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The First Review Of FUTURAMA: INTO THE WILD GREEN YONDER Appears Online!!
Merrick here...
As it has with the previous three straight-to-DVD FUTURAMA titles, Screenjabber has nabbed the first review of the next...and possibly last...installment of the FUTURAMA franchise.
It's called FUTURAMA: INTO THE WILD GREEN YONDER. Well, I say it could the last...which it might be I suppose...but there are already whispers of further FUTURAMA projects...so hope shines eternal.
Plot-wise, it's very tightly-woven and everything comes together nicely for the climax. And the finale ties everything up neatly while still leaving the way open for more, just in case. But I'm sure you're all wanting to know: is Into The Wild Green Yonder any good? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. For me, this was the best of the bunch of these straight-to-DVD-etc movies. It's got some brilliant lines ("bite my shiny metal hat"), and the makers have also stepped up the visual gags a notch — if a few of the Vegas scenes don't have you rolling on the floor, then you must be dead or else someone who simply hates Futurama.
...says the review, whose entirety can be found HERE.
If've found these direct-to-DVD movies to be extremelty uneven, but I ain't gonna stop buying them and can't imagine I ever will. After all, even tepid FUTURAMA is still better than roughly 98.9 percent of anything on television.
INTO THE WILD GREEN YONDER hits on DVD & Blu-Ray February 24.
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That sounds ominous.
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I can't quite understand why the show was cancelled in the first place. It wasn't doing that badly was it? Also, as stated - it was better than a lot of other stuff on TV. These DVDs have been doing well enough, haven't they?
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Here's hoping it's the best of them yet (currently I'm leaning towards Bender's Big Score for that title).
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How many of these things are they going to do?
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Classic.
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HOLY SHIT WHAT A LINE. 'Hat' sounds a little like 'ass'! (sprays ginger ale all over monitor)
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Yeah I agree. The last one was pretty funny then they go into a Dungeon's and Dragons thing and it was weird and pretty funny, but odd. I didn't care for the first one at all. I think so far the Beast was the best, but I've never had a want to watch them again. Why doesn't comedy central just bring the show back. I mean what shows do they even have now? Daily Show and his side kick? Those shows aren't very hard to make. South Park is over, the newest version of the Chapelle show hopefully sucks and Silvermans show is almost done. Comedy central doesn't have much going on. They aren't even doing any stand up specials.
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"Zapp Brannigan's Guide to Making Love AT a Woman"
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I'm a huge futurama fan. I loved the series. I was extremely pissed off when Fox announced that the series was being canceled. I felt that they didn't treat the show fairly. Constantly being pre-empted and bounced around on the air times.
Then a few years later the rumors of the straight to dvds or comedy central picking it up started spreading. I was stoked.
But then after these dvd movies finally came out I have to admit that i'm disappointed in them. Now don't get me wrong. There have been a few good moments here and there. But overall they're really underpar considering where the series was at when it ended.I think all the retcon stuff from previous episodes is one of the main dislikes for me. That and disposing of all the kids and nibbler and etc.,. I haven't got to watch "Benders Game" yet so are they even in that one? Or are they still supposed to be dead from "Benders Big Score"? Supposedly the kids ship either went down or was blown up and haven't seen them since. And Nibbler ate himself out of the universe. And Kiff and Amy are over. Leela is back to ignoring Fry like in the begining of the series instead of looking like they were going to be together when the series ended.
Like I said underpar. -
Is still a thousand times better than the "best" of the last few seasons of The Simpsons.
I do, however, miss stand-alone episodes of Futurama. Instead of the "movie" format they've been using, I wish they could find a way to go back to individual episodes, releasing DVDs with 5-6 episodes that aren't necessarily linked but, like the series, still carried certain threads that would occasionally pop up. Independent episodes allowed the writers a lot more freedom when it came to jokes. I think that's the main reason the movies feel so uneven. -
I'd rather the series had been left with the incredibly fond memories I had for it before it's return. That's just me though.
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I love Futurama, I really do, and so do most of my immediate friends - but these new feature lengths are just not hitting the mark for us.
Personally I don't think the writing is good enough for an hour and a half or whatever it is they run to. It suited the standard episodic slot well, but stretched out over 90 minutes I find myself finishing a drink in between laughs and wondering when it will end. -
Dec 05, 2008 6:59:56 PM CST
I thought I read that when Comedy Central picked up the reruns..
by mr spork
they were going to make new 30 minute episodes, not movies.
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Indeed. 'Benders Game' was ok, but the 'Beast with a Million back's' or whatever it was called, was Horrendously bad. Almost put me off the series for good.
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I thought Bender's Big Score was pretty good, but I loved The Beast With a Billion Backs. Bender's Game wasn't bad, but probably my least favorite of the three.It just seems there's no consensus amongst fans. I still don't understand those who didn't like **ANY** of the films, but to each their own.
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That would be tits.
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The films were designed to be broken up into episodes, just watch an episode's worth at a time. I do think the films are uneven overall but they're still welcome.
