A Talk With Bert I. Gordon “Mr. B.I.G.”

WTF, the site told me im a spambot! well im not!

I ran a review marathon of revieing around 100+ drive-in sci-fi movies (50s-70s) and all the movies shown in this clip was part of it. however i really found many of them to be quite bland. enve the praised Them i found pretty bad. id rather watch forbidden planet 10 times. that one is a great movie.

Ahh, very cool to see an interview with the guy whose movies often graced episodes of MST3K. Thanks for this video.

You got to love the special effects in those times!

I would like to add that these movies are part of Mystery Science Theater 3000, being some of the movies they watched. I found it ironic to be running through the series and to see the movies I'm watching listed here. For those that would like to find them in the series:

The Amazing Colossi Man - Disc 9, Season 3, Episode 9
Earth vs The Spider - Disc 10, Season 3, Episode 13

I would also like to add that this is a great series to run through if you want to see a pile of old movies, and it *sometimes* features quite a bit of educational discussions regarding old actors, directors and film methods during the breaks in the movies.

I'm definitely going to buy that book , it looks interesting.

Hey James, I grew up in the same town as Bert I. Gordon (Kenosha, Wisconsin). Ironically, it's also the same town that Orson Welles was born in, and Vincent Price even passed through.

The town is getting huge (it's like a suburb of Chicago almost) but it's still a nice place. No plaques to Mr. Gordon that I know of though, lol.

If you should ever want to know anything about the place, let me know!

kairachu, dellxps is entitled to want more game reviews. its not like he said "i don't like anything else." i personally want more profanity

@Dellxps:shut up!If you are interested in James video then you will enjoy the other ones like this one.
He's not only AVGN did you know?
I hate when people like you pretend that he make an AVGN video a day...you know that he has other interest?

James, it just occurred to me that when you do end up going whole hog on a feature length film for the big screens (and I say when because I know your ambition and passion is unmatched) you're going to need capital. I know you've got quite a following on here and I bet you could create some sort of investment thing where you sold shares of movie profit for a certain amount of startup capital. You'd have to structure it just right so that you protected yourself from liability from assholes and so you came away making more money out of it than the investors, but it could be a way to avoid having to go through big hollywood and give them too much power over the film and hands out of the cookie jar. Just a thought man if that problem ever does rear its head. I for one would invest a grand or two in your first major film one day. I'm sure I'm not alone, everyone loves your stuff.

I want more AVGN videos!

this guy is a legend!

Wanna more!

What divides movies from Video games. Movies have fewer story lines usually and no waiting for the viewer to make a selection before progressing the plot. Other than that well they do tend to have to pay more actors for movies in general. But not always.

Great interview, I would really love to see some of these movies, but I don't know if I can get my hands on them.

It's really suprising how these special effects scare me today even... Even these old special effects look better then CG from movies like Cloverfield... Can't tell what divides movies from videogames these days...

Ah, the classic days of B-Movies are long gone. Mr. B.I.G is the last of a dying breed, film-makers who don't use CG.

Some of those effects look pretty amazing. I'm not even kidding. I especially like the ones of the crickets walking "up" the side of the building and the one of the tiny people. The reason why I think special effects tend to not be as impressive nowadays is because people are using them in the wrong way. You know that what you're seeing is fake. And instead of taking advantage of that to create more fantastical or creative images, they use it to make it more "realistic" which I think is missing the point.

I definitely got the feeling I was talking to my older self. (His book reads that way too.) I'm surprised and delighted many of you felt the same. Thanks.

I'm really digging this interview series you're delving into lately. I realize these are mostly at conventions and their time is tight, but it'd be nice to get a longer sit down with all these guys seeing as they aren't getting any younger.

Mr Notorious B.I.G...Anyways, great interview James!

How is it scary? They both have achieved amazing work. But James hasn't had his feature length debut yet.

Did anyone notice the fact that he's like a very old version of James?
Same interests as kids, similar upgrowing (making films with toys and so on) and also were making games (see: Board James...).
It's scary.

I agree with Maikii, it's almost as if he's your long-lost grandfather.

I haven't seen any of Bert's films on MST3K, but you definitely got me interested!

And Chewiesmoo, believe me, they will come. Unfortunately.

His comments about how he got started, his influences, and how much he just likes making movies reminds me a lot of you actually, James.

Hey James thanks so much for posting these. A change of jobs forced me to miss Monster Bash this year, so now at least I sort of feel like I've been.

Was this your first Bash?

Wow first 10 comments and still nobody whining, bitching, moaning for James to stop doing these and make more AVGN? I am surprised really.

First James Rolfe and now Bert I Gordon?! I really wish I went to Monster Bash now!!

Boy that error is annoying the 8th time loading this page I finally got to see the interview. Great work on those movies. It actually looked like you were seeing the skull inside the skin instead of newer movies where people fudge the makeup and think people will just accept it so long as something that looks like skin is thicker over the bone that isn't even inset any more. Kano in Mortal Kombat movies comes to mind.

I wish I had all of this guys movies. I also wish his makeup crew would have passed on their techniques to the hacks in the industry today.

Ok um there is a Video component to this right? The Scion commercial 3 times in a row has ended with there being absolutely no video to the vid. You didn't just pick this size for the commercial fine print to be easier to read did you?

Clearing cache and trying a 4th time.

I also got to know Bert I. Gordon through MST3K, and I have to say his movies were my favorites. He made them tongue in cheek, and never took things too seriously. His movies were entertaining, and I know if I were growing up when his movies were premiering, I would have been first in line for all of his features. I think I might pick up his autobiography.

Only reason I know of Bert I Gordon is due to MST3K and the Joel years.

They just don't make 'em like they used to. It's funny how sometimes the CG effects look more fake than the pre-CG effects. Most of the time they were using real things to create those effects and now they are more like glorified cartoons green screened onto reality. We should all give Hollywood a hint and stop supporting these sub-par remakes of great movies that were fine the way they were and instead spending the dime on throwback DVDs like the ones featured on this site.

Thanks again James for the consistent quality and entertaining videos.

Nice interview, seems like these zomg big stuff movies were a common thing back then.
Don't think that'd work with today's audiences

Lowl that was amazing. Nice interview James !

Ahahahaha this is one of the funniest videos i've seen on here since the avgn glitch gremlin. The giant dog, the colossal man, and the gigantic iguana are literally killing me from laughter......awesome!

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