Search - Rifftrax: Wide World of Shorts - from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000! on DVD

Why Rifftrax? It beats Vandalism I suppose...

McGillicutty | The Sooner Nation | 02/10/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Take ten shorts, mix them with riffing from three former MST3K Vets, shake 'em up and the result is the very funny collection, "Wide World of Shorts". Along with it's companion, "Shorts-tacular, Shorts-straviganza" we have two worthy DVDs for your collection.

The shorts live up to the Rifftrax title as they range from carnivorous plants to drinking kids to being scared of water to cramming food down one's piehole. We start with the dangers of suicidal depression because someone got a "B" instead of an "A" in the short, "Snap Out of It". The riffing is side-splitting, especially when the principal sits in his oddly plain office while Mike sings under his breath, "...you spin me right 'round baby right 'round..." A great start which sets the tone for the rest of the shorts.

Highlights include the pointless, "Alcohol Trigger Films" made during the '70s which shows the dangers of 10 year olds sipping beer and tearing up a rather shabby apartment, a tipsy Mother driving a stationwagon which apparently is not as dangerous as her embarassing behavior, and pre-teens slammin' schnapps in a park. "Why Vandalism" shows that boredom leads to accidentally killing a large, docile rabbit. And the pro-beer "As We Like It" which encourages what "Alcohol Trigger Films" is against.

My fave is the earnest, but hopelessly naive "The Terrible Truth" which tells the story of a young, beautiful teen who shoots up with herion non-stop, gets arrested, and destroys her life. Afterwards, she looks just as hot. I guess being on "the dope" isn't all that bad.

"Aqua Frolics" suffers from the dreaded "YouTube" strobing effect seen on other Rifftrax DVDs. Though admittedly it's not too distracting.

The DVD Menu is as plain as it gets, but it's complimented by Kevin Murphy belting out "When a Man Loves a Shark" on the soundtrack. It's hilarious, just like the riffing on the shorts. Get this today."

Another defective DVD

Let's Go Bucs! | Pittsburgh, PA | 05/25/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Like several other reviewers, my copy of the DVD was defective. It froze and had dropouts. Amazon promptly sent a replacement but it too had the same problem.
Since the copies had problems in different parts of the DVD, my family was able to watch a total of three of the shorts and all of them were funny. Nothing quite as grand as children in monkey masks being killed off in biking accidents one-by-one Final Destination-style as in one of the other Rifftrax Shorts, but still funny. Hopefully Amazon will get a replacement shipment of DVDs that work properly because the shorts are definitely the best Rifftrax material."

Self Conscious Guy wants you to watch this!

Ana Mardoll | United States | 06/04/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"RiffTrax: Wide World of Shorts / 844503001528 / B0030VBGJ0

This screamingly funny shorts collection contains the following:

- Snap Out of It: If you loved the "Act Your Age" short from RiffTrax Shorts Volume 2, then you'll love this - same adult actors playing extremely moody high school students, same creepily mustachioed principal, and same cheery condescending narrator! Heck, for that matter, it's the same Family Friendly Aesop!

- Alcohol Trigger Films: Drinking is Bad. To prove it, here's a series of films about drunk people exhibiting above average driving skills and having normal, dull conversations.

- Carnivorous Plants: Mousetraps are a sacrilege against God.

- Aqua Frolics: Dinner under the sea? Madness!

- Why Vandalism: A chilling short on the dangers of vandalism. Do NOT follow the white rabbit!

- Self Conscious Guy: Practice Shakespeare in front of a mirror once a day in order to gain exceptional public speaking skills and a girlfriend. (* Note: Results Not Typical.)

- As We Like It: Beer is Awesome. To prove it, here's a series of endearing water colors of happy bartenders.

- Toward Emotional Maturity: Marvel as a young lady grows up and learns that torching forests, vandalizing houses, and white-hot-fencing-hatred are all unacceptable behaviors - and all because her high school teacher threw a snake at her!

- The Terrible Truth: Being hepped up on Mary Jane is Bad, kids. Everything speeds up, until you're basically forced to take heroine to ease the shakes. And Commies are supplying our kids with drugs in order to take down our school system - like they did in China. True story.

- Good Eating Habits: If you're not tucking in six square meals a day, you're just not trying hard enough. CHEW!

Seriously, this is one of the best shorts collections yet. (And it played fine on our DVD player, so as of June 2010, the "bad batch" that other reviewers seemed to heave been getting must have been fixed.)

~ Ana Mardoll"

AWESOME!

E. E. Easter | Napa, CA | 04/05/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Shorts are always my favs on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD Box sets....and we have a lot of MST3K Box sets. When buying the latest MST3K DVD Box Set, Amazon.com recommended Rifftrax. I was interested after reading the review, but a little hesitant because the covers look kinda cheesy. I shouldn't have been concerned. These "Shorts-Only" DVDs are absolutely hilarious. They are just like the old MST3K Shorts in content, theme and spirit. I thought I'd miss seeing their silhouettes in the corner, but I wasn't. It's just flat-out funny! I bought 3 of the DVDs and they are all good.

I took 2 Rifftrax Shorts DVDs to my family's Easter party this year, since you don't have to sit there and focus on it for 90 mins to get what's going on and laugh. Everyone, from kids to grandparents, where cracking-up. This was a great addition to our DVD collection and I will definitely buy more of them. Great job guys!"