Rich is some kind of incredible prank call savant. Normally, he stumbles through his sentences. Hand him a phone with little to no warning, and he'll create a fantastical yet grounded saga on the spot.
Obviously Rich Evans is playing the long con and all that we see of him on screen is a character. When handed a phone he panics and breaks character, revealing his true mastermind prankcall genius self. It's evident. The question before us is what is his final game. Clearly Julia Roberts and Ellen Degenerate are in on it too, having contributed with the "Rich Evans is actually a real person that exists" façade. If I had to guess, I'd say the ultimate goal is to join the elderly gang, decades from now, to record an exercise videotape that is subtly a personality study in disguise.
27:06 the Japanese sentence on the cover says: Once it catches you, it never lets you go! SOS... It's the video from the future that utterly breaks through all conventional knowledge! Throughout the video, you'll witness action, suspense, romance and humor overflowing! SOS... It's the ultimate form of music drama! The shocking video that spotlights hot trendy topics! The door that opens when the SOS sound rings leads to the unknown world! Ultra-supernatural feeling that goes beyond of audio visual!... Would you like to experience this? AURORA Production
Okay I know it’s been a hot minute since anyone commented, but get this: I was in Japan recently for a convention, and through a mutual acquaintance met a young woman who was half Greek, half Japanese. She mentioned that her parents were “part of a weird Christian cult and that’s how they met.” I jokingly said “Oh haha did they make the SOS music video?” Her eyes went wide as she turned to me and said “...how the hell do you know about that?” Let’s just say the 1.2 million views on this video have made her question the fabric of reality.
I was in subway in NYc. A cult of Asians who dont speak English were handing out pamphlets about the evil of barcodes called "Do not accept the mark of the beast. The cover had a bald guy with a barcode on his forehead. There was no info on the organization in the pamphlet
I actually have quite a bit of respect for A.A. Roberts. 3D animation isn't the easiest thing in the world to do now, let alone in the 90s. And he did it all on his own. Sure it didn't turn out great, but at least he tried.
So he's like your cousin or something? 3D animation wasn't that hard to achieve in the nineties. My cousin who was learning disabled, was agoraphobic and spent a lot of time in his room making bad 3D cartoons. But even those were slightly better than this guy's crap. There were basic programs available that could make that type of animation pretty easily. Things like V Ray and Cinema 4D, and you could even use After Effects and Photoshop to create those animations. And if my retarded cousin did it, ANYONE could.
Hey RLM, I have an explanation for the SOS video: It's actually one of many pieces of material produced by Aurora Productions AG who make similar material for the Children of God (or The Family International as they like to be called now) - a religious cult. This stuff was mostly aimed at kids and took the form of music videos and tv shows, along with some other media, which was distributed and localised internationally for obvious purposes. You somehow got the japanese version. I know this because I was brought up in The Family International and although I don't remember the other songs, I immediately recognised Cathy Don't Go (the one with the barcodes). It's good to see brainwashing smut like this being ridiculed and laughed at. Thanks RLM
It's cool to hear about all of that from someone who experienced the life and the music. Nice one, man :) ....(I kinda like a couple of the songs! :p )
During the part with the planes landing over and over, I kept expecting the local aviation police to come run up and tackle the camera man for filming flight patterns. What a different time that was.
Dudes, that homemade cgi movie stuff was actually a pretty solid production for a one man crew.... Programming, animating, and releasing on vhs? State of the art! That took serious effort 20 years ago! My hats off to a guy who did this way back in day... Even if it is kinds lame, its GOOD lame...
Robert Barton Effort doesn't mean anything if the final result looks like shit, even for the time. Stop living in a damn hugbox, if something's shit have the balls to say it.
Guru8bit Still even if it isnt really that good, I just cant help but admire how much effort was put into this I mean seriously all this guy probably only had a computer and his garage, and you know what I dont think I would have been able to do anything as good if I was given his resources. Besides like the people in Best of the Worst said the final does manage to be its own unique type of weird so I for one am will to cut A.A. Roberts a bit of slack for taking what he had and making it kind of unique.
