Mystery Science Theater 3000: AVALANCHE
May 4, 2017 12:32 AM - Season 11, Episode 4 - Subscribe
"A winter wonderland becomes a nightmare of destruction!" A bunch of characters at a resort built by Rock Hudson's character fall victim to his hubris when his construction practices contribute to a disaster. Note that Hudson's character comes through the movie unharmed, because who cares about justice. Be on the lookout for a song from Neil Patrick Harris, singing with Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt, and a list of made-up bad animal/disaster movie titles along the lines of Sharknado. Episode 1104 is on Netflix.
Episode 1104 AVALANCHE
Nerd Girl Riot - MST3K Discussion Board
Movie
Wikipedia
IMDB (1978, 4.0 stars)
"The vacationers at a winter wonderland struggle to survive after an avalanche of snow crashes into their ski resort. Their holiday then turns into a game of survival."
Directed by Corey Allen. Written by him, Frances Doel and Claude Pola. Starring Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow and Robert Forster.
Episode 1104 AVALANCHE
Nerd Girl Riot - MST3K Discussion Board
Movie
Wikipedia
IMDB (1978, 4.0 stars)
"The vacationers at a winter wonderland struggle to survive after an avalanche of snow crashes into their ski resort. Their holiday then turns into a game of survival."
Directed by Corey Allen. Written by him, Frances Doel and Claude Pola. Starring Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow and Robert Forster.
This movie makes San Francisco International look effortlessly compelling.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:31 AM on May 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:31 AM on May 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
This is one of the new episodes I have only watched once. Part of it is the extreme lack of chemistry between Farrow and Hudson.
posted by wittgenstein at 7:37 AM on May 4, 2017
posted by wittgenstein at 7:37 AM on May 4, 2017
God, all the Hudson/Farrow stuff in this movie was creepy as Hell. I appreciate how Jonah and the bots kept calling attention to it, but even their jokes didn't quite take the edge off.
The gag where the bot silhouettes were used to censor the naughty bits was amusing, though.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:36 AM on May 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
The gag where the bot silhouettes were used to censor the naughty bits was amusing, though.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:36 AM on May 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
"You taste like Andre Previn" a joke aimed squarely at me
posted by The Whelk at 10:28 AM on May 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 10:28 AM on May 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
I need to watch it again, but I was disappointed by this one on first viewing. The cheesy 70s films are my favorites - SF International, Angels' Revenge, Riding With Death - but this one just did not click. As mentioned above, Farrow and Hudson were awful, but not in an amusing way, just horribly going through the motions.
This movie needed Ben Murphy, damn it.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:55 AM on May 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
This movie needed Ben Murphy, damn it.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:55 AM on May 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
There was a point during this one where my wife and I were laughing so hard we couldn't catch our breath.
It started when they decided to whip the ambulance around the curve "I'll get out hereeeeeee!!!!"
posted by drezdn at 12:07 PM on May 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
It started when they decided to whip the ambulance around the curve "I'll get out hereeeeeee!!!!"
posted by drezdn at 12:07 PM on May 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
P.S. This thread isn't up to code.
posted by drezdn at 12:07 PM on May 4, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 12:07 PM on May 4, 2017 [10 favorites]
Oh my god, that ambulance scene. What in the Hell?
posted by tobascodagama at 12:37 PM on May 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 12:37 PM on May 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
It violated the usual rule in "cast of thousands" movies - we didn't care about any of these people. Either they were actively awful - Hudson, the date rape-y skier - or just uninteresting - figure skater lady.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:08 PM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:08 PM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sorry this is going up late, the whole House AHCA vote thing was soundly depressing. Anyway....
Tonight's showing is again on rabb.it, at https://www.rabb.it/rodneylives. The plan is to show:
7 PM ET/4 PM PT: 1104 AVALANCHE
9 PM ET/6 PM PT: 703 DEATHSTALKER AND THE WARRIORS FROM HELL
11 PM ET/8 PM PT: 1104 AVALANCHE again, or another episode determined by viewers
Last week our remaining viewers at the end of 702 were kind of tired out and no one wanted to keep watching, so we called it early. Such a thing may happen again, depending on how people feel. It is six hours of bad movie mirth.
posted by JHarris at 1:26 PM on May 4, 2017
Tonight's showing is again on rabb.it, at https://www.rabb.it/rodneylives. The plan is to show:
7 PM ET/4 PM PT: 1104 AVALANCHE
9 PM ET/6 PM PT: 703 DEATHSTALKER AND THE WARRIORS FROM HELL
11 PM ET/8 PM PT: 1104 AVALANCHE again, or another episode determined by viewers
Last week our remaining viewers at the end of 702 were kind of tired out and no one wanted to keep watching, so we called it early. Such a thing may happen again, depending on how people feel. It is six hours of bad movie mirth.
posted by JHarris at 1:26 PM on May 4, 2017
A full list of all the Deliberately Bad Animal/Disaster Movie Names
I am partial to Fraggle Rockslide (two Fraggle Rock jokes in one episode!), Mastodennui, Ptarmaggedon, Beaglebot Vs. Horsetapus, and Robo-Bonobo, myself. (But where is Dogcopter?)
posted by ilana at 8:04 PM on May 4, 2017 [10 favorites]
I am partial to Fraggle Rockslide (two Fraggle Rock jokes in one episode!), Mastodennui, Ptarmaggedon, Beaglebot Vs. Horsetapus, and Robo-Bonobo, myself. (But where is Dogcopter?)
posted by ilana at 8:04 PM on May 4, 2017 [10 favorites]
Ah yes, Robo-Bonobo had me struggling for air.
