First Broadcast - 5 pm Saturday, Aug 2nd 1997
#20 in Mighty Jack's Top 100
Amazing Colossal Grade: ♫ "I touch the spore and melt to goo" ♫
Movie Pain: Medium - A bit static for a spy thriller
Riffing: I laughed so hard I wet 'em!
Skits: Ditto
Amazing Colossal Grade: ♫ "I touch the spore and melt to goo" ♫
Movie Pain: Medium - A bit static for a spy thriller
Riffing: I laughed so hard I wet 'em!
Skits: Ditto
Agent Adam Chance fights to keep a spore gun -which can melt a man into a bubbling green ooze- out of evil hands: During the mid 1960's, director Gerd Oswald created some memorable Gothic imagery with his work on the TV show, "Outer Limits". So it's surprising that his efforts on this flick are so stiff and noticeably lacking in imagination. Gerd could have least made this spy thriller interesting to look at, if he'd peppered "H.A.R.M" with the same experimental angles he used in "Limits"+ and spiced up the scenery by employing bright color and quick cuts (during a driving sequence, Mike smartly jokes... "Actual film from the Highway Department"
Instead were forced to endure a movie that spends most of its time in a few dreary rooms. And that makes Mike and the Bots job a little tougher. Their secret riff-plan? Twist the reality of all those mundane shots: Thus, a spore gun now shoots "Tiny Sausages", and the villain's boring lab becomes an "E.L. Fudge" factory where singer Prince hangs out. See, now That's fun.
Of course to be fair, I should give the film credit for helping out at least once. There's a scene where Adam cops a quick feel and the guys reactions are perfect. Tom Servo fires off a riff as Chance runs off, that is hilarious.
Host Segments? This is the famous "Trial of Mike". The bits are well done... Bobo, as Mike's lawyer, is excellent as he channels every court-based movie from "Inherit the Wind" to "Anatomy of A Murder" in his defense. And Crow swearing like a Sailor in his testimony had me doubled over with laughter.
The final verdict - Chance is convicted for incompetence while M&TB are given A's for saving the day with their keen wit.
+ A scene where the bad guy stomps on Adam's tracking device, is the only time we are treated to Oswald's familiar "Outer Limits" style of directing.
Host Segments
Intro: The Bots are extreme. Segment 1: Mike goes on trial for being a destroyer of worlds. Bobo will act as his defense. Pearl is the prosecutor. Segment 2: Crow bakes Mike a torte with a saw in it and Bobo's opening statements. Segment 3: The bots don't help Mike at all. Segment 4: Brain Guy's flowery testimony crumbles under Bobo's "Pie Crust" examination. End: Oretga & a little Amish boy testify. Mike is guilty and receives community service. Stinger: Stefanic takes a spaz chop.
Notable Riffs
* "I have abandonment issues with this movie already" - Crow
* "My David Lynch hair, No!" - Crow
* "A traitorous Frenchman? Who would have thought." - Crow
* "So Harm stand for "Hot And Ready Man" - Mike
* "It's my scoopable kitty litter clump collection" - Mike as Stefanic
* "Ah, now it will shoot little potato pellets" - Crow
* "Recorder music for young lovers" - Crow
* "Pee Wee Herman's grandfather, Winchester Wee Herman" - Mike
* "Must I wager my nose that they'll be back?" - Crow
* "Well I'm plenty fertile" - Servo as Stefanic looks through a microscope
* "Five hours of staring at the window finally pays off" - Crow
* "Will you give me a ride to Hawaii, thanks" - Crow
* "Heroin and fudge, what can it mean?" - Servo as Chance
* "The Denorex side makes my face melt" - Crow as Martinez
* "You wont spaz chop Adam, vil you?" - Mike as Stefanic
* "Come on, it's not called -Sort of old scientist who helped Agent for h.a.r.m" - Crow
* "Dear medical examiner. Put my friend in the best pail money can buy. Well, looks like I'm running out of room. Best wishes, Adam "Harm" Chance" - Crow
Riff Explained
"Madam" - "I'm Adam" - Chance/Servo
What a perfect riff. The guys name is Adam so it fits like a glove, but it also references a song by experimental San Francisco band, "The Tubes". Found on their second album "Young and Rich" (1976), Madam, I'm Adam was a parody on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Biblical musicals.
Stuff and Nonsense
* The often nude Barbara Bouchet (who at least dons a bikini for this flick) played Miss Moneypenny in the Bond parody "Casino Royale". Another MSTed actress joined her in that film. Tracey Crisp (Sheila in the Projected Man) played Helen.
* Donna Michelle (Real name, Dona M. Ronne) played the part of Marian, the gal with the giant thumb. She was a former ballerina who was Playboy's Playmate of the year for 1964. She became a photographer after posing and appeared in a few films in bit roles. She died in April, 2004 after suffering a massive heart attack while grocery shopping. She was 58.
* Mark Richman (Adam Chance) starred in the first and last productions of original "Outer Limits" -"The Borderland" & "The Probe"- Gerd Oswald directed neither episode, but is it any coincidence that there's a character in this movie named Janos Stefanic? The producer of the Outer Limits was Joseph Stefano
Available on DVD: Volume 33
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