Fourth and final release in a series of feature length futurama movies. Since the only people who will read this will be fans of the show there's no need for me to go into details about it for anyone who isn't.
And despite the fact that some seem to have been disappointed with the quality of the first three you'll doubtless have brought them and will buy this anyway, so you'll know that it's four episodes of twenty two minutes duration edited together into one long movie.
In this one fry gains the ability to read minds and falls in with a secret sect. Amy's parents wreak ecological havoc in the quest to build bigger and better casinos and golf courses, and leela takes affirmative action to protect the environment.
But somewhere out there, an ancient evil is lurking...
This didn't sound the strongest plot but in many ways it's the best written of the four. things click in the second episode and it all comes together very well afterwards.
But even so there's the usual quickfire humour and pretty much every joke works so there's enough to keep you entertained in the meantime.
Since this is the last of this batch and there's no guarantee that there will be any more, the ending has to wrap things up and also leave it open for the show to return if possible. And it manages to do just that in a scene that will make you gasp and leave you desperate for more. And you'll be so absorbed in your reaction that you won't initially notice that kif's uniform changes colour for no apparent reason.
This will make you laugh, it will make you smile, and it will make you desperate for more. Please come back futurama. I miss you already.
The sole language track on the dvd is english.
and the subtitles are english danish finnish norwegian and swedish.
the extras are:
a commentary from some of the cast and crew
storyboard animatic: the first of the four episodes in rough drawing form, with all the dialogue but no music. This actually has a to be continued moment at the end which you wont see in the movie by virtue of it being edited together.
docudrama: how we make futurama so good: a short and totally made up spoof documentary [presented by 'dvd bonus features that nobody watches productions'] showing you how they make the show. not really. but it's very funny.
louder louder!: a very short feature showing magician penn jillette who guests in this recording his part. quite fun to watch.
golden stinkers: five very short deleted scenes that can be watched individually or all at once. they only add up to roughly six minutes in total, and some don't have finished animation but they're all very good.
matt groening and david x cohen in space!: a short film showing how two of the production crew took a flight on a plane that lets you experience zero gravity. well worth watching and it will make you fancy doing it yourself.
how to draw futurama in 18 very difficult steps: eleven minutes worth of film showing how the animators draw four of the characters. not much humour in this despite a few efforts so it's really only of interest to those who want to learn the art.
3-d models with animator discussion: just what it says. short film of spaceships and other big things from this showing how they were animated. short enough to keep the interest.
benders movie theatre etiquette is a fun little bit of all new film showing how you should/shouldnt behave in the cinema. well worth a look.
zapp brannigan's guide to making love to a woman uses clips of zapp from old episodes with a new voiceover to give his guide to relationships. not quite as funny as the above bender item but still worth watching.
I managed to find two easter eggs on the dvd:
watching it on a computer and moving the pointer over the right of the special features screen when you have it at the point where you can select to watch louder louder! will light up a symbol. click on this to see film of actor billy zane improvising some dialogue that was forced on the production team by circumstance.
and if you move the down button on the controls when on the special features screen as far down as it will go you can get to see a short bit of animation drawn by one of the animators on rather rough paper. you'll see what I mean.
Hopefully not the end for the show, but a good release to go out on