Is Rifftrax horrible?

[DavidRosen 40]

So they're doing a Rifftrax screening of "The Room" here in Las Vegas tomorrow, and while I'd jump at any chance to see The Room in a movie theater again (would be my 5th time but first in like 3 or 4 years)... From the commercials I've seen of previous Rifftrax presentations, it looks like it will be incredibly corny. Like Morning Zoo radio corny... Anyone have an opinion on them? Are they pretty good? Should I just have my own The Room screening at home and invite friends over?

[Entering the Bone Zone 81]

Rifftrax is awesome - if you liked MST3K, it is a no brainer that you will love it. It is the same crew (Mike though, not Joel) doing the same schtick. And if you don't like MST3K, I don't really know what to tell you because in the words of the Iron Sheik, you are rice krispie dick jabroni.

 

I have seen it multiple times and laughed my ass off. I will be at the Omaha screening tomorrow of what you mention (it is simulcast nationwide in theaters) and fully expect it to be outstanding.

[Entering the Bone Zone 81]

Sorry, by "it" above I meant I have seen several Rifftrax screenings. Sharknado 2, King Kong, a couple of Christmas movies, Birdemic. All very fun - imagine if Paul, Jason, and June scripted their discussions ahead of time to drop the maximum number of obscure pop culture references into their jokes. This is akin to that.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Rifftrax is totally un-horrible! As Entering the BZ said above, it's basically MST3k without the silhouettes (which is apparently a huge sticking point for people when I try to get them into it.) At this point, I actually like it better than MST3k...

 

Honestly, they aren't too expensive. I would suggest just getting one of their mp3's or VOD's and seeing what you think. (Personally, I would recommend Cool as Ice, City of the Dead, or Super Mario Brothers. Personal favs.) The only time they don't really work for me is if the movie itself is really dull. At this point, it is an almost weekly ritual for me to get their latest release.

[DavidRosen 40]

OK sounds like the verdict is it could be very awesome :-) I definitely loved MST3k but those commercials sometimes before movies always made Rifftrax look so corny. But looks like I'm going.

 

Thanks

[Joven 373]

Personally, Rifftrax has been really hit or miss lately, with quite a few misses for me. (although they have been getting better as of late.) Their early stuff is really good, and there are some stand out hits for me over the years (Birdemic, The Room, Bourne Identity, Cool as Ice, Ghost House, the Harry Potter movies, etc.), So I'd probably recommend starting near the beginning/middle of their catalog.

 

Also if you like them, I would recommend you take a look at some iriffs, which are made by independent groups/fans and there are some I would say are even better than Rifftrax at their best. (Just about anything by Quiptracks, Hor-RIFF-ic Productions, RoninFox Tracks, Riff-Raff-Theater, or Drawback Productions are pretty much guaranteed to be A level riffs.)

[Cameron H. 23786]

Hey David,

 

Sounds like you are already going to go, but if you want to see what a Live Rifftrax show is like before you go, it looks like Amazon Instant Video is streaming Rifftrax Live: Sharknado right now. Assuming you have the time today, haven't already purchased your tickets, and have Amazon Prime, you may want to check that out first to see if it's your cup of tea.

 

And to double down on Joven's points, the iRiffs are pretty good. Cinester Theater did riffs for Willow and Frozen which I found hilarious. Also, if you are a fan of Janet Varney, she sometimes does some with Cole Stratton. Their Rifftrax Presents for Dirty Dancing, Ghost, and Footloose are some of my favorites. Michael J Elliott's riffs are also quite good.

 

Hope you have a good time!

[Joven 373]

 

And to double down on Joven's points, the iRiffs are pretty good. Cinester Theater did riffs for Willow and Frozen which I found hilarious. Also, if you are a fan of Janet Varney, she sometimes does some with Cole Stratton. Their Rifftrax Presents for Dirty Dancing, Ghost, and Footloose are some of my favorites. Michael J Elliott's riffs are also quite good.

 

 

I only didn't mention Cinester Theater because of their audio quality, their riffing is really good other than that though, just wouldn't put them down as a group to introduce iriffs with. Also really like Janet and Cole's riff of Jaws 3. Made a good compliment to the Jaws 4 HDTGM.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

A: Not even a little bit.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I've seen 'Night of the Living Dead' and the 90s 'Godzilla' live, along with many many at-home viewings. NOTLD was great because it was a fun Halloween event. I was a little apprehensive about 'Godzilla' because it's so friggin' long, but that was great as well. Avalanches of funny jokes and giggling along with friends. I would just recommend going with a group of people who are in on the joke.

[WayneMiller 37]

I particularly enjoyed The Apple's Rifftrax commentary.... A movie which HDTGM should do.

[Jockass 4]

Rifftrax is brilliant. Not every joke hits, but then again, they dole out like 10 a minute. I highly recommend checking out their riffs for The Guy From Harlem, The Star Wars Holiday Special, and any flick that HDTGM has done.

 

They've also done the Twilight and Transformers movies, which is the only way to make those movies even slightly palatable.

[JamesRohling 2]

I went to a screening of their live show for The Room, and I was rolling the entire time. I brought my wife who just now understood the concept of "so bad its good" by realizing Teen Witch falls within that category. However she was not prepared for four laborious sex scenes and a plethora of people that are never introduced.

 

Don't worry about it.

[DoodyKnife 2]

I went with my girlfriend to The Room. I thoroughly enjoyed it. High hit rate and the experience of seeing an insane movie in the theater is priceless. Totally recommend it.

[DavidRosen 40]

By the way, we ended up going. It was great. Some of it was kinda cheesy like I expected (I think I said "morning zoo radio corny" haha), but it didn't take away from seeing The Room in the theater, and they did have some genuinely funny bits around it and even pointed out one or two things that we hadn't noticed in all the millions of times we've seen it (drawing a blank on an example... this is like a month later after all haha). Definitely glad I went though.

[nateslice 13]

The MST3K gang had to pay licensing fees to do their old show. Rifftrax is how they get away with continuing to do their schtick on teh intarwebs without having a network to cover those fees.

 

Basically, they record themselves poking fun at a movie while watching it, but now you have to get your hands on the movie yourself to follow along.

 

It's a really smart decision on their part.