Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) |
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Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Animation |
Audio Commentary-Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio,etc Featurette-Futurama Returns! Featurette-Everybody Loves Hypnotoad Featurette-A Terrifying Message From Al Gore Featurette-Bite My Shiny Metal X Script-Bender’s Big Score: The Original First Draft Of The Script Featurette-New Character/Design Sketches Featurette-Original Five-Minute Comic-Con Promo Deleted Scenes-x3 |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2007 | ||
| Running Time | 85:12 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Dwayne Carey-Hill |
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Studio
Distributor |
20th CENTURY FOX Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Billy West Katey Sagal John Di Maggio Tress MacNeille Maurice LaMarche Phil LaMarr Lauren Tom David Herman |
| Case | Alpha | ||
| RPI | ? | Music |
Christopher Tyng Paul D. Calder Scott Muller |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.75:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.75:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
When Futurama was effectively cancelled in 2003, animation fans and assorted geeks everywhere threw up their hands in horror, for here was a beloved, acclaimed show from comedy supremo Matt Groening (that many thought outwitted his other show The Simpsons). So it was with great relief that 20th Century Fox announced not one but a series of Futurama movies that would be released direct to DVD. Bender's Big Score is the first of the movies and others are due to follow this year.
All 4 Seasons of Futurama have been reviewed on this site. Go read them if you want to know more about this amazing series.
When Professor Farnsworth bursts into the room and makes the announcement quoted above (his "good news" is usually associated with imminent doom) it is because the Planet Express delivery service has been given a new lease of life: the executives at the Box Network have put the interplanetary delivery service back on track. Their first job is a real doozy - deliver a package to the Nude Beach Planet! In fact, this simple job, like so many others in Futurama, turns out to carry out the seeds of universal destruction; whilst on the planet, the Planet Express team fall victim to a gang of internet scammers, and as each day passes, the scammers grow in stature, first assuming ownership of the Planet Express business and then eventually the Earth.
But this is only one of the problems for the Planet Express team. Pencil pushing bureaucrat Hermes suffers the indignity of losing his head, only to have his wife fall back into the clutches of her lecherous ex Barbados Slim. Bender, on the hunt for free robot porn, becomes infected with a virus rendering him unable to resist the mind control of the scammers. Meanwhile, much to the horror of Phillip J Fry, his lifelong love Turanga Leela has fallen for the mysterious Lars. Fry wonders, not for the first time, if he would be better off in his own era.
The real plot twist in Bender's Big Score comes when the scammers find a tattoo on Fry's butt containing the code for a method of paradox free time travel. Despite warnings that overuse - or in fact any use - of the time portal could threaten to destroy the universe, the scammers see the huge potential for robbing the past for their personal gain. So begins the most complex time story since Back to the Future: Bender, under the mind control of the scammers, sets about going back in time to rob the Earth of all its treasures, including an unfinished Mona Lisa! Meanwhile, Fry goes back in time to see if he can live his own life without the thought of his beloved Leela. And Zoidberg - well, he runs around clicking his claws a lot.
Bender's Big Score takes a risk by converting a 30 minute sitcom into a 90 minute movie. Inevitably the pace does move slower than the individual episodes, however there is some genuine emotional resonance built up in the story of Fry's enduring love for Leela. There is no doubt that the writers are still at the top of their game in constructing nifty plot twists and some devilish dialogue. As usual, the cynical Bender has the best lines, but the expanded time format gives the writers a chance to throw in some of our favourite characters - including space jerk Zapp Brannigan, the head of Richard Nixon, Santa Claus and Kwanzaa Bot, Barbaros Slim, noted astrophysicists The Harlem Globetrotters and, everyone's favourite, the Hypnotoad.
Special mention must be made of the new characters - the nasty, witty, nude scammers. I hope the filmmakers find a way to slot them into the next films.
Before ending on a positive note I must comment on the three individual copy warnings (all but one skippable) at the beginning of the DVD. Enough already! The preview DVD I received for review did not have a lot of the details needed above but I will update them when the retail DVD is due for release.
Whilst there are individual Futurama episodes that are better than Bender's Big Score, there is no doubt that fans of the show will be pleased that the quality has been maintained despite the long hiatus.
Bender's Big Score is presented on DVD in a widescreen 1.85:1 transfer. It is 16 x 9 enhanced.
Although the fact of a widescreen transfer would seem commonplace, it must be remembered that all five seasons of Futurama were originally telecast in 1.33:1. This is a point not lost on the production team who wonder (in the commentary track) why they were never able to work widescreen.
