Sandy Frank! Welcome back Sandy Frank! Yet another strung together TV series made movie from Japan. Starts with aliens attacking Earth in a scene very reminiscent of Battlestar Galatica’s first episode. The leader of the Star Raiders look looks like Pinhead, but without the pins. The Star Raiders kill everyone and we meet out main character Ken and his friend Ken(?). However Ken refuses to kill a named kid Ken and Ken flashbacks to his own mother. In the struggle Ken kills his best friend Ken and Ken is declared a traitor. Yes I am doing this on purpose. Ken steals a ship and flies off.
The exhaust port shall be in range in moments
His ship refuses to work for some reason so he ejects himself into space and is picked up by an Earth ship called Bacchus 3. Yes the captain of that ship is a massive drunk. Speaking of Captain Joe he is probably my favorite character in this show/movie. He’s just a loud drunk that still does a damn good job. Tom references Marooned in the scene where they pick him up which is a coincidence considering they do an episode on Marooned. Ken attacks his saviors Joe, Tammy, Rocky, Billy, and Dan, but he gets his ass kicked by Joe. He says he’s an astronomer and he heard of the Star Raiders, but Joe is wise to the lie. They cannot kill him yet because the Star Raiders are closing in. Ken helps them escape the Star Raiders. Ken is knocked out again and is brought to Earth. Joe goes to a hospital to see his dead daughter and dying wife. She then dies. It’s a real shame cause Joe was just about to retire after that mission to be with his family. NOT KIDDING! Ken breaks into a ship that just happens to be Bacchus 3 with Joe already inside smoking a cigar. The two engage in witty dialog as they argue. We see some insane slam zoom editing. Ken tells the story of how he had killed Ken and Joe accepts him. Joe talks to him about joining the crew of Bacchus 3 and Ken is hesitant. Then Joe laughs and just shouts “YOU’RE STUCK HERE!” at him. Mood swings much?
Ken officially joins and says he’d like it. The leader of the Star Raider Lord Halkon tells Ken’s love of this and she is also Ken’s sister. Then she wanders a desert for a little while as she thinks of Ken. Joe talks to a guy about going on a next mission to help an ally of Earth. Ken flashbacks to his lady friend as they run through the desert. Ken spends some time with Tammy. We learn his lady was named Rita. Ken is rude to her and that scene was kinda pointless. His men call him on brining Ken along, aside from Rocky who has his suspicions. What follows is the greatest scene in the movie. Ken is walking through a train station and a forklift comes at him. He pushes it away and the theme music starts playing.
In the immortal words of the crew of the SoL, “This is the song written for the train chase, This is the chase: Rocky and Ken, He tried to kill me with a forklift! Ole!” Turns out it was Rocky who wanted to find out is Ken was a Star Raider. This is the song right after the train chase, This is the fight: Rocky and Ken, He tried to kill me with a forklift! Ole!” Joe comes in and stops the fight. We see a somewhat heartwarming scene of Joe talking to the grave of his wife and daughter. Rocky decides to officially join and they’re all happy I guess. They take off; go to the planet, and Rita goes to the same planet. Joe and Rocky leave to meet with the planet leader and the rest are ordered to stay. Ken leaves and Tammy makes the others stay. The leader talks to Joe and Rocky as Ken wanders the vaguely Arabic planet. Ken is approached by some of the soldiers and they give him a hard time. He then proceeds to beat their collective asses. He eventually gets arrested and thrown into jail. Joe contacts Ken via communicator disguised as a button.
One of the buttons is a bomb had he manages to blow his way out. He also rescues an officer of Caesar a planet that is attacking the one they are currently on and have a weapon that can level continents. The two of them escape and they manage to run off into a rocky mountain. Ken runs into Rita and because she still loves him she spares him. However in their talks they are ambushed and Rita is killed. Rita claims he killed her and he is distressed over it. The two get back on Bacchus 3. To Be Continue. Opening skit is Joel making the bots dress up as farm animals. Not funny. Invention exchange is Joel making a chair/xylophone, and Frank is nearly drowned by the Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Dropper (Medication multi tool). Then Jack Perkins introduces the episode! Next skit is hat party referencing the weird Wig Helmets the Star Raiders wear. They eventually make Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank jokes. Jack Perkins gets cattle prodded. Middle skit is Joel acting like Captain Joe and the bots are both Ken. Funny even if they’re just reenacting the scene. Next skit is Joel using Syd Field’s Screenplay Model to attempt explain the plot of Fugitive Alien. Eh. Last skit is Joel having a bunch of pins on his shirt like Ken’s. Eh. This episode hasn’t aged well for me. I used to adore it, but it just doesn’t hold up. The skits are hit or miss, the jokes kinda funny, and the forklift gag is amazing. The movie is very good and like Time of the Apes I would love it in original form (I have watched a few episodes and its good). Really just watch the shortened video of all the Forklift songs.
Episode Rating – 6/10
Movie Rating – 8/10
Favorite Riff – Forklift Theme Song
Stinger – “AHAHAHAHA….you’re STUCK HERE!”
Episode – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-CV1Raacs4
