Futurama: Bender’s Big Score DVD Review

Written by: Ken Keeler
Story by: Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen
Director: Dwayne Carey Hill
Voices: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Dimaggio, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, Al Gore, Coolio, Tom Kenney, Mark Hamill, etc.

The past few years are proof that there is indeed a God. First, Family Guy returned from cancellation with new seasons and a new CD. Next, Jason David Frank returned to Power Rangers for a year. Now, Futurama is finally back in four DVD movies. I have to admit I really enjoyed this movie much more than the Family Guy Stewie Griffin DVD movie a few years back. This actually feels like it should have been a theatrical release and it doesn’t feel like a bunch of episodes thrown together, this has the feel and scope of a animated movie. Hell, even the opening credits are new and jazzed up featuring the main characters getting the credit they deserve. Kudos to Matt Groening and crew getting the writers and voice actors back together, this really feels like a continuation of the old television show.

The movie has a lot of plot with tons of things going on over the course of 90 minutes. The basic premise is
this: evil naked aliens led by Nudar want to access time travel via a tattoo of Bender placed upon Fry’s butt. The professor is conned into giving his business and earnings to the aliens and then the aliens program Bender to go back in time and steal treasures from various eras of time. Meanwhile, a new character Lars is winning Leela’s heart, Hermes loses his head and is then placed upon a new version of his body, albeit backwards, Fry decides to do a lot of time traveling and eventually return to his life in the 2000’s, and old friends and foes drop by for some fantastic cameo appearances.

I don’t want to spoil everything about this movie in this review, so I won’t. I will say that if you hate the fact that Lars and Leela hook up rather quickly, don’t feel bad. I was pissed about this until the end.
Let’s just say the writers haven’t forgotten about Fry and Leela’s relationship from the TV show, and things work out in the end. The continuity found within this movie is sensational. There are nods to Seymour the dog and how he became fossilized, nods to the episode “Luck of the Fryish”, appearances by the evil Santa Robot and Leela’s mutant parents and much more for die-hard Futurama fans. Hell, even Barbados Slim (Hermes limbo rival) plays a big role in this film. Al Gore returns once more and continues to try and save the environment. Even Tinny Timm and Elzar make brief roles in the film. While all this is going on, Dr.Zoidberg is still his crazy self and the Professor remains confused as ever.

The voice acting in the movie is spot on, the characters all act and sound just like they did years ago before the show was cancelled. The writing is spot on and there are some great jabs at the Fox network for canceling Futurama in the first place. The opening credits are incredible; watch them and you will see why this could work as a theatrical release. Everything just felt perfect and the characters are all the same as they were when we left them years ago. I do have a few complaints but most of them are minor.

I really wish that Zapp Branigan and Kiff had a larger role in the film. They do play a part, but not until the final battle in the film. Zapp is one of my favorite Futurama characters and I really hope he has a larger role in the next DVD film. Also, Mom and her bumbling sons do not show up in the film. Mom is one of the great villains of the Futurama universe; hopefully she will be the villain in one of the remaining three films. Plus, where I was super pissed about Lars and Leela hooking up it all works itself out. I was thinking that the writers obviously forgot about Leela and Fry getting closer on the final TV episode “The Devils Hands are Idle Playthings” but all is worked out before the credits roll at the end of the film.

The DVD features are alright. I haven’t listened to the commentary yet but there are some great deleted animatics, a quick and hilarious message from Bender and Al Gore, and there is long featurette on the math of Futurama. I have to tell you I didn’t care for this feature cause I hate math and it really felt like a math class with a real math teacher measuring things and talking about equations. The best part was when Matt Groening drew Bender on the board. That was about the only part of the math feature I liked. So what is the best DVD extra? Twenty-two minutes of the hit episode “Everybody Loves Hypno-Toad!” It is exactly what it sounds like and worth a look.

All in all, go buy this film. Show your support for Futurama and buy multiple copies, I did. They will make great x-mas gifts and any Futurama fan will love you for it. The movie gets a solid A, I can’t wait for the next DVD movie. To quote Bender, “We’re back baby!”