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The movies are the episodes. They've said that since the beginning. Each movie is 4 episodes. And Comedy Central has aired the first two movies in episodic form.
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way to undercut your own argument. if you'd watched Bender's Game, you'd realize how Nibblonian and obnoxious kid-heavy it is. they're prominent in one-third of the movies released to date, that seems a bigger ratio than in their volume of TV episodes....
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Dec 05, 2008 9:53:03 PM CST
I liked Bender's Game the most but what they're all lacking...
by iamnicksaicnsn
is the continuity from the series. The relationships. For the love of god, let Leela and Fry get together the way it was meant to be. And yeah Mace13, they are all in the new one.
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Every mission is a suicide mission!
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Beast was the worst of the three (so far), Bender's Game was the best. Can't wait to see the new one. But I would really love it if it would return as a regular series. I've always found it far more funny and entertaining than The Simpsons or (ugh) Family Guy (Worst. Show. Ever.)
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...but you can't crush my spirit!"
"ow....my spirit!"
You nailed. The movies are uneven, but still better than almost anything else out there. Plus....the show has a permanent pass for me as the tv show has moments that are brilliant. I love the show...period. -
Yeah I just haven't gotten around to picking up "Benders Game" yet. It's on my to do list. Is it just me or do these Futurama movies keep going up in price when they come out? Benders Game is $25 around here. And thats even at wal-mart!! All other new releases are like $15 - $20 normally. But the last two Futurama movies have both been $25 in my area. I see no reason for that. If it were two discs then ok. But thats not the case. Thats been kinda putting me off buying them until the price drops.
It's not like the kids or nibbler were my favorites of the show or anything. They were all second string characters. Thats just a minor gripe. I just didn't care for their fates in the first movie and not to have the main characters even mention them or anything in the next one. The kids or nibbler didn't even have any cameos in "Beast" so I was assuming they were keeping them dead or whatever for now. And besides that are the kids/nibblonians in "Benders game" actually them? Or are they just fantasy versions? If it's just fantasy versions that still doesn't do anything for the normal characters and i'll still be pissy about their fates. Guess i'll find out when I watch it.
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The characters should be together by now if you go by the stories, it feels unnatural. (There should be at least some kind of explanation on "why not" other than that "it would mean the end of the series".) I also think 1,5 hours is too much to spend on a story. The series consists of 20 minutes of different, extremely tight and smart stories. It doesn't work that much if they have more time, the short running time forced them to be better and smarter. You cut your lame jokes, if you have only that much time. That said, I'm looking forward to this. And Million Backs is the best of the bunch, even if it's weirder than anything that came before.
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shame on me.
I didn't bother watching the third movie, and I'm not gonna watch this one either. Gimme my season box sets, and don't destroy the memory of a good show, with these half-hearted unfunny pieces of shit. -
If there is to be more Futurama, make it a proper season of self-contained 22 minute episodes. Such stories have to be tight and whip-smart (the thing I like most about Futurama). Feature-length stories - even when divided into episodes - just contain too much needless padding and extraneous characters. Which is a shame, because I really believe that Futurama still has more to give - if only in a proper season.
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...they are still way better than the simpsons movie. Remember that?? No, because it's shit.
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FOX gave them the right to make four movies. THEN, Comedy Central said they would pickup the show for two seasons. Since they were already making the movies, those 4 films will comprise the first season of 16 episodes, then the next season will be made, which will be written as episodes, rather than movies. These movies are not the end of Futurama. At least one more season after is happening.
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It was the funniest and most fluid of them. The Beast with a Billion Backs was amusing, but felt rushed and really didn't have a lot of good jokes in it. Bender's Game was a bit better, but it felt kinda disjointed the way it suddenly shifted gears halfway through. It would've been better if we had more fantasy world and less real world. Get in there earlier and make it more the point of the movie. Hopefully this one caps it off nicely.
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youd think it'd be something you'd have to freebase. Futurama is great but i wonder how much better it would have been if phil hartman didnt die, even so i still like Zap
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Dec 06, 2008 9:27:41 AM CST
so far, I'm waiting for the whole package of this 5th season...
by cifra
... 'cause we all know they're gonna release it extended later so we fans have to pay again for the same stuff with slight difference. By the way, how come not a single DEAD SET review on the site? I'm thinking in write one myself, for God's sake!
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Dec 06, 2008 11:06:50 AM CST
Futurama: Better by far then the Simpsons since the 90's
by stormwatcher
I never understand how people say they don't find this funny but love the SImpsons. Maybe its because they can't get past their gag reflex for SCIFI kinda like the friends who love Lost, love The Shield, Love Sopranos but won't watch BSG because it has robots.
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Christ when she tears that thing off and they cut away. Why oh why do I want to nail a cartoon character?
