Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) is a theatrical adaptation of the cult television hit Mystery Science Theater 3000. The date of the movie's production, between seasons 6 and 7 of MST3K, explains the absence of both TV's Frank (Frank Conniff), who left the series in the finale of Season 6, and Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl), who arrived in the premiere of Season 7 (the final Comedy Central season).

MST3K: The Movie is remarkable in that it is several minutes shorter than an actual television episode (73 minutes vs. 91-103). And although the movie-theater quips come, for the most part, at the same rate as on a typical TV episode (with the exception of a long quiet period early in the film), many long-time fans noted that the jokes were an order of magnitude less complex, the references less obscure. Best Brains later explained that much of their material was "dumbed down" at the insistence of Gramercy officials, who were worried the concept would not be accessible to average movie-goers. A small number of riffs -- actually rather conspicuous in the milieu of the series -- included profanity and drug-use allusions in order to save the film from a "G" rating, which, Gramercy officials told Best Brains, would have been the kiss of death for a young adult-oriented comedy.

The choice of This Island Earth for the film to be riffed in MST3K: The Movie was questioned by some. Considered by many to be a classic of its 1950s genre, sci-fi buffs have a soft spot for it, and its visual quality is considerably higher than virtually all of the films seen in the series. This was intentional: Best Brains and Gramercy agreed that average movie-goers would not sit through the sort of dreary, black & white fare normally featured on the TV series, and that the concept would be more successful if the film that was featured was visually engaging and action-packed. Mary Jo Pehl also described it as "the only one we could get!" and not BBI's first choice.

The production values of MST3K:TM were considerably higher than those of the TV series. The sets were much larger than the sets for television and showed off more of the Satellite of Love's interior than the TV show. Another interesting thing to note is the inclusion of two concepts not seen on the show since the first season: the film "breaking" as a reason for the guys leaving the theater (originally done in episode #110 during the ninth chapter of Radar Men from the Moon), and the Satellite of Love featuring a set of remotely operated robotic arms (similar to a mechanism shown in episode #104).

Wikipedia: Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie