Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs
Reviewer: Jordan Brown
Issue 105 July 2008
(1 votes, average: 7 out of 10)
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Love in the time of intergalactic warfare.
The Lowdown: When a rip suddenly appears in space, the citizens of Earth are left cowering in fear of what lies beyond. Their questions are soon answered when Professor Farnsworth sends the employees of Planet Express to investigate, thus leading to an intergalactic incident in which a planet-sized beast comes through the rip looking for love.
Review: As Bender’s Big Score more than made up for four years without Futurama, anticipation for the second of the four straight-to-DVD films has been off the chart. Not only was the first one a laugh-a-minute riot that answered a ton of the questions that had been left hanging, but the disc also featured more extras than you could shake a stick at – all of which were on comic par with the film itself. Needless to say, The Beast With A Billion Backs had a lot to live up to. While it’s not quite the stunner that the first film was, it’s safe to say that it’s not too far off.
This helping of intergalactic mayhem sees Fry and the Planet Express gang embarking on a perilous journey to a rip that’s occurred in the fabric of space, in order to investigate what lies beyond. Things get nutty when Fry ventures through the portal and discovers a planet sized hermaphrodite monster named Yivo who’s looking to engage in a spot of nookie with the people of Earth – like we didn’t see that coming. While the population is preoccupied with its new suitor, Bender joins a secret robot society and takes the opportunity to wage war on humanity, thus setting the stage for yet another totally barmy dollop of futuristic silliness.
So business as usual then? Well, to a certain extent, yes. Unfortunately, there its one drawback. In the case of Bender’s Big Score, the epic storyline coupled with all those loose ends that had been plaguing fans over the years being tied up meant that it felt like a film. With this release, the movie sadly just seems like one long episode. Still, it’s not like an extra long Futurama episode is a bad thing, it just lacks the scope of the last movie. Other than that, there’s really very little to grumble about.
With top cameos from the likes of Britanny Murphy as Fry’s new love interest, Dan Castellaneta returning as the Robot Devil and funnyman David Cross supplying the vocals of the intergalactic rapist entity, Yivo, The Beast With A Billion Backs is a superbly voiced treat. As well as the superb array of guest stars lending the film their larynxes, the film also features the return of Farnsworth’s nemesis, Wernstrom, as well as robot soap opera supremo Calculon.
As for the extras we get a ton of gut busting deleted scenes and storyboards, along with a plethora of superb but slightly brief featurettes. The best of the bunch however is Futurama: The Lost Adventure, which is basically the cut-scenes from the computer game strung together into a half hour long episode. It’s not exactly rib-aching stuff, but it does mean that die hard fans won’t have to endure the ordeal of actually playing the naff game itself. As such, it’s yet another quality extra to perfectly accompany a cracking feature. Let’s hope they keep it up for the next two.
FILM: 7 EXTRAS: 8
DVD Info:
Certificate: 12
Starring: (Voices) Billy West, John Di Maggio, Katey Sagal, Brittany Murphy, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom
Directed By: Peter Avanzino, 2008
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 75mins
Price: £15.99
Special Features:
Scene Selection
Audio Commentary With Writer Matt Groening, Producers David X. Cohen, Claudia Katz, Lee Supercinski, Executive Producer Michael Rowe, Stars Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche and Director Peter Avanzino
Futurama: The Lost Adventure
‘Meet Yivo!’ Featurette
‘A Brief History Of Deathball’ Featurette
‘Blooperama: The Futurama Cast At “Work”’ Featurette
3D Models With Animator Discussion
Storyboard Animatic
Deleted Scenes
Futurama: Bender’s Game Preview
