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Released by: Fox
Released on: December 10th, 2013.
Director: Various
Cast: Various
Year: 2012
Purchase From Amazon
The Series:
So this is supposedly the last we're going to get from Futurama. It's bounced around from channel to channel, been off the air and then back on again, and it's had some movies made and some merchandise spun off. The series never hit the heights that The Simpsons did but it had a good run and now, well… all good things must come to an end, right? And so here we have it, volume 8. A Blu-ray collection of what we're told will be the final thirteen episodes that Comedy Central commissioned and, for the time being, the last we're going to see of Fry, Bender and company. It might not be a permanent goodbye, but it will likely last some time. But hey, if you're going to go, go out with a bang. Thankfully this is top tier stuff, as good as anything else to come from Matt Groening's lesser known offspring.
So here's a look at what you'll find spread across the two discs that make up this set.
Forty Percent Leadbelly: The opener finds Bender obsessing over a musical hero of his, a former inmate whose music connected with everyone's favorite bending robot. When Bender and a scientist make a replica of the man's guitar, things get strange.
2-D Blacktop: Professor Farnsworth becomes obsessed with the future's version of street racing and joins up with a gang of thugs.
T: The Terrestrial: Fry, the terrestrial, is left on the planet Omicron Persei 8 by his fellow crew mates while they're out exploring. How will he make it home?
Fry And Leela's Big Fling: Fry and Leela decide to get away from everyone else for some quality alone time but of course, that's not going to go as planned.
The Inhuman Torch: Bender has always wanted to be a firefighter and when he gets his chance, things go terribly, terribly wrong.
Saturday Morning Fun Pit: This one is made up of a series of vintage Saturday morning cartoon parodies in which the various Futurama characters play roles that will absolutely be familiar to those of us who grew up in the seventies and eighties. You're not going to get a single damn spoiler here. Go into it blind, it's way more fun and very likely the funniest episode in the set.
Calculon 2.0: Bender digs up the 'corpse' of his favorite departed soap opera star, Calculon, in hopes of hanging out and maybe getting something going. That doesn't work out so well.
Assie Come Home: Bender, on a strange planet, gets mugged by thugs and he winds up losing his caboose. When it gets used to build a lighthouse, he sets out to reclaim that which is rightfully his.
Leela And The Genestalk: Something strange is happening to Leela, she's being squidified, and she's not particularly happy about it. Desperate to find a way to stop the change, she recruits Fry to help - but will he be able to go up against… her mom?
Game Of Tones: When Fry's dreams seem to somehow connect to a strange alien song, the Planet Express crew try to get into his dreamscape to decipher its meaning. But Fry's dreams are, as you can imagine, pretty weird.
Murder On The Planet Express: The crew is sent into the far reaches of space for some sort of nonsensical team building exercise but after they're locked in, they realize they are not alone and that a dangerous alien has joined them.
Stench And Stenchability: Zoidberg doesn't smell good but when he falls in love with a flower saleslady and she doesn't seem to notice his stink, he can't help but throw himself at her - all while Bender preps for a dance contest!
Meanwhile: While Fry and Leela actually get hitched?
A solid batch of funny stuff, this is thirteen episodes worth of ridiculously creative storytelling jammed with all manner of gags and jokes of varying degrees of obviousness. There's about a zillion pop culture references crammed into the show but not at the cost of plotting or pacing and, as opposed to something like Family Guy, it works with the series, it never feels spliced in just for the sake of having it spliced in. What will happen with the series from here on out is anyone's guess, but until then, we have the legacy of Futurama to enjoy over and over again, and this perhaps final installment is a fitting and funny finale.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Futurama Volume 8 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 and Spanish.
The main extras in this set are the audio commentaries that are provided by various cast and crew members for all of the thirteen episodes that make up this collection. These not only cover a lot of ground but are also quite funny and they do a great job of bringing in cast members, producers, writers and more to give us a well-rounded and insightful look into the making of this series.
Also included here is a collection of deleted scenes entitled Precious Trimmings. There's sixteen minutes of excised bits here, all of varying degrees of amusement. Some might have been better served left in their respective episodes, others not so much. Futurama University is a twenty-five minute featurette that covers various aspects of the series' production, from writing to animation to post work, while Inside Futurama: The Writers' Room Of Tomorrow is a thirteen minute piece hosted by Patric Verrone which explains in quite a bit of interesting detail how the writing team comes up with the stories, plots and ideas for the different episodes that make up the series. Animated menus and chapter/episode selection round out the extras and the discs are housed inside s slick looking cardboard fold out that is in turn housed inside a nice looking slipcase featuring the hypno-toad on the front!
The Final Word:
If this is the last we're going to see of Futurama, at least they're going out on a high note. Volume 8 is a great collection of episodes that feel as fresh and as fun as the series did when it first debuted years back. On top of that the quality of the audio and video is excellent and we get a load of extras too. There's a whole lot of fun to be had here.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
