Phase IV

Oldest episode - at the time of writing - of Mystery science theatre 3000 that I've seen. And I hadn't heard great things about this season.

But it's better than I expected.

It follows the usual format, with segments before, during and after the film. The props and the puppets all look different and cheaper and rudimentary. So this does have the feel of a pilot season, in which things are being figured out.

The movie takes itself very seriously. And uses lots of stock footage and music that tries to be atmospheric. It's all about two scientists discovering ants are becoming intelligent. Trouble is, the use of stock footage and the ants hardly ever being in the frame with humans mean you never really feel the jeopardy.

Rather like the episode, the movie has good moments, and then dry and slow spells. The riffing, like the occasional later episode, does start off very good but then goes dry and sporadic. I believe this season was ad libbed rather than scripted, so frankly the move to the latter was for the better.

Not a bad episode, just a bit patchy. But the seeds of greatness, and some good moments, are here.