Guru8bit Yes effort means a lot... Havent you ever felt a sense of achievement? ever? -Even though everyone knows you arent special and there are millions of people who could do better? All parents are proud, eventhough they all know that all children suck ass, they cant help it.... They love the ugly fuckin thing..... Bringing a production to completion and release is actually pretty awesome... I've never known ONE person to do anything like that... I've known pilots, teachers and various professionals, but people who have published AND released their own 3d crap on VHS..? Thats pretty unique in my book :-) You try releasing something... It takes A LOT of work... Especially if you're just some loner guy without connections... Even with the tools today, go animate a custom made 3d model.... GOOD luck! You can easily spend a whole day on a still-frame... No youtube for tutorials, no wiki sites, most friends didnt have computers... Fuck, watch Black Hawk Down.... Most people didnt even know how to type! -It was a real job skill! Think about that! dial-up modem maybe.... MAYBE low def pictures on the web, if the site was high-end! but mostly black and white pictures in thick physical manuals..... I remember doing techy-shit in the 90s.... That shit put hair on your balls... We didnt have dual-monitor shit, syncronized devices, and fancy tool-tips.... We had 15-17 inch monitors... One per desk... Some guys I knew had 14 inch screens... AT THEIR WORKSTATION! YIKES! You kids today couldnt stand to LOOK at those screens, much less work on them... Multitasking was a word most people had never used... Still a selling point for newer operating systems of the day.... ... I think even win 95 made a point about "multi-tasking"..... Probably win 98 too.... Even full-motion video was new on a pc, which is why win 95 included some pixelated music videos.... Yes, normal video was a tech-demo.... People would stand in awe.... I guess you had to be there... Just typing something, and seeing your lettes manifest themselves on the screen was something of a spectacle.... ...And printing something just made you feel like an author of sorts.... ....And tech. support hadnt been out-sourced yet... You would get native english speakers on the line...... Thats how RARE computer skills were back then... They had ACTUAL value!
Barcodes containing the Number of the Beast at 33:54 was actually explained in a later video. The RLM cinematic universe truly is like no other. It all rhymes, like poetry.
so apparently AA Roberts was Shocked that RLM found Tales of Genesis space. but overall he's happy it interested some people at least. he apparently makes games although he has long since retired (maybe) from CGI Animation
I remember he posted a comment on here when the video came out. He didn't seem too happy at the time since his whole post was like his own version of the navy seal copypasta talking about how he doesn't smell and that he's a 12th degree black belt.
Rich's "Have a nice day" at the end of his prank phone call is such a wonderfully lucid, agile, in-the-moment button; I imagine even the recipient being amused by it.
To be honest, when I was a 5 year old kid Road Construction Ahead was pretty bad ass. It was basically just steamrollers and bulldozers doing their stuff, but then they had scenes with dynamite where they just blew stuff up. And it had 80's synth-rock Sammy Hagar Van Halen-esque music in the background the whole time
After 7 years and countless rewatches later, the journey of discovery that they go through with SOS is still as amazing and hilarious as the first day I watched it.
Oh my god... That gremlin rap video, I swear I first saw that on RU-vid, like, 8 years ago. My confusions have been fulfilled, thank you, Red Letter Media.
That look that Jesus gave in SOS honestly made life worth living. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my entire life. Amazing that that was made consciously by people. Wow.
Holy FUCK, This video.. The video is Japanese and I will provide translation, I see another dude did too, but I'll try to add in the actual japanese captions, bear with me. due to the low compression I cant really make out the song that well but it goes like this: 世界中コンピュータクレージー・・・その家に機械だけ。 賑芸と入れ替わる、なにもかもコンピュータクレージー Sekaijyuu computer crazy... sono uchi ni kikai dake, nigigei to irekawaru nanimo kamo computer crazy. --------------------------------------- *Translation:* All around the world, computer crazy, in every home, only machines... It's all transforming ... it's all computer crazy.. Text on the box says: 捕らえたら決して離さない！ SOS ・・・ それは従来の常識を完全に打ち破る未来のビデオ！ 全編にみなぎるアクション、サスペンス、ロマンス、そして ユーモア！ Toraetara keshite hanasanai! SOS... Sore ha shourai no jyoushiki wo zenbu ni uchiyaburu mirai no bideo! Zenpen ni minagiru akushon, sasupensu, romansu, soshite, yuumoa! *Translation:* Once I've obtained it, I'll never let it go! SOS ... is a never before seen video that will crush all common sense! An entire episode filled with action, suspense, romance AND humor! ---------------------------------------- Part 2 of the box says: *SOS・・・ それはミュージック・ドラマの究極！ 現代のホットな話題にスポットを当てた衝撃作! SOSサウンドが開く未知の世界への扉!* オーディオ・ビデオの次元を超越した超自然感覚！・・・君も体験しないか？* SOS... Sore ha myuujikku bideo no kyuukyoku! Gendai no hotto na wadai ni supotto wo ateta shougekisaku! SOS Saundo ga akumichi no sekai he no tobira! Audeio bideo no jigen wo chouetsushita choujigen kankaku! ... Kimi mo taiken shinai ka? *Translation:* SOS.. Is THE ultimate music video! It puts today's hot topics in the spotlight! SOS Sound is a doorway to the yet unknown! The ultimate piece of work that has surpassed the regular boundaries of audio video!! ... Wont you experience it too? The video after that it actually says some shit about religion with darwin 'n shit. Which Nolan translated correctly, here following his comment: (Nolan Luckett) Young Darwin: "When I was young, there was no knowledge that could form the foundation of my way of thinking. However, the common people have made that way of thinking into religion." Old Darwin: "Ah, don't let it be now... If I could only settle affairs... Charles Darwin Three weeks before his death. " It seems they're trying to make it seem like Darwin had a change of heart at the end of his life.
