Saturday, June 21, 2008

Mini-DVD Review: Futurama - Beast With a Billon Backs (June 24)

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the mini-DVD review. Today we take a look at 20th Century Fox's Futurama - Beast With a Billion Backs. Futurama - Beast With a Billion Backs is the second movie featuring the hit animated series. See skees53's mini-DVD review of Futurama - Beast With a Billion Backs:

Futurama - Beast With a Billion Backs (20th Century Fox, $29.98) is the second installment in Fox's series of movies based upon the Sunday night animated sitcom from the past. The feature film picks up where the previous feature, Bender's Big Score, leaves off, when they try to find a way to keep peace and joy in the galaxy. But all doesn't go so well when a beast... a beast with a billion backs... takes over the society and makes Fry the Pope! How will they get out of this mess? Or will we have to wait until one of the next two installments to find out?
The movie looks and sounds great on DVD, with Dolby Digital Surround Sound audio. Of course, you can't compare this to how it looks on TV, as this has yet to be shown on TV, but to put it simply, it looks great.
Of course, the DVD also contains a plethora of special features, which honestly are much better than the movie itself. For starters, there is a commentary track that includes commentary from all of the important people involved with the movie. The "Futurama: The Lost Adventure" featurette is actually a lost full-length episode of the original series—kind of. This was produced for a Futurama video game that never quite made it, but now we get that "episode" on this DVD... with commentary, of course! "Meet Yiyo!" gives you a look at Yiyo, the title character of the movie. "Blooperama: The Futurama Cast at Work" lets you get a behind the scenes look at the screw ups made along the way in the production of this movie. And of course, there are animatics and deleted scenes--what would a Fox animated series be without those on DVD? Finally, there is a short preview of the next movie in the Futurama movie series, Bender's Game.
Any true fan of Futurama is going to want to see this simply because it is another chapter in a series that they are a fan of, but even these true fans should prepare themselves to be disappointed. It seems that the idea of the series has changed quite a bit with these movies, and it has become less of a good animated sitcom and has gotten more into the realm of science fiction, which would be fine except it is still being written by comedy writers. I can't really think of any time where my real disappointment with a DVD has been about the content of what is on it as opposed to a bad DVD compilation. The compilation in this case is excellent, and fans will certainly appreciate that, and it is worth watching the movie anyway if you are a fan.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

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Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, October 2

Son of a Critch - "Circus" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mark and Fox find themselves on a maybe-date to the fair; Ritchie's family hosts some new Filipino-Canadians who make him feel insecure about his heritage.

Run the Burbs - "Phamily Games Night" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Andrew and Camille use game nights to help Hudson; Ramesh worries Barb doesn't think he's expressive enough; Khia plans a movie night for Mannix.

Children Ruin Everything - "Screen Time" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Astrid and James enact a weekend screen ban; with new work assignments, they soon learn leading by example is more complicated than they originally thought; without the hypnotic power of electronics, they're in for an uphill battle.

American Dad! - "Multiverse of American Dadness" (TBS, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Hayley searches for a runaway Steve so they can go to a Shaggy concert.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 2)

Monday, October 2

  • Garcelle Beauvais (The Jamie Foxx Show) - E! News has an interview with Garcelle at 11pm on E!.
  • Gina Yashere (Bob Hearts Abishola) - Gina is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
  • Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk) - Patrick talks about Making It So: A Memoir on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Nicole Ari Parker (And Just Like That.../Second Time Around) - Nicole tells Sherri about her starring role in the off-Broadway show The Refuge Plays on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Zosia Mamet (Girls) - Zosia is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - NBC's Today catches up with Mindy sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
  • Vivica A. Fox (Mr. Box Office/Getting Personal/Arsenio/Out All Night) - Vivica talks about directing First Lady of BMF on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Alfonso Ribeiro (In the House/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso stops by and chats about hosting the new season of America's Funniest Videos and gives a behind-the-scenes look at his family life on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • The Cast of The Neighborhood - Cedric the Entertainer, Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs, Tichina Arnold, Marcel Spears, Sheaun McKinney and Hank Greenspan celebrate the series' 100th episode on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (June-October)

Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series Family Matters - The Complete Series Step by Step - The Complete Series ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition)

06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
07/18 - South Park - Seasons 21-25 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/25 - The Neighborhood - Season Five
07/25 - Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin - Season One
07/25 - Superstore - The Complete Series
08/22 - Back to Life - Season 1 / Season 2
08/29 - Smiling Friends - Season 1 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


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