Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV Series) Pod People (1991) User Reviews

Top Ten MST3K

[skinnybert · 8/10 · 16 April 2021]

Having caught MST only in its later Mike version, I was surprised by the Joel-era-is-better crowd; their favorites seemed to be "The Day the Earth Froze" and "Manos", and neither of those seemed much fun. But "Pod People" succeeds on all counts: a poorly-assembled movie, but not tedious or morose. Badly-looped sound, sure, but at least it isn't all done by three people. Being the 80s, it's laughably bad already in the clothing department, but MST didn't even need to go after that -- there was already plenty to poke fun at in the movie itself.

Which brings us to what makes a good MST3K riff. Sometimes the material is there, but not the riffs; sometimes the film is just too dull to really breathe life into. "Pod People" is ripe for the plucking, but (more importantly) the MST3K was really raring to do so. Two of the host breaks do little more than re-enact scenes from the film, and are hilarious in doing so. References vary from high culture to low: TV commercials & shows but also verging on the surreal ("new potatoes"), and skewering the mid-80s New Age soundtrack.

By the time Joel sings a final song, the episode comes to a perfect close. Fascinating trainwreck of a movie + strong riffing + memorable host segments = one of the best; they didn't even have time to read a fan letter at the end. Definitely recommended.

"It has nothing to do with pods, it has nothing to do with people"

[ametaphysicalshark · 19 August 2008]

"It has everything to do with hurting".

"Pod People" is an abysmal film. It not only has the sort of identity crisis that one has a hard time believing (it is, quite literally, a mixture of the evil invaders from space and "E.T."), and it is really painful to sit through. I actually don't think there's one second of solid direction, one second of good acting, one half-decent line of dialogue. It's that terrible.

The MST3k episode is wonderful though, featuring some really inspired riffs and skits. It's not one of my favorites, but still a great episode. I have only seen "Pod People" once without the MST3k help and it is genuinely quite impossible to sit through. I fell asleep twice or thrice.

I do have to give the movie credit for giving us Trumpy, arguably the most ludicrously designed alien of all time, and by God that kid, Tommy, is the most annoying thing to appear in a film. If I was Trumpy I would have killed that kid much before the girl in the shower.

1/10 (8/10 for MST3k episode)

"It stinks!" Wait, not the episode, no. Its rather hilarious actually!

[teasippingnerdymom · 10/10 · 31 October 2016]

Part E.T. rip off, part B-movie horror flick, part stupid teen movie, "Pod People" is a steaming pile of you-know-what that only serves to bring out the best for the crew of the Satellite of Love (SOL). Joel and the bots, Crow and Tom Servo, riff this movie at all the right points. Non-stop hilarity ensues.

JOEL: "Trumpy, you can do stupid things!"

One of the best segments (in my opinion) of MST3K is during Segment Two when Joel and the bots sing their own version of the song from the movie, titled by our trio as "Idiot Control Now." Its best described as pee-your-pants hilarious if you listen to the lyrics, finished off perfectly by Joel's cheesy "It stinks!" Making fun of a completely ludicrous moment in the movie, Joel and crew spoof it perfectly! Segment Four also provides a goofy but funny scene in which Trumpy's magic causes total mayhem on the SOL, illustrating what bad movies can do to good people. I'd probably go loopy if I had to watch this movie without the riff trax playing alongside it. All great stuff.

CROW: "Now this guy's got renaissance festival written all over him." ALL: "HUZZAH!"

Does every joke work? No; however, you'll be laughing so hard at the other jokes, you'll need a break eventually just to breathe! The 'Chief!? McCloud!?' sequence gets old after a few times, sure. But otherwise, all great fun. Find out more on the obscure references here: http://mst3k.wikia.com/wiki/Pod_People

So put on that flannel shirt, watch out for the Trumpy dumpy as you head over to the flannel-covered couch, and turn on this episode. Sure, the movie stinks, but the SOL crew is fantastic! One of my top 3 MST3K episodes!

Nothing can save this film

[rob1n · 1/10 · 4 April 2015]

I love MST3K, i cannot speak highly enough about it, but not even Joel and the bots can save Pod People. It stinks, everything about this film is atrocious, there is no saving grace whatsoever. I have the DVD and every couple f months attempt to sit down and watch it all the way to the end, I've had the disk for over ten years, not made it once without giving up in disgust or falling asleep. As one is supposed to give hints of impending spoilers here is the warning, this film stinks, this film is awful, even with the MST3K treatment this films stinks, do anything you need to do in order to avoid this film, it is that bad, you will regret the time lost watching it. Seriously if you're faced with cleaning out a blocked drain in a downpour while being attacked by aggrieved weasels and being abused by your mother in law while you get on with clearing the obstruction, then believe me the drain blockage, the weasels, and that woman have nothing on the misery and pointlessness of this film.

The Addiction was born here

[KUAlum26 · 10 February 2008]

I was already familiar with this show and the concept before I saw this edition of the show,but I'm not sure I had been completely sold on the whole package until I watched this particular show over at a friend's dorm during a Sunday before(or after,I'm a little fuzzy)Spring break. This poorly crafted South American(?) attempt at fusing "E.T." with some sort of slasher/SciFi horror flick was so rife with MSTie quality tripe that I'm sure that there had to be some editing and re-takes over what the Best Brains guys would leave and leave off this show.I laughed in ways that were full-bodied and uncontrollable,actually causing me to emit noises that unsettled at least one of the other guys with which I was watching the show! It was this episode of the series where my obsession or "addiction" to this show was probably truly born,and even though it would be another year and a half before the local cable company would finally pick up Comedy Central(when I would FINALLY get a chance to regularly view it)I would faithfully watch this for nearly the entirety of the show's run.