This author was lucky enough to see an early cut of “Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie”, and I can relate firsthand that there used to be a lot more to enjoy.
Notably, the original cut included more of “This Island Earth”. It wasn’t a considerable amount more – “Earth” is only 86 minutes as it is – but there were additional scenes from “Earth” to flesh out a more holistic cinematic experience. In the final cut of “MST3K: The Movie”, audiences saw only about 55 minutes. Not that we necessarily needed to see much more.
Also, the original cut of “MST3K” had a more organic explanation for its periodic breaks between movies. In the original show, the human host was trapped aboard a satellite, while his mad scientist captors lived in an underground bunker on Earth. The scientists would press a button and send a movie by remote control. The satellite would explode if its victim did not enter the satellite’s theater. From time to time, however, the presenter was allowed to leave the theater and discuss what he had just seen with his robot friends. The breaks were organic ways to incorporate commercials.
In theaters, of course, there are no breaks between seasons, so the host’s segments needed an explanation. In the original cut, the host segments would come at the end of each reel. Dr. Forrester was, in this version of things, projecting film from 35mm film directly into space, and needed to change reels every 20 minutes. Mike Nelson, Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) and Crow T. Robot (also Beaulieu) would comment on the end of the reel, noting the relief of the break.