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It seems interesting to read these talkbacks and find that each of the three movies are ranked as both the best and worst of the films by an assortment of fans. I did find it strange that there was quite a blowback about the first film, as I thought it was exactly what the show could be at its best: funny, touching, self referential, and satirical and wrapped up some of the series paradoxes nicely. I was sold once Seymour showed up again, it was a beautiful homage to the one truly depressing, or more correctly melancholy, endings the series offered, with Seymour waiting until he died for Fry to return. Plus, I love when they revisit Dec. 31, 1999. Beast with a Billion Backs is no doubt the most disjointed, with the large arc being underwhelming. However, it too tried to embody another segment of the show's classic story telling motifs, political upheaval led by Zap Brannigan. I will say that BWABB did let me down slightly. Now Bender's Game was well conceived, and served as a nice geek obsession referential episode to Dungeons and Dragons/ LOTR, but I found those fantasy segments less humorous than the 'real world' scenes, but the overall film was more rewarding than BWABB. I think, or rather hope, that Into the Wild Green Yonder will be a great film sendoff. I take note with other TBers that these films should be critiqued as four episodes each, considering that they were produced as one piece of content to later be broken up and not the other way around. Besides, there was four years when Futurama was dead for good, and getting it to rise from the grave is quite a task, and I'm just happy to have any new Futurama content considering the final episode was not as cathartic as it could have been. These films have been a great extension of the series, and I look forward to the next season, and for Comedy Central's sake, I hope they are exclusive to the station first since I have had no reason to watch their premieres of the films since I have bought them some six months before they show up on t.v. Futurama would be an excellent companion to their programming, which has shifted to alot of stupid fare (Chocolate News? Totally uneven. Reno 911? Dulled to repetition. Sarah Silverman? Worth watching, but usually veers into unfunny too often. Drawn Together? Is that still on? Even South Park has become very hit or miss. I know! I can't believe I said that either!) Why do we have to wait until February for this title?
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And was very disappointed. It seemed to pick right up where the last season of Futurama left off.. very uneven, with long stretches of no gags and way more of a 'mean spiritedness' than any of the earlier seasons. Long portions of the 'comedy' seemed to be devoted solely to how miserable can you make the characters, with no real payout.Which is too bad, because I own the first 3 seasons, and particularly the first two are pretty much my favorite animated series ever.
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Dec 06, 2008 11:51:25 AM CST
I think all the films have been successful to varying degrees.
by rbatty024
Granted, BWABB is the most uneven of them all, but like most Futurama all three get better on repeat viewing. I wasn't the biggest fan of the series until I started watching the repeats. I, for one, am looking forward to the new film.
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Bender's Big Score was easily the best for me. I laughed throughout and the only problem I had was that I guessed the "twist" far in advance, when I had never done that for a Futurama episode before.
Bender's Game comes in second. Some funny stuff, I laughed a satisfactory amount, but it ultimately felt hollow to me.
And The Beast with a Billion Backs comes in last, easily. I'll go so far as to say I thought it was awful. I didn't experience one honest laugh through the whole thing - and found most of the characters to actually be annoying me, which has never happened. It was like the writers for that particular movie forgot what these characters were. -
Bender's Game is on sale at Best Buy and BestBuy.com for $13.99 all this week (so, until tonight). I bought it for $17.99 when it came out, but used the 30-day price guarantee to get a 4 dollar refund.
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Great but when will 1 & 2 Be released on Blu-Ray? Wasn't that the deal from the start?
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They really just need to make a real season, a lot of people would watch.
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To me, BwaBB is actually the clear winner, in spit of its obvious tonal inconsistency (which actually is soothed somewhat when it's broken into 4 episodes).
Why? Because Futurama is not the Simpsons. David X Cohen et all got into this show because they genuinely love science fiction. The best Futurama (ex Roswell that Ends Well or Godfellas) not only has plenty of laughs, it has a solid sci-fi foundation in terms of ideas and implementation. Bender's Big Score was also a really solid outing (and probably the most overall successful and balanced) but BwaBB is just brimming over with the writers' experimentation with sci-fi generes. It's smart, imaginative, and dares to even expand the show's already ambitious range of stylews (incorporating a healthy dose of sci-fi horror into the mix). Bender's Game, on the other hand, was a bit of a letdown; less epic and imaginative than the other two, and finally delving into cheap parody for the misbegotten fantasy section. (To be clear, fantasy has always stood alongside sci fi and definitely has a place in the show; its simply that this particular episode felt way too obvious and easy. If you're going to do fantasy, make up a unique fantasy with its own character; a LotR parody is way beneath Futurama). Even though lots of people seem to like Bender's Game (and it does seem to be the most in line with the average episode of the series) it strikes me as a step back into a safe, easy score after the two bold steps forward in BBS and BwaBB. The films, (which are certainly not perfect) exemplify what makes Futurama special to me; the ability to grow and take on huge, brainy plots and genuine sci-fi... not just as a parody, but as a legitimate force in its own right. Futurama fans: I urge you to look at the movies in this light and give the series room to explore the possibilities. It may not always be a home run, but it'll always be far more interesting than virtually any other show out there. And we can always count on it surprising us and having the big heart which makes Futurama unique.
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