding film, and I think it needed to be a late episode, with everyone at the top of their game, to make it work.

Oh, and I thought Hamlet looked a lot like Brian Thompson, and part of me kept waiting for Dr. Mordid to appear and start a stop motion creature fight. Sadly, that never happened.

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