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Futurama: Bender's Game
R1 - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum (8th December 2008). |
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The Film
 "Futurama" (1999-2003), for the uninitiated, is a science fiction cartoon created by Matt Groening, the man responsible for "Life in Hell" and an for obscure cartoon that you have never heard of called "The Simpsons" (1989-Present). The characters in "Futurama" all look rather Simpsons-ish, except that there are also robots, space cops, laser guns, and other sci-fi archetypes - all rendered a la Groening. "Futurama" lasted for fifty-one episodes over four seasons, before folding. In that shortish period, the show accumulated a dedicated fan base, and with good reason. In addition to being hilarious, it was chock full of homages to (and parodies of) every conceivable bit science fiction lore from H.G. Wells and Georges Méliès to "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" (2002). From 1950's B-movie xenophobia to the "Star Trek" phenomena, Futurama keenly parodied it all. The basic premise is that a delivery boy named Fry (Billy West) gets caught in cryo-freeze on New Year's Eve 1999 and wakes up one thousand years later. He gets a job as a delivery boy, and has adventures with his co-workers (including a robot, a cute Asian girl, a Rastafarian, a lobster-man, a senile inventor, and a Cyclops). The show was fast paced, brilliantly written, expertly voice-acted, and animated a notch or two better than "The Simpsons." It was canceled far too soon. The good news is that "Futurama" returned in 2007 with the first of four scheduled triple-length telefilms. The first was "Bender's Big Score." The second film, "The Beast with A Billion Backs" (2008), came next, and now "Bender's Game" is has been unleashed satisfy the mad craving for more "Futurama." In "Bender's Game", Professor Farnsworth (Billy West) tells us that in his youth, he and his rival scientist - and energy industry megalomaniac - Mom (Tress MacNellie) discovered the key to using dark matter as fuel. One convoluted bit of pseudo-science leads to another, and a race ensues for the possession of some crystals that will solve the galactic energy crisis. Farnsworth wants to solve the crisis, while Mom wants to perpetuate it to keep her monopoly intact. Meanwhile, the robot Bender (John Di Maggio) encounters some kids playing Dungeons and Dragons (a game that has not changed at all in a thousand years, apparently). He is insecure at his robotic lack of imagination. When he finally develops an imagination, he ends up going crazy and believing that he really is his D and D character. About an hour into the cartoon, the two plots converge (it seems that dodecahedron's are useful in both role playing games and in galactic energy production), and the story goes off into a sort of medieval-era "Futurama" episode. This allows for all sorts of Tolkien gags and other fantasy-genre parodies. Celebrity cameos this time include The Dixie Chicks, George Takei, Rich Little, and Dungeons and Dragons creator E. Gary Gygax. In the "Futurama" universe, 20th/21st century celebs have survived as disembodied heads in jars. In the contemporary world, all sorts of digital nonsense are needed in order to keep celebrities alive and kicking for their "Futurama" cameos. In this case, archival material is used to include Gygax, who passed away in March, 2008. This telefilm is dedicated to his memory.
Video
This "Futurama" film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. It should be no surprise that the picture is pristine; the images were almost certainly ported directly from a digital video editing system to a DVD authoring system, and so things are very solidly presented. The clean lines and large areas of solid color make it easy to compress this sort of material, so things look perfect (especially as presented on a dual-layer disc). Runtime is 1:27:19 in length, divided into 12 chapters.
Audio
The film is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround with subtitles in English, Spanish and French. There are plenty of cool and funny sound effects that make good use of the surrounds. The voice acting here is great, and it is amazing that the producers got the entire original television cast back on board for all four of the new telefilms.
Extras
Fox has released this film with an audio commentary, storyboards, three featurettes, a parody spot, bloopers, an interactive feature, a deleted scene and a bonus trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. The audio commentary featured includes creator Matt Groening, series developer David X. Cohen, voice actors Billy West, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNellie, writer Michael Rowe, producer Claudia Katz, and director Dwayne Carey-Hill sit around and collectively talk about the making of the film. The track is not really directed or focused at all, and the participants all just sort of chime in at random with their thoughts. They seem to be having a pretty good time; there is a lot of laughing and joking. Worth a listen for serious fans and those looking for extra behind-the-scenes tidbits. Storyboard animatic runs for 21 minutes 47 seconds; these are sStoryboards - with occasional sound effects and dialogue - for the amazing Beatles 'Yellow Submarine' parody that opens the movie and a montage of other scenes. "D&D&F" runs for 7 minutes 2 seconds; this is the making-of featurette. Interviews with the creators of "Futurama," mostly about their childhood (or adulthood) D&D experiences. Also, a retrospective of D&D-based gags from classic "Futurama" episodes. "How to Draw Futurama in 83 Easy Steps" featurette runs for 7 minutes 51 seconds; the illustrators provide a how-to for all of you artists out there. "3D Models with Animator Discussion" featurette runs for 5 minutes 3 seconds; wireframe spaceship models and their rendered versions spinning around on the screen as the CG animators comment. "Bender's Anti-Piracy Warning" spot runs for 1 minute 12 seconds; and is a fun take on the plea to stop illegal media ripping and file sharing. "Blooperama" are bloopers that run for 1 minute 50 seconds; the cast are shown in a recording session reading their lines, and usually messing them up. There's another blooper that runs for 1 minute 24 seconds featuring Billy West as Farnsworth is included as an Easter egg (click the castle icon on the menu). "Futurama Genetics Lab" interactive feature follows, select two characters and see a still image of a hybrid character. There's a single deleted scene: "Cup or Nozzle?" that runs for 1 minute 3 seconds; The D&D kids go for a slurm (drink). Rounding out the extras package is a bonus trailer for: - "Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder" which runs for 1 minute 13 seconds; this pomo is for the next feature-length movie on DVD.
Packaging
Packaged in an eco-friendly cardboard case.
Overall
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