Mystery Science Not March Madness: Jonah Edition (Season 11, FINAL POLL)

Well, voting slowed, so here it is:

The last match-up of Season 11.

Reptilicus vs. Avalanche, which barely edged out Cry Wilderness!

  • Reptilicus
  • Avalanche

0 voters

And… go.

4 Likes

Very difficult call. But I’m going with Reptilicus because:

  • Every Country Has a Monster
  • The sheer joy of seeing the first new episode of MST3K in decades is hard to match.
  • My son loves this episode.
  • My name is in the end credits.
9 Likes

Avalanche for me. It’s eminently rewatchable, has just enough quality in the source film, and comes right when the team is hitting their stride together. Best of all the Netflix episodes.

9 Likes

This is a VERY worthy final matchup. Avalanche is hand-down my favorite of the Netflix era but come on, Every Country Has a Monster!

6 Likes

Very tough call, these match-ups are brutal. I’ve got to go with Avalanche. Every Country Has It’s Monster is amazing, but I think the gang had found their footing a little better, and it’s such a delicious course of 70’s cheese. And that reckless ambulance just never gets old for me.

6 Likes

Call me a purist from the gamera intensive past but giant monsters crush all. I have the strange ability to enjoy every large monster movie and therefore Reptilicus is superior by every important measure. Number of buildings destroyed, number of lines dubbed, and number of those killed.

4 Likes

Avalanche. It’s such a time capsule!

3 Likes

Every Country Has a Monster seals it for me.

4 Likes

It’s always Reptilicus for me. Not only was it a fantastic opener to the new season, you have Every Country Has A Monster!

5 Likes

That’s such a cointoss. I’m throwing in with Avalanche… the carnage and loss of life is hilarious, which really says something about a movie who’s entire drama hinges on carnage and loss of life. Plus, 70s people - perhaps the most unintentionally funny people.

I voted, wrote my soap box speech, and then read the replies - glad we’re all hitting on certain 70s points

5 Likes

I disliked Reptilicus on a first viewing, to the degree that I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue with the show, but I was advised to skip to Avalanche, see if that worked for me. And that did it, it was hilarious, that’s what kept me around.

Years later I revisited all the episodes and came to like Reptilicus - still, Avalanche gets bigger, barrel laughs out of me. So that’s my ‘very easy’ pick.

5 Likes

Now I’m curious, who would have won in a Reptilicus vs Cry Wilderness battle?

I expected the final 2 to be Avalanche vs. Wilderness (but of course, they met in the semis). Am I over estimating C.W.s popularity, was an A v R final inevitable? (I suspect Avalanche would have knocked out Carnival Magic had the match-ups gone that way).

1 Like

Reptilicus is one of my least favorites from the new seasons- it’s not bad, and Every Country has a Monster is classic- just didn’t spark with me the same way some others did. Avalanche is an episode even my non-MSTie boyfriend was surprised he found enjoyable, so I personally give it extra points for that

3 Likes

I’ll find it hilarious if Avalanche wins by a wide margin because, ah, that’d be an avalanche?

2 Likes

Reptilicus is a great episode when you consider all the heavy lifting it has to do. It’s introducing the new characters and sets, establishing the more intricate in-theater sight gags, capturing the feel of classic MST3K while standing out as its own distinctive creation, and so on. It does what it does admirably, skewering a laughable monster movie with plenty of fun riffs, some of which happen to encompass pop cultural references that you didn’t see coming - and references that work! And of course, you have an instant top-ten host segment with Every Country Has a Monster.

That being said, Avalanche represents something particularly special by getting such inspired comedic mileage out of a disaster movie, the kind of genre that seems tailor-made for MST3K. It sends up the disaster movie conventions so well, tackles those ever-present 70s aesthetics and production elements, and continues to build on those already excellent show aspects from the previous three episodes. Also, the host segments represent something wonderful, especially with the Neil Patrick Harris duet and the SOL crew going to great lengths to claim the rights to as many monster/disaster movies as possible.

Ultimately, Reptilicus may be the more important episode as far as MST3K history goes, but I think Avalanche stands out as a funnier effort.

6 Likes