Anyone have any recommendations for RiffTrax episodes/shorts to watch? I’d like to give their stuff a shot, but I’m not sure where to start!
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Start with shorts. You can get a taste without the length of a movie.
As for which shorts, that’s more difficult.
The Farm Family ones are good, but that’s Briget and Mary Jo, not Mike, Bill, and Kevin. Funny though. (I like a lot of B&MJ’s stuff there is a different sense of humor at play)
The Captain Marvel shorts are supposed to be good. I have the first five, I think but haven’t watched them yet.
I got a kick out of Magical Field Trip to the Denver Mint (but I live in Denver)
Wonderful World of Tupperware is good.
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Also, they have a bunch of free shorts and movies on their Youtube channel. Might be better to start with some of those to know if you’re actually interested before dropping actual money.
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They’ve also got a Twitch channel that’s always on, if you want to dip in at random.
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I would say some of their already “classic” presentations would include:
Samurai Cop
The Guy From Harlem
Miami Connection
Carnival of Souls
Plan 9 From Outer Space
R.O.T.O.R.
Jack The Giant Killer
Each of thosse films are memorable in their own right (usually for the wrong reasons, of course), they each offer the guys a lot of material to work with, and the riffinng is generally pretty funny, even after repeat viewings.
Some of the above are available in both a studio recorded version and a “live” version. I’m partial to the “live” versions of these. I think most all of the riffs are the same in both versions, but the audience laughter and reactions adds an extra spark to the proceedings.
As @Vader and @Dr_Phantom mentioned, there are places online where you can check out some of their shows freely and legally, so make use of them.
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I would second Miami Connection and R.O.T.O.R., they always make me laugh.
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They’re having a sale now too so you can save a few $$$ by filling your cart. They also have sales nearly monthly, so don’t worry on that too much.
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There is one short you must see even though in it they expose you to great danger. Don’t be afraid, just be polite and Shake Hands with Danger.
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They have a collection of essential features that includes most of their very best stuff. It’s where I started.
Actually I started with Night of the Lepus, which is great. But after that I worked my way through the essentials.
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Go back a decade plus, and try a rarely talked about western classic (well, I think it is) Buffalo Rider - his theme song, “Buffalo Jones” is an earworm, and a running gag that never failed to crack me up.
But yeah, Samurai Cop is great - A Talkin Cat!?! - Future Force - Day of the Animals - Ghosthouse are few others off the top of my head. Oh, the Fred Willard version of Missile to the Moon is a joy.
Don’t know if you want to do just the jokes, but the Happening shouldn’t be missed.
Outside of the guys, Bridget and Mary Jo, and Cole and Janet do good riffs as well.
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You should definitely consider the $5.99/mo Friends subscription. Most of the older stuff is available on demand, hundreds of features and shorts. Many of the the Rifftrax Live shows too. Quite an amazing bang for the buck.
My fourteen Top 10 recommendations are:
Buffalo Rider
Curse Of Bigfoot
Swamp Of The Ravens
The Bermuda Triangle
Rollergator (this one separates true Riffaholics from the dilettanti)
Grizzly (BEST ENDING EVER)
Miami Connection (Studio)
No Retreat, No Surrender
A Talking Cat!?!
Lady Mobster
Truckers Woman
Winterbeast
Plankton
Dancin’ - It’s ON!
P.S. The four episodes they did for their pre-Rifftrax project “The Film Crew” are really good, too!
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You guys are reminding me of some good ones!
Buffalo Rider, “All the animals were hurt in the making of this picture!”
A Talking Cat!?, “They took my thumbs, Charlie!”
Day of the Animals, Great,by itself, for seeing Frank Drebben play Keith Olbermann!
Curse of Bigfoot, Have you ever had a weird teacher, I mean a really weird teacher?
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I enjoyed the Batman Serial. There are 12 of those. I’d been a fan for years, and bought the “set” so I got them all at once. I’ve also enjoyed the Captain Marvel.
Tubi is another free source, with commercials. That’s where I watched Attack of the Super Monsters. Holy crap. If you would consider, for a moment, bad anime plus crap models/puppets… It’s pretty special.
Miami Connection is another one with a unique place in Rifftrax history, or whatever you want to call it.
And for God’s sake, stay away from The Room until you’re ready for it.
Oh, yes - try Setting Up a Room. Not to be missed.
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I want to 2nd these recommendation for a slightly different reason. I just had the Rifftrax channel on PlutoTV on in the background while I was doing something else and it was a Cole and Janet movie. I’ve never watched one of theirs before and have been hesitant to buy any during the sales, because my brain is like “But it’s not Mike, Kevin, and Bill or Mary Jo and Bridget!”. But it – of course – was fine. Their comic timing is good and the writers room overlaps. Point being that having watched one of the freebies I’m more inclined to consider one of theirs sight unseen during the next sale.
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Definitely second ROTOR and A Talking Cat. Stay for the full credits for A Talking Cat.
I really enjoyed Planet of Dinosaurs and Crater Lake Monster too.
If you’re okay syncing the just the jokes tracks, I’d say give the 2009 Star Trek movie a go, it’s a great time.
Also, Dragon Wars aka D-War. Love that movie as a great good/bad classic anyways, and the riffing only adds to the fun.
House on Haunted Hill was a great time too, definitely give that one a go.
And their treatment of Birdemic is about the only way I’d recommend watching that movie.
And not to leave out Bridget and Mary Jo’s work, my wife and I both laughed hard at Cat Women on the Moon. And their coverage of Angel’s Revenge is superior to the MST3k treatment, in my opinion.
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