Saturday, September 30, 2023

MST3K/ Cattrall Watch: City Limits (1984)




Watched:  09/29/2023
Format:  MST3K on YouTube (keep circulating the tapes?)
Viewing:  First
Director:  Someone, I'm sure

In my quest to catch the entirety of the Kim Cattrall filmography without it becoming a thing, I finally got around to the episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (S5:E3) in which Joel and the Bots watch the 1984 sci-fi opus City Limits.  

You will guess from the fact it is not just an episode of MST3K, but from observing that a 1984 movie made its way to MST3K in 8 years that maybe this was not a movie that was in high demand, perhaps due to the fact it's a low-budget mess of a movie.

Weirdly, the movie features a number of known humans, begging the question:  what was happening in 1984 for each of these people?

The movie features:
  • James Earl Jones
  • Rae Dawn Chong (on the poster above)
  • John Stockwell (the guy from Christine and Top Gun)
  • Dean Devlin for some reason
  • John Diehl (many things, including Miami Vice)
  • and, of course, Kim Cattrall
  • And Robby Benson who was in stuff I've never actually seen
It feels like the movie happened to be a way station for actors on their way up or down.  I won't guess further as to whom was heading up or down, but you can do the math.  It's mostly weird to watch yet another 1980's no-budget post-apocalyptic movie but you actually recognize half the cast.

Anyway - I won't even really get into what it is or is about.  Because Jamie and I had to piece together what was happening in a pause-the-movie moment about 2/3rds of the way through.

This movie is now famous mostly for spawning the Kim Cattrall bit on MST3K as someone on staff (I assume Trace Beauliue) was clearly a fellow appreciator of the actor.  




It does help if you've seen Mannequin.  I mean, not just to appreciate the sketch, but in life in general.


2 comments:

RHPT said...

Does your quest to catch the entirety of the Kim Cattrall filmography include watching every season of SatC and its 2 movies? (It crossed my mind that you have watched all of SatC)

The League said...

I watched bits and pieces of SatC over the years, and accidentally watched the entire first movie in a hotel in Minneapolis. I turned it on at the start, that I took to be the finish, and kept waiting for it to be over, and then I just gave up and watched the whole thing.

I have heard very bad things about the second film. I am not surprised Cattrall bounced.

SatC is categorically "not for me", but it's fine. But, let's be honest, the best parts were all Cattrall.