Special Effects Jamboree Ending
It’s still sometimes amazing what you can dig up on the Internet.
There’s this phrase I’ve been using for ages to describe movies where maybe their reach exceeds their grasp in the visuals department: “Special Effects Jamboree.” This especially applies to a Special Effects Jamboree Ending. A Jamboree is a “know it when you see it” thing, but I always use it to mean that not only does the movie maybe not entirely achieve its goals, but has maybe slightly more swagger about it than they ought to. To make a comparison appropriate for this week, Dune (1984) has a Special Effects Jamboree Ending, Return of the Jedi does not.
My memory was that I got this from the late 90s Job Bob Briggs show on TNT, where he used it to describe the finale of Conan the Destroyer.
Joe Bob Briggs was a character that went through a couple of different incarnations, but the through-line was he was a “redneck Texan” who loved drive in movies, mostly of the low-budget horror persuasion. He had a syndicated newspaper review column for a while that was great. He’d do these summaries of the “high points” that were always like: Fifteen dead bodies, four breasts, three car crashes, chainsaw-fu, wrench-fu. Four stars, check it out. Everything always got four stars. Any kind of hand-to-hand combat was always something-fu. The writing was always really funny in a “you gotta be really smart to be this dumb” way. He had a late night show on one of the cable movie channels where he’d do the summary and intro live, and then show the actual movie. I liked it a lot, but these were not the kinds of movies anyone had ever heard of or that I actually wanted to watch? So I never really watched the show, I’d just stick around for the intro and see what else was on.
But then, TNT got him to do a show called MonsterVision, which was basically the same schtick, but in the afternoon on basic cable. This meant two things: he would do an intro after each commercial break talking about next segment of the movie, and they’d show real movies. It was kind of like an alternate universe MST3K, where you’d be watching a movie in the afternoon, and your funniest friend would do a bunch of jokes during the commercial break about what you were going to see next, but then zip it during the real movie.
I watched this show religiously, because look, Planet of the Apes is fine and all, but watching it with jokes about it every commercial break is phenomenal.
So to get back on topic, my memory was that the lead-in to the final segment of Conan the Destroyer on MonsterVision was to introduce it as the Special Effects Jamboree ending, which yes, yes it is.
I found myself telling this story the other night, and I got curious to see if I could prove that’s really where I got the term from. MonsterVision never got any kind of formal release of any kind, but as with all semi-lost media there are clips floating around on youtube and such. So I went digging to see if I could find what I remembered.
And, I actually found it!
Joe Bob Briggs presents "Conan the Destroyer" on "Joe Bob's Summer School"
Someone uploaded all the interstitials for the movie in one block; the whole thing is great but the part I remembered starts at about 17:10. And yeah, he calls it the “Special Effects Jamboree Conclusion”, not ending, which I have to agree is a way funnier word to use there.
This is also such a great example of why I enjoyed the show so much; he’s got jokes about Arnold’s pecs, sure, but then also does a whole series of deep cuts on both Carlo Rambaldi (the guy who made the monster puppet/costume) and then Wilt Chamberlain’s career, on and off the court. I didn’t know what demographic this was supposed to appeal to, just that I was dead center in it.
I guess Job Bob has a new show on Shudder which is back to showing movies I don’t personally, care for, but I’m glad he’s keeping the dream alive.