The result is a beautifully animated show which retains its direct connection with the original series. Futurama was a huge step up from The Simpsons in terms of visual quality but yet the characters are simply drawn. While most of the animation is 2D there was also extensive CGI work done, particularly for the action scenes.
No fan of the original series will be disappointed with this transfer. It is crisp and the colours bright and beautiful. I noticed slight haloing around the characters but I would suspect that this is more of a problem for those with larger screens. On my display I also experienced some very minor problems with aliasing that I also experienced in the original series.
None of these problems affect the fact that this is beautiful to look at. Without gilding the lily, the animators have created a crisp colourful image.
Despite the wealth of extra features on this DVD there are no compression problems to be seen.
There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which give a clear account of onscreen action.
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Benders Big Score is presented with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack running at 448 kb/s.
In fact, although the sound is good throughout, there is not a great deal of use made of the surrounds. They do come into effect in the space battle scenes towards the end of the film but otherwise most of the action occurs around the front channels.
The sound, however, is clear and the dialogue is easy to hear and understand. Audio sync is perfect.
The music is consistent with the original TV show although there are a couple of songs thrown in for good measure. Whilst they do break up the action somewhat, my own view is that the songs weren't particularly effective.
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The commentary track is presented by a host of participants, including director Dwayne Carey-Hill, creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen as well as writers and animators and also cast members Billy West, John Di Maggio and Phil LaMarr. Having this many people on board for a commentary prevents a detailed scene by scene analysis. This commentary track never sets out to break down the moments in the film. Instead, it is really a chance for the whole team to get together for a few laughs and talk about the feeling of being cancelled, the joy of being renewed and the challenges faced in putting together the story in a 90 minute format. If commentary tracks featuring people laughing at each other's jokes and generally having a good time aren't your thing then leave this one alone.I found it to be fun and breezy.
This is a live comic book reading by the Futurama cast. The comic book is on the screen with the reading as an oral accompaniment. The performance took place before an appreciative audience. The plot of the comic book is about the return of Planet Express after suspension by the Box Network. There is a loud cheer when a big thank you is given to the nerds of the world who made it all possible.
The DVD includes a 22 minute episode of this new sitcom. What can I say but that this is the finest 22 minutes in the history of television! All glory to the Hypnotoad!!!
Al Gore had previously made an appearance in Futurama and they made this short funny promo for Gore's film to be posted on YouTube. Apparently it had over a million views. The promo is just a short funny scene between Bender and Gore. The commentary which is optional is with Gore, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. It is done as a picture in picture and concludes with Gore giving a serious comment on the state of the planet.
As proof that the Futurama team have a wide ranging sense of humour as well as a good deal of intelligence, this is a lecture on mathematics by Professor Sarah Greenwald - no, really.
It turns out that the maths and physics whizzes behind Futurama derive great joy from putting maths and physics jokes and references throughout the series. Some of the Futurama production team get to assist in the experiments and Greenwald, who is a big Futurama fan, conducts this breezy session that seems a lot shorter than its 26 minute running time. A fun watch.
The DVD contains the entire table draft script of the show. Viewers are invited to read the script and work out the differences. I noticed a few different lines in the script including some alterations to the end sequence. All in all, another great addition.
Whilst this was a 2-D animation film there were various 3-D models used including the Gold Death Star, the scammer's ship and the Chanukah Zombie space ship. This short feature shows the turn around (360º rotation) of the models and a wire frame version.
Three deleted scenes are included on the DVD. All are short. In the first - Monte Carlo - Bender gets into a competition with a jaded gambler. The second - Robot Mafia - is very brief showing the Mafia bots protecting their turf. The third - Limbo Contest - contains some dialogue used in the wedding scene towards the end of the film. Hermes challenges Barbados Slim to a limbo contest to win back the love of his wife. All the scenes are in story board form only with the actors providing voice over.
These are a series of sketches for items and characters in the show including the all important Fry's butt with Bender's face tattoo. There are 25 in all.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
According to the informative website www.ilovebender.com the features on this DVD are the same worldwide.
Bender's Big Score is a worthy successor to the Futurama television series. It will delight fans of the series and, who knows, may even bring it back to life for a whole season.
The transfer is consistent with the original television show and is nice and bright. The sound is quite adequate.
The extras are extensive and enjoyable one and all. Overall an excellent package.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer BDP-LX70 Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output |
| Display | Pioneer PDP-5000EX. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-SR605 |
| Speakers | JBL 5.1 Surround and Subwoofer |