Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars

Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars is a 1981 television film based on the 1960s British puppet TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Produced by the New York office of the series' distributor, ITC Entertainment, the film is a compilation of the Captain Scarlet episodes "Shadow of Fear", "Lunarville 7", "Crater 101" and "Dangerous Rendezvous".[1]

Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
A man wearing a red uniform prepares to pick up a shining crystal with his gloved hands. He is flanked by two men in spacesuits, both holding guns. Against a starfield background, the text of the poster reads: "Family Home Entertainment presents – Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars – Filmed in Supermarionation".
Home video release cover
Based onCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons
by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Developed byRobert Mandell
Voices ofFrancis Matthews
Ed Bishop
Cy Grant
Donald Gray
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time91 minutes
Production companyITC Entertainment
Related
Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons

Set in 2068, the original series depicts a "war of nerves" between Earth and the Mysterons: a race of Martians with the power to create functioning copies of destroyed people or objects and use them to carry out acts of aggression against humanity. Earth is defended by a military organisation called Spectrum, whose top agent, Captain Scarlet, was killed by the Mysterons and replaced by a reconstruction that subsequently broke free of their control. Scarlet's double has a self-healing power that enables him to recover from injuries that would be fatal to anyone else, making him Spectrum's best asset in its fight against the Mysterons.

Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars had its first home video release in either 1981[2] or January 1982.[3] It was followed by another Captain Scarlet compilation, Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons. Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars was negatively received by fans of the original Captain Scarlet.[4] In November 1988, it was broadcast as the second episode of the movie-mocking TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot

An attempt by Spectrum to survey Mars from space is threatened when the Mysterons murder an astronomer attached to the project and replace him with a doppelganger under their control. Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) track down and kill the reconstruction, but not before it sabotages the mountain observatory that is due to receive the images from the Martian space probe. The observatory is destroyed and the images are lost ("Shadow of Fear").

After the Lunar Controller declares the Moon a neutral party in Earth's struggle with the Mysterons, Scarlet, Blue and Lieutenant Green (voiced by Cy Grant) are sent to lunar colony Lunarville 7 to follow up reports of an unidentified complex being built on the far side of the Moon. They discover that this is a Mysteron installation ("Lunarville 7").

After reporting back to Spectrum, Scarlet, Blue and Green return to the Moon to destroy the Mysteron facility. They successfully extract its pulsating crystal power source, thus disabling its reconstructive capability and allowing it to be permanently destroyed with a nuclear bomb ("Crater 101").

Back on Earth, Dr Kurnitz (voiced by Jeremy Wilkin) finds that the crystal pulsator can be adapted to enable direct communication with the Mysterons. Transmitting to Mars, Spectrum commander-in-chief Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray) requests an end to the hostilities between humanity and the Mysterons ("Dangerous Rendezvous").

Release and reception

Created by the New York office of ITC Entertainment, Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars was one of several TV film re-workings of Anderson series designed to renew overseas interest in these productions and promote syndication sales in the United States.[4] The films were collectively titled "Super Space Theater".[4]

Following its initial home video release by Precision Video, Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars had two later VHS releases: the first by Channel 5 Video in 1986,[3] the second by PolyGram in 1992. It was also released on Betamax and LaserDisc.

Fred McNamara considers the film "curiously titled" and "thematically" superior to Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons.[5]

Mystery Science Theater 3000

On 24 November 1988 (Thanksgiving in the United States), the film was televised as the second episode of the original version of the movie-mocking comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, broadcast by Minneapolis TV station KTMA.[6][7][8][9] It formed the second half of a double feature with Invaders from the Deep, a compilation based on the Andersons' earlier series Stingray, which had been shown earlier that day as episode 1.[10][11]

References
  1. "Miscellaneous — Multimedia: Videos". spectrum-headquarters.com. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
  2. Release year stated on promotional material by ITC Entertainment.
  3. Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 190–191. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
  4. Bentley, Chris (2001). The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet. Carlton Books. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-842224-05-2.
  5. McNamara, Fred (2020). Simpson, Paul (ed.). Spectrum is Indestructible: An Unofficial Captain Scarlet Celebration. Chinbeard Books. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-913256-05-0.
  6. Beaulieu, Trace; Chaplin, Paul; Mallon, Jim; Murphy, Kevin; Nelson, Michael J.; Pehl, Mary Jo (May 1996). The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. Bantam Books. p. 40. ISBN 9780553377835.
  7. Cecchini, Mike (28 November 2016). "Lost MST3K Episodes Released". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  8. Spry, Jeff (29 November 2016). "Creator Joel Hodgson Reveals Lost Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episodes". syfy.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  9. Anderson, Kyle (28 November 2016). "Two Lost Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episodes Have Been Unearthed". nerdist.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  10. Whalen, Andrew (25 September 2018). "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Season 12 on Netflix Gets a Premiere Date". newsweek.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. Adams, Erik (14 November 2018). "MST3K, Turkey Day, and 30 years of taking over the world before pie is served". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
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