301. Cave Dwellers (1984)

[BruceLeePullen]

@farmcat

I do wish the gang riffed on the first movie of Ator? I know they released a Rifftrax of it.

Here’s a link for the discussion once you’ve seen it.

1206. Ator, The Fighting Eagle (1982)

“This is the part of the film we like to call “she had to ask.””, “Jeez, Tolkien couldn’t follow this plot!”, “Again?” “No!!!” These are the jokes I hear when thinking of Ator, The Fighting Eagle (1982). Yes they are riffs from the sequel yet the spirit lives on and those flashbacks are “with us always.” Secret Plan, Swiss Army Cheese, Totino’s Pizza Roll Popper, Ator’s Training Sequence, Kiog the Bear Cub. “Ah, finally, I can yell “Fire” in a crowded theater”, “Remind me again, how much Keefe i…

[CleverPete]

The first tape I circulated.

[Jellis1]

Out of the sword and sorcery flicks, Ator is definitely the most competent hero. He’s the Doc Savage type.

Contrast Cabbot who seems more lucky than anything else and DeathStalker, who only succeeds in being repulsive.

[Goldash]

@BruceLeePullen

This alone converted me. Arguably the #1 Host Segment of All Time.

MST3K - Cave Dwellers Reinactment

Watching this episode now, and came here to talk about this specific host segment. I love that they made fun of the totally unrelated opening credits we’d also see in Pod People. This is right up there with “A Joke By Ingmar Bergman” in terms of supremely detailed, silly tedium.

(honestly, I began watching this tonight because of “Hercules Versus The Moon Men” and its opening host segment. Dr. Forrester asks Joel, “remember rock climbing, hmmm?”)

[FlyingSquid]

Rock climbing was Lost Continent, not Cave Dwellers.

[Dr_Phantom]

Maybe the real rock climbing is the endless scenes we watched along the way.

[Goldash]

D’oh! Thanks for reminding me. I’ve had an annoying cold for the last few days and my memory’s not what it should be.

Regardless, I’m glad I checked this episode out last night. Strong all the way through, and some extremely awesome riffs.

Well, I know the episode I’m watching next. Time to check out Lost Continent and witness the origin of…

[BruceLeePullen]

@Goldash

D’oh! Thanks for reminding me. I’ve had an annoying cold for the last few days and my memory’s not what it should be.

Regardless, I’m glad I checked this episode out last night. Strong all the way through, and some extremely awesome riffs.

Well, I know the episode I’m watching next. Time to check out Lost Continent and witness the origin of…

Keep us posted on Lost Continent! I believe I made a thread for that.

[Petrichor]

Cave Dwellers is one of my favorites! After watching it many times, it was fun to finally see Ator the Fighting Eagle in season 12, to finally understand what the bewildering opening flashback was about. Swords and sorcery movies (as well as sci-fi pictures like Starcrash or Space Mutiny) are some of my favorites.

[BruceLeePullen]

As I fell in love with Cave Dwellers (1984) and MST, I tripped over an unriffed copy of Ator, the Fighting Eagle (1982) at my local video store. Those were the VHS days and immediately the flashbacks of 301 made sense as I pined for Joel and the bots to riff that too. So many years later, it felt like a family reunion having the first Ator on the show.

[Cleggster]

Wow. That’s the cover? I see someone studied at the Vallejo School of Art.

And when does Ator use a three-headed flail…with a saber-tooth tiger… and is that his sister?

[FlyingSquid]

VHS covers were often so much better than the movies they contained. And often had very little to do with those movies.

Here’s the VHS cover for what we think of as The Final Sacrifice:

[The_Riddler]

Yeah, VHS covers for movies are a vanishing art form. Back in the day when you were trolling through the local video store (there used to be a LOT of them and they all weren’t Blockbuster) a lot of times you’d pick up a movie based largely on the art that was on the tape slip cover. So in order to get the rent, even makers of bad movies would spare no expense on some cool art because it was like an advertisement. VHS tape cover art was some industrial grade deception for bad movies.

[TheLurker]

I dislike how Struzan-esque cover art is falling out of fashion over ones that are basically just a bunch of edited photos.

[Cleggster]

Holy carp! That one is just…wow. Yeah, I gots nothin’.

But now I kinda want to know who those people on the cover are.

[Pearls_Mint]

Yeah that’s my question too. Casper van Dien and Val Kilmer?

[FlyingSquid]

I’m guessing more likely the poster maker’s two buddies he had to get because he didn’t have time to find anyone else.

[Sitting_Duck]

@Cleggster

Wow. That’s the cover? I see someone studied at the Vallejo School of Art.

And when does Ator use a three-headed flail…with a saber-tooth tiger… and is that his sister?

Fun Fact: Boris Vallejo did do the posters for Deathstalker II and Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell. As for the bikini chick in the background, appearance-wise she most resembles the witchy gal who wanted to ride Ator like a horse.

[The_Riddler]

Yeah - modern movie posters and DVD covers are crap. They look like the studio handed the job off to some intern with a moderate level of photoshop training. Its been a LONG time since I’ve seen a movie poster that wasn’t a generic pile of mush. Man do I miss the days when movies had posters like it did for Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Back to the Future. Movie poster art used to be beautiful. Now its absolute junk I wouldn’t line a birdcage with.

[BruceLeePullen]

@The_Riddler

Yeah - modern movie posters and DVD covers are crap. They look like the studio handed the job off to some intern with a moderate level of photoshop training. Its been a LONG time since I’ve seen a movie poster that wasn’t a generic pile of mush. Man do I miss the days when movies had posters like it did for Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Back to the Future. Movie poster art used to be beautiful. Now its absolute junk I wouldn’t line a birdcage with.

When would you say that went away? Early 90s?