Flokker "It seems they're trying to make it seem like Darwin had a change of heart at the end of his life." Which he didn't; a lot of anti-evolution Christians love trotting this out to bolster their "side". That supposed quote comes from a nurse who claims to have spoken numerous times with Darwin in his last days, despite none of his friends or family ever seeing her, and despite none of them hearing Darwin say anything similar that he'd had a change of heart about his evolutionary theory.
Rich really nails the review here. I remember a church member teaching us barcodes are satanic in Sunday school and at 8 years old thinking this guy has problems.
So, a VERY rough translation of the back of S.O.S., from one of my Japanese friends, is... "Once you find it, you'll never want to part! SOS...The video of the future that completely breaks conventional common sense! This story is full of action, suspense, romance and humor!" I'm sure someone can clear that up a bit more though.
and then the second screen/part you showed is... "SOS...The ultimate music and drama! The shocking product that spotlights a modern hot topic! SOS opens the doors to an unknown world. The supernatural sense that transcends the dimensions of audio and video...Will you experience it too?"
I must say, if that alien thing video was made by only 1 guy, I admire his creativity and the work he put into it. Making 3-D animation is not easy, especially not in 1997, this movie took a lot of effort.
Holy crap I saw a Spanish dubbed version of that SOS video when I was in the second grade!!!! Even in Japanese I still could recognize the song in my head!! The woman walking through a field of sunflowers or something like that and she’s unsure whether to keep the baby or not and her daughter in the womb is singing to her “Don’t you loooove meeee, I’m your daaaaaughteeeer!”. Then everything gets apocalyptic and there’s barcodes on people’s head, they would play that VHS to a bunch of little kids, I can’t believe it made it to Japan too. I’m from Puerto Rico so that makes it even crazier😂
We can laugh all we want at Tales from Genesis Space, but honestly AA Roberts has a real passion for what hr does and we should be glad he gets so much enjoyment out of this hobby. We have to give him credit. Like Tommy Wiseau, he created something he loves (terrifying as it may be). And I am haply that he got the chance to make his storied come to life on screen (regardless of their apparent quality to us).
I really love how at the end after giving the dude so much shit for making a goofy video Mike makes a point to show reverence towards the video and the spirit of the man that made it. Even if the end result isn't very good it's cool to respect when people have passion and create something with it.
I am frankly sick of this glorification of Tommy Wiseau. That guy is an asshole and it was never cleared how he got the money to make "The room" in the first place, rumours about it are suspicious.
I only just noticed that during "Tales From Genesis Space" when the butterfleye scene ends, it says "To Be CONTINUTED." He spelled "Continued" wrong haha
"Loving Jesus" This is a term TFI members use to describe their intimate, sexual relationship with Jesus. TFI describes its "Loving Jesus" teaching as a radical form of bridal theology. Like some fringe Christians, they believe the church of followers is Christ's bride, called to love and serve him with wifely fervor. But they take bridal theology further, encouraging members to imagine Jesus is joining them during sexual intercourse and masturbation. Male members are cautioned to visualize themselves as women, in order to avoid a homosexual relationship with Jesus. This is what those SOS video people actually believe.
What in the fucking fuck??? It makes me wonder if they have orgies where men have to dress up like their version of Jesus...SHIT, I'm just giving them ideas at this point. -_-'
+Sailori7 .eXe +Butt Franklin Those aren't very nice things to say. Imagine them reading those comments. You should just watch some Previously Recorded, Jack is cool.
This video is a testament of how amazingly fast technology has evolved now: 8 years ago they couldn't read or translate the SOS back. Now (and for some time, 2 years or so) I was able to translate it in 3 seconds by just using my phone's camera and google translate. The practicality of our devices now is astonishing! Having said that, I've watched these old RLM videos more than 20 times, they're timeless! The charm these gentlemen exude is unquestionable and will never age. Love you, guys!
