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RiffTrax Live! Time Chasers DVD Review

RiffTrax revisits the beloved MST3K episode “Time Chasers.”

Having previously been riffed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” with an edited version of the film, the unedited “Time Chasers” has now been tackled by the RiffTrax gang (Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy) in a live show this past year. If you happened to miss the show during its limited theatrical run, you will now be able to watch the live event in the comfort of your own home.

Before the main event of “Time Chasers,” the show kicked off with a narrated short (“Chimp The Fireman”) which involves a chimp named Shorty who wants to be a fireman. It’s as weird as it sounds. The short contains scenes of the chimp causing trouble, the chimp smoking, the chimp saving a stuffed animal from a burning building, and, yes, the chimp being pulled on a broom. As you can no doubt guess, this is all made even more amusing by the RiffTrax trio.

After the random chimp action, the full version of “Time Chasers” begins. For those that are unfamiliar with the film, this “Back To The Future” wannabe revolves a nerdy mullet sporting teacher (Nick) who invents an airplane that can travel through time. Nick needs funding to continue his research and that is when the villainous Gen-Corp comes into play. Shortly thereafter, Nick discovers that the future is in peril because of Gen-Corp so he and his love interest (a reporter named Lisa) try to stop the shady company and fix the timeline.

Even though I was happy to see the full version of “Time Chasers,” I found myself oddly kind of missing the edited version. Granted, there are some great new moments being riffed here including the rambling Taxi driver and the security guard (which might very well be the best moment), but the unedited version felt so damned long. Also, much like the live riff of “Manos: The Hands of Fate,” it’s a little hard to separate the MST3K version and the RiffTrax given that the MST3K jokes are so ingrained in our memory. With all of that said, however, there’s still plenty of laughs to be had here involving the the dopey lead Nick, the lamest bike chase of all time, the drawn out tree sequence, and the aforementioned security guard (seriously, that scene is “Birdemic” level greatness).

Video/Audio:

Presentation: Widescreen. How does it look? “Chimp The Fireman” looks like your average old short, but the print for “Time Chasers” actually looks better than the MST3K version. I’m not certain if it has been remastered or what.

Audio Track: Unspecified. Between the riffs and the film and short’s audio, this is a crisp audio track.

The lone extra is the always funny mock slideshow from the theatrical showing. It is accompanied by music from the likes of Weird Al.

The “RiffTrax Live! Time Chasers” DVD is now available to pre-order and is scheduled for release the second week of December, 2016. Link below:

http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax-live-time-chasers

November 25, 2016 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Mike Nelson, Rifftrax, RiffTrax Live! Time Chasers DVD Review, Time Chasers