the premise is simple , if not bizarre . 
a mad scientist ( trace beaulieu as dr . clayton forrester ) launches an average-joe ( michael j . nelson as mike nelson ) into space where he forces his subject to watch the most horrendous movies ever made . 
why ? 
it's torturous , it's maniacal , and it's just plain fun . 
based on the cult-favorite cable television series , mystery science theater 3000 : the movie isn't torturous , but as for being maniacal and just plain fun , it foots the bill quite nicely . 
mike nelson , on a dog-bone shaped spacecraft , spends his days as any young man would dream - indulging in sarcasm and horseplay , and seeing quite a few movies . 
the catch is , these movies aren't the movies he chooses , but retched examples of film-making chosen specifically by dr . forrester in an attempt to break mike's will to live . 
dr . forrester is convinced that one too many b- movies is all it will take to ruin a man , but with a couple of wise-cracking puppet buddies ( tom servo , voiced by kevin murphy , and crow t . robot , voiced by beaulieu ) , the torture becomes somewhat of a honorary party for all that is wrong in the world of cheezy cinema . 
the purpose behind mst3k is to exploit some of the worst films known ( even if by very few of us ) to man . 
we watch as the silhouettes of mike , tom , and crow sit in a darkened theater poking fun at the movie going on before them . 
in this case , it's the 1954 sci-fi film this island earth . 
we basically watch as our three leads watch , only we get the pleasure of eavesdropping on their hilarious commentary . 
the plots behind the movies ripped apart are really quite irrelevant , but for the sake of those who might want to know , i'll explain this one . 
this island earth is the tale of two scientists , a man and a woman , who wind up aboard a spaceship whose crew intends to destroy the earth . 
together the two fight to survive as well as save their home planet . 
to make mst3k work , the film-within-the-film naturally has to be as horrible as possible , and although the tv-series introduced us to several worse films than this island earth , it's a bad enough flick to bring about some hysterical cruelty . 
mst3k , which doesn't actually contain the complete this island earth , is a short 73 minutes , but this is a step very wisely taken . 
as funny as some of their observations are , it can only go so long . 
occasional breaks from this island earth also help the film tremendously . 
although it takes a second to get back into the right mode after this premise has been left for a moment , it's better than overkilling the whole concept post haste . 
mst3k lovers will likely hail the film greatly , but if you don't know what you're in for , it could be a jarring disappointment . 
although i thought the sharp wit of this film was worth three stars , it is a movie to be seen on home video , late at night when your brain is not functioning to full capacity anyway , and with a large , saracastic crowd - new year's at midnight for example , which is when i saw it . 
warning : although mst3k has more to its end credits than most ( the three leads use the credits to poke some more fun ) , they are actually more annoying than most . 
the name slandering and asinine one-liners were extremely unfunny , and after laughing for about 70 minutes straight , it put a heavy damper on the overall experience . 
most people will likely stay to see what the smart-alec's have to say , but for me , it almost ruined an otherwise good film .