That host segment has to be one of their best. Ever.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:50 AM on May 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
That host segment has to be one of their best. Ever.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:50 AM on May 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Definitely one of the top host segments in the season, closely followed by Jonah's Kaiju rap.
posted by drezdn at 9:24 AM on May 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 9:24 AM on May 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
This movie is basically the only straight use of the life net I've ever seen. Every other time I've seen it used involved clowns, or cartoons, or cartoon clowns.
posted by ckape at 4:15 PM on May 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ckape at 4:15 PM on May 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
Streptococker Spaniel was my twitter name for a couple of weeks.
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:21 PM on May 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:21 PM on May 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
Man, that love song was actually really sweet and well done.
posted by Think_Long at 7:58 PM on May 5, 2017
posted by Think_Long at 7:58 PM on May 5, 2017
The gag where the bot silhouettes were used to censor the naughty bits was amusing, though.
Of course, they did this now and again in the old series (The umbrella in "City Limits"), but the gag of remote controlled flying objects to censor nudity was also used in Joel's previous gig, "Cinematic Titanic" (Though I can't immediately recall which movie it was).
I have to say this is my favorite so far and is the one I have re watched the most.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:44 AM on May 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Of course, they did this now and again in the old series (The umbrella in "City Limits"), but the gag of remote controlled flying objects to censor nudity was also used in Joel's previous gig, "Cinematic Titanic" (Though I can't immediately recall which movie it was).
I have to say this is my favorite so far and is the one I have re watched the most.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:44 AM on May 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Is everything brown or do I have retina damage?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:12 PM on May 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:12 PM on May 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was only vaguely amused until the rescue vehicles appeared, but once that police car crashed through the window it got my full and complete attention, and then I laughed so hard there were tears through until the end, especially thanks to that ambulance.
(And the chefs! With their cheerleaders!)
This is probably one of my favorite of the series just because of how much I loved those wacky rescue vehicles.
posted by paisley sheep at 5:57 PM on May 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
(And the chefs! With their cheerleaders!)
This is probably one of my favorite of the series just because of how much I loved those wacky rescue vehicles.
posted by paisley sheep at 5:57 PM on May 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm rewatching it now just because I need to see that ambulance again, and I'm enjoying the first half more than I remember the first go around. There were some chuckles for bits that I both forgot ("hot-chocolate-beer") and apparently missed ("You know what this movie is missing?" "Name tags.").
But I realized I mis-remembered the police car bit. It was the guy that went through the window as the police car skidded into the very fake store. Either way, it's so wonderfully ridiculous and I love it. Once the kitchen explodes ("my popcorn shelf!"), I start giggling as the wild ride begins. The last half-hour is gold and the ambulance gets the MVP.
posted by paisley sheep at 9:17 PM on May 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
But I realized I mis-remembered the police car bit. It was the guy that went through the window as the police car skidded into the very fake store. Either way, it's so wonderfully ridiculous and I love it. Once the kitchen explodes ("my popcorn shelf!"), I start giggling as the wild ride begins. The last half-hour is gold and the ambulance gets the MVP.
posted by paisley sheep at 9:17 PM on May 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
In hindsight, the All Ski-Bum Volunteer Fire & Rescue was a terrible idea.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:55 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:55 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
What a weird and ineffectual disaster movie; I'm no connoisseur, but it definitely has a slapdash "riding Irwin Allen's coattails" feel to it. Poor Robert Forrester! The Rock Hudson / Mia Farrow vibe (and the overall atmosphere of 1970s casual creepitude) is definitely creepy and tough to watch.
The actual avalanche sequence made for some high quality, rapid-fire riffing, especially in the kitchen (WTF cheerleaders!) - one of my absolute favorite riffs of S11 so far was the shout-out to the Sesame Street pratfalling baker - anyone complaining that the new season's riffs are too modern/geeky just has an axe to grind; I don't think Sesame Street has aired any of those clips in 25+ years.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 7:13 AM on May 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
The actual avalanche sequence made for some high quality, rapid-fire riffing, especially in the kitchen (WTF cheerleaders!) - one of my absolute favorite riffs of S11 so far was the shout-out to the Sesame Street pratfalling baker - anyone complaining that the new season's riffs are too modern/geeky just has an axe to grind; I don't think Sesame Street has aired any of those clips in 25+ years.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 7:13 AM on May 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
*Robert Forster, who usually elevates anything he's in. Not sure he was able to actually elevate anything about this movie, but he didn't really embarrass himself either.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 7:32 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 7:32 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
My favorite thing in this movie is a bit on the IMDB page about how they used a lot of styrofoam to make the avalanche more compelling, and the town was covered in it after the snow melted and production had left.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:58 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:58 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Animal-Disaster movies almost felt like a territorial marking. LIke they were saying, yeah, you wouldn't have any Sharknado at all if it weren't for MST3K.
posted by stevis23 at 8:29 PM on May 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by stevis23 at 8:29 PM on May 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
To me they felt more like a much-needed statement of solidarity. A skillful expression of a general resentment. A mirror upon a zeitgeist. A TRIUMPH of the human spirit!
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:35 AM on May 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 5:35 AM on May 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by Ipsifendus at 4:12 AM on May 4, 2017 [6 favorites]