The shot of jesus literally looked like a 90s sitcom intro where it shows the actors names and they look in the camera. Full house I think was the one. somebody please add that jesus shot into a sitcom intro, would be so fuckin funny
Better still, do an 80s style sitcom intro called "Jesus and Pals" (or something uplifting like that) and use footage of actors that played in Jesus movies (mary, joseph, judas, the apostles, pilate, etc...) Doing the same opening credits style, but save Jesus for last, and use that smile right when the last music note plays in a high major key.
This is my favorite episode of BotW, and probably the best place for anyone to start watching RLM. It’s got everything; the weird videos, a hilarious prank call, really memorable clips...
The titular music video SOS is actually not as innocuous as "just" women shouldn't stay in the work place, but rather anti-technology, anti-robotics, anti-artificial intelligence, and hardcore pro-traditional "love" instead of "what machine can understand me", also the typical fear mongering of how they will replace men with machines. And it would seem that "SOS" doesn't stand for anything other than a signal for distress for God to save them.
+Bad Voodoo It was made by a Christian doomsday cult called Family International. The version of SOS in this video is in Japanese, as they had a pretty strong following in Japan until they got busted for sexually abusing children. The RLM guys have said they would've left this video off had they known its origins.
kotomixkyou Yeah these guys are far from traditional. They are a hardcore sex cult that wholeheartedly approve of incest and pedophilia. Although they still abhor male-male intercourse.
I know this is 9 years old and no one will ever read this but, it blew my mind when i realized you all were watching the first film. I thought it was an intro sketch and was like, "huh this is going on for a long time."
You can tell Mike and Rich have been friends since they were teenagers because Mike has an instinctual reaction to hand off crank phone calls to Rich... Also @21:46 might be my favorite Mike quote/joke in the entirety of RLM...
Fred,I have to say that your videos are some of the best videos I've ever seen for getting kids interested and excited about these occupations. We use the DVD's in in our house as a reward system at home for good behavior. We recently flew for the 1st time with our son Ben who is 4yrs old and he did the whole thing like an absolute pro! In no small part to "Cleared for Takeoff" I have no doubt. ORD to LGA to BOS and back from BOS to STL he was so excited to share his 'knowledge' with us as we went through the terminals! As a part-time firefighter in Lansing IL I also appreciate the way you portrayed the fire service. It was very honorably done.
You know you've watched too much best of the worst when you can link Tales From Genesis Space to Tammy and the T-Rex because they both have brains in jars.
I love when Jack goes to defend Tales From Genesis Space after Mike says the trash bags were supposed to be a black void, and Mike stops him and goes, "That's what it was. Don't even start."
My Grandfather is religious, found out about the barcode thing a couple of years ago and tried to stop buying things with barcodes. Needless to say it did not go well.
Some truly bizarre movies this time around. Major kudos to Rich for that prank call. That was a tough assignment dropped in his lap under immense pressure and he rose to the challenge like a man.
S.O.S. was an entire voyage of discovery. The horror just slowly sets in and then everything clicks. Also Rich was right: barcodes and lasers are the mark of the beast. 🤣
Rich is 100% right when he says it's "Airplane Corn for Babies." I had "Road Construction Ahead." It was the same but for dump trucks and diggers. And I LOVED it. IDK what it is about little kids and big vehicles, but it is inexplicably transfixing for children.
Wondering if the 1800 number guy ever called back from "Cleared for takeoff". I can picture that guy sitting by the phone for 30 years rocking back and forth, just waiting for it to ring, finally giving up and hanging himself 1 min before Mike called, rocking back and forth from the I beam as the answering machine blares out through his disheveled apartment xD. Ok that was dark, these guys have that affect...
One of my favorite BotW, there is everything: Rich Evan's prank call, 3d models rapping, SOS nonsence, "it is airplane pornography for children". So many things going on.
I'm not gonna lie, I was absolutely convinced you guys made up the covers for Tales From Genesis Space and SOS as gags for the last, 'final' Wheel of the Worst. I am shocked they turned out to be real! Anyway, great episode, glad the wheel is still around
Jesus seems to be doing a "the things I put up with" thing, straight out of an old sitcom intro. Imagine him as a bartender, some customers are bickering over the game they're watching on the tv, one of them gestures and knocks over a drink, then the camera zooms in on Jesus and he gives that look
