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Released by: Fox
Released on: February 24, 2009.
Director: Peter Avanzino
Cast: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
This latest straight to DVD Futurama movie, Into The Wild Green Yonder, finds Amy's real estate tycoon father, Leo Wong, in the midst of bulldozing whatever stands in the way of his plans to build his massive new casino on Mars. If that weren't enough, Wong also plans to build an interplanetary miniature golf course which will require the obliteration of a small planet that contains DNA from all of the species that have been driven to extinction over the years.
A group of eco-feminists calling themselves the 'Feministas' take it upon themselves to stop Wong in his tracks but wind up accidently murdering Vice President Agnew's headless body incurring the wrath of Nixon who, at the request of Wong, sends Zapp Brannigan after them. Meanwhile, after getting knocked on the head, Fry develops the ability to read peoples' minds. He falls in with a group of tinfoil hat wearing hobos calling themselves The Oddfellows who are fighting a secret war against an unseen enemy known only as The Dark One. His plan? To eliminate life as we know it. While all of this is going on, Bender is trying to regain his status as the number one rule breaker in the galaxy, and the good doctor is trying to keep his business running with only a skeleton crew.
Those not familiar with the series might have trouble enjoying this one as much as established fans of the series as it ties into the continuity of the series quite often. That said, even if you don't know the series that well, there are still enough site gags and fun celebrity cameos (Justice Snoop Dogg being a highlight) that the movie will still work for you. The voice acting from the established cast of regulars - Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille - is as strong as ever and by this point in time, many of us feel like we know these characters, which is always a sign of good writing.
This isn't the best of the Futurama movies but it's still very much worthwhile, particularly for established fans of the series, as it does a nice job of tying up a key recurring plot points from the beginning of the original TV series - that being Fry and Leela's obvious love for one another. The quantity of jokes in this entry might not be as high as in the earlier movies but what it lacks in quantity it thankfully makes up for in quality, particularly in the last half of the film once the basic storyline has been established. The ending of the film works well, in that if the series does end with this film it's a fitting way to go out but at the same time, should the creative team decide to bring them back for further adventures, the set up is there for them to launch off of and really, with the finale's ambiguity, they could take things in whatever new direction they may see fit.
After a rather tepid start, Into The Wild Green Yonder turns out to be a pretty enjoyable movie, that plays around with some fun themes and ideas, features a few of the series' amusing trademark cameos, and which features a positive, if obviously very heavy handed, message befitting the series given its history. While many of us would love to see more from Fry and the gang, if this has to be the end, at least they went out on a decent high note.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder looks excellent in this AVC-encoded 1080p 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There are no obvious authoring issues and the color reproduction is stunning. The different shades used throughout the film really pop here and this is definitely one of those transfers that has that almost 3-D quality that good animation tends to have on Blu-ray. Black levels are nice and strong throughout and there are no noticeable issues with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement. Detail is excellent and the image is consistently crisp, clean and clear.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix isn't quite as impressive as the video is on this release, but it's damn close. Surrounds are used nicely throughout the film to add depth and atmosphere while the dialogue is always succinct and easy to follow. The score is spread out nicely throughout the soundstage and bass response is strong as well - just listen to the scene where Bender belches and you'll know your subwoofer is paying attention. Overall, this is a nice, immersive and very active mix that leaves very little room for complaint. Optional subtitles are provided in English SDH, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.
First up is an audio commentary from Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, John Di Maggio, Maurice LaMarche, Patric M. Verrone, Michael Rowe, Lee Supercinski and Peter Avanzino. You want listen to this as an alternate audio track as you would a traditional audio commentary or, in a Blu-ray exclusive, you can turn on the picture-in-picture option and watch the participants as they talk. This is a fun track that points out a lot of the subtle little background details that are scattered throughout the film, talks about where some of the inspiration and ideas for the movie came from, and what it was like doing the voice work on the movie. It's pretty informative and delivered with a strong sense of humor, making it a fun way to learn more about the movie.
From there we move on to a few featuretttes, the most substantial of which is a twenty-two minute segment entitled Storyboard Animatic: Into The Wild Green Yonder Part 1. Here we get a look at a wealth of rough storyboard artwork that shows us some interesting design work and which gives us an idea of what goes into creating an animated feature like this. Docudrama: How We Make Futurama So Good is a five minute featurette that takes us behind the scenes of the movie and shows us the voice actors at work among other things, while the two minute Louder! Louder!: The Acting Technique Of Penn Jillette is, as it sounds, a quick look at Penn's voice work used in the poker tournament scene. Golden Stinkers: A Treasury Of Deleted Scenes is a selection of five fairly lame deleted scenes that were rightly excised from the feature version of the movie while the unusual Matt Groening And David X. Cohen In Space segment is a fun four minute look at what would happen if these two men worked in a zero gravity environment. Heading back into animation land, check out How To Draw Futurama In Ten Very Difficult Steps for an eleven minute lesson in how to put pencil to paper and draw your favorite characters, before moving on to the 3-D Models featurette that gives us a four minute peek behind the scenes of the computer jockeys who create the 3-D models used for the series.
Last but not least is a three minute clip montage entitled Zapp Brannigan's Guide To Making Love At A Woman, which is basically just a look at the space captain's finest moments with members of the fairer sex. All of the featurettes are presented in HD except for the Storyboard Animatic segment, which is presented in 480p.
Animated menus and chapter stops are included on the disc and two fairly easy to find Easter Eggs are hidden off of the main menu. Inside the keepcase is a keen collection of four Futurama postcards - a nice touch!
The Final Word:
While maybe not quite as uproariously funny as the last feature, Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder is a very solid chapter in the series' history and Fox has done a truly excellent job on the Blu-ray presentation.