History YMMV / ThisIslandEarth

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It was rather technically advanced for its time (it was Universal's first attempt at doing a sci-fi movie in color), its story was much more ambitious than most of its contemporaries, and it inspired quite a few creators (as evidenced by the number of [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] it's received over the decades). That said, the genre has moved past it in almost every fashion (the sound still holds up), and it's much easier these days to appreciate it as kitsch rather than a serious genre film. The fact that it got lampooned in ''Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000TheMovie'' doesn't help (even though [[WordOfGod the creators said]] that part of why this film was picked because they wanted to lampoon a ''good'' film for once).

* AdaptationDisplacement: This film is probably better known nowadays than the short story it originated from. And this film is probably better known by many people as the film lampooned in ''Film/MysteryScienceTheater3000TheMovie'' than by itself.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It was rather technically advanced for its time (it was Universal's first attempt at doing a sci-fi movie in color), its story was much more ambitious than most of its contemporaries, and it inspired quite a few creators (as evidenced by the number of [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] it's received over the decades). That said, the genre has moved past it in almost every fashion (the sound still holds up), and it's much easier these days to appreciate it as kitsch rather than a serious genre film. The fact that it got lampooned in ''Film/MysteryScienceTheater3000TheMovie'' doesn't help (even though [[WordOfGod the creators said]] that part of why this film was picked because they wanted to lampoon a ''good'' film for once).

* DesignatedHero: Like a lot of '50s sci-fi protagonists, Cal is less a traditional hero than a guy who reacts to stuff. His most heroic actions are punching Exeter and clobbering a Mutant during their escape from Metaluna, neither of which have much significance to the plot. Plus he comes off as a smug, sexist jerk in his interactions with Ruth, which may be a case of ValuesDissonance.

* RetroactiveRecognition: It would be decades before Creator/ColemanFrancis became a BMovie personality. He appears briefly as a postman in the film.

!! The film contains:

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While the context makes it clear that the whole "plane turns green and lands itself" was the Metalunans saving Cal because they needed him, the whole incident has pretty much no impact on the plot and is never mentioned after the scene ends. (Lampshaded in [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]: "I don't want to talk about it any more"). If you'd cut from Cal flying his plane to Cal arriving at his lab, you'd never notice that something was missing.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Not really a bad film, but Rex Reason (Cal) and Jeff Morrow (Exeter) are both a few degrees too intense in their performances. Morrow especially throws in all sorts of melodramatic tics in an attempt to put Exeter's [[AntiVillain Anti-Villainy]] front-and-center.

* DesignatedHero: It's not that he's an unlikable character, it's just that Cal does almost nothing of consequence. He doesn't save any of the human scientists. He doesn't save Metaluna from its fate, or even bring back any useful knowledge to Earth. He doesn't save Ruth from the Mutant, since it just shambled after the unbelievably clumsy woman until it died. He was basically a tourist until he saved Exeter from the Mutant, even though he couldn't stop Exeter from being mortally wounded, and he didn't even finish the Mutant off or close the doors to the ship before it came aboard.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While the context makes it clear that the whole "plane turns green and lands itself" was the Metalunans saving Cal because they needed him, the whole incident has pretty much no impact on the plot and is never mentioned after the scene ends. (Lampshaded in MST3K: "I don't want to talk about it any more"). If you'd cut from Cal flying his plane to Cal arriving at his lab, you'd never notice that something was missing.

* DesignatedHero: Cal does almost nothing of consequence. He doesn't save any of the human scientists. He doesn't save Metaluna from its fate, or even bring back any useful knowledge to Earth. He doesn't save Ruth from the Mutant, since it just shambled after the unbelievably clumsy woman until it died. He was basically a tourist until he saved Exeter from the Mutant, even though he couldn't stop Exeter from being mortally wounded, and he didn't even finish the Mutant off or close the doors to the ship before it came aboard.

* DesignatedHero: Cal. The man does ''nothing'', even when his love interest is attacked by a [=MutAnt=].
** To be fair, his hands were still magnetized to the metal handlebars during that time.
** And between these two events he actually beat the alien down with nothing more than a mini-silver fire extinguisher.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: An hour of setup, complete with competing viewpoints from Exeter and Brak, and once they get to Metaluna... it all becomes a "Point and shriek at the aliens" fiesta.

* BigLippedAligatorMoment: While the context makes it clear that the whole "plane turns green and lands itself" was the Metalunans saving Cal because they needed him, the whole incident has pretty much no impact on the plot and is never mentioned after the scene ends. (Lampshaded in MST3K: "I don't want to talk about it any more"). If you'd cut from Cal flying his plane to Cal arriving at his lab, you'd never notice that something was missing.

-->'''Servo:''' ''(as Cal)'' Thank God I "saved" you.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: An hour of setup, complete with competing viewpoints from Exeter and Brak, and once they get to Metaluna... it all becomes a "Point and shriek at the aliens" fiesta.

!! The [=MST3K=] version contains:

* FanMyopia: The cult popularity of ''This Island Earth'' is OlderThanTheyThink.
* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Oh, where to start? The "Waffle Sequence?" "I'm Not An Alien?" The host segments? Or at the end, when Mike and the 'Bots ''riff their own credits?''
** Outside the riffs, there's Crow's attempt to tunnel back to Earth.
---> '''Crow''': I calculated the odds that this would work versus the odds that I was doing something incredibly stupid and... I went ahead anyway.
** "Mike broke the Hubble! Mike broke the Hubble!"
** "Well, there you have it." "A letter opener."
** "Watch your lips."
** (over footage of the ship flying through space) "They're going 65, so they'll be there in 3 BILLION years."
** "Heil Hitler!"
** "EASTMAN! He came from the east, to do battle with the amazing RANDO!"
** (over footage of a farm from the airplane) "GreenAcres!"
** "I'm too low." "I got the blues so bad, uh-huh."
* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Some sci-fi fans were upset when this classic of the genre was subjected to riffing...though they should [[MST3KMantra keep in mind it's just a show, and really just relax]].
* MemeticMutation: Normal View... normal view... normal view... normal viiiiieew!
* OlderThanTheyThink: ''This Island Earth'' was no stranger to being riffed on by the ''[=MST3K=]'' crew, as it had already been mocked during the [[FanConvention Mystery Science Theater 3000 Conventio-Con Expo-Fest-A-Rama]]. That had the benefit of being explicitly written ''for the fans'', though.

* AcceptableNationalityTargets: "Don't leave me with the Germans!"