I have not rewatched this one in ages. I just remember it being rather dour with bad acting.
Well, having now seen the vault pick (Mary Jo for the awesome) I can now attest that the acting is WORSE than I remembered. Wow, it’s like seeing wood float by in a slow-moving stream.
But since I forgot most of the riffs, it was actually fun to watch. Anything with Bela is a treat, the jokes in face of armageddon were great. I just watch Invasion U.S.A. last month, so now I got both in my head. And Invasion still stands up better for me. If nothing else, the film is funny all on its own.
“We need tanks, not tractors!” wait, whut?
“How DARE you offer me a military contract!” wait…what?
I think it also works better as a propoganda film. While both movies work on the assumption that the US has no reliable defence against a foreign attack, Rocket states that the USSR has a “100 percent” success rate for its defence.
Oh, and did I mention the acting?
But that all makes for excellent fodder for riffing. And it’s all worth it for the stinger.
“Help me.”
Help me indeed.
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One of the stand-out riffs is the Ligeti Requiem wailing from Joel and the bots around the missile launch site and its monolithic blast walls. Funny enough on its own, and they’ve done it elsewhere, but what puts it over the line here is when and why it suddenly cuts out.
Then there’s the golfing commentary on the Russian conference.
Come to think of it, they have a lot of long riffing epics in this movie, which just goes to show how drawn-out the pacing of the original is that they could take the time to develop an idea.
“I. Would like. To order. PLEASE!”
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Because he hadn’t grown up yet.
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I’m watching this one right now. Sometimes the closed captions add an extra layer of humor. During the McCarthy Hearings sketch, when Joel is speaking as Goliath the dog “naming names”, the person doing the captions apparently heard “Dolt and Trumble” and “Ringlaud Jr.” 
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I’m amazed we have come this far in the discussion without one mention of the absolute best riff in this experiment:
“Oh I hate to shoot a butt like that!”
The runners-up for belly laughs for me were –
“Trim Jeans Theater presents . . .”
and
“Hold the rest. I think we’ve found our Gigi!”
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Don’t forget. With Independence Day looming, it is your patriotic duty to watch this on a double bill with Invasion USA.
Maybe Starfighters as a nightcap.
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Bob Dornan! I see the connection!
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