Futurama, Vol. 1
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Billy West, John Di Maggio, Katey Sagal, Phil LaMarr, Tress MacNeilleBrand: Fox
Writer: Matt Groening
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 299 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Fox Film Corporation
Product features:
- 2004 - Fox - DVDs
- Futurama - 5 DVDs
- Vol 1 : Discs 1,2,4 & Vol 4: Discs 1& 3
- Good Condition
- Classic - Collectible
Movie Reviews of Futurama, Vol. 1
Movie Review: The kind of place where there could be a monster, or some kind of weird mirror. These are just examples.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Futurama" Season 1. I love Futurama. Absolutely love it. There's a lot of hand-wringing about what's better, Futurama, Simpsons, etc., and I will say this - Futurama is far better than the Simpsons have been since Season 7. It's very much a mixed blessing that we'll never get to see Futurama go down the tubes with ridiculous, unfunny plot lines like The Simpsons did.
This might anger a lot of people, but Futurama is actually better than even Family Guy. Family Guy may have brilliant moments, but Futurama has a heart and a soul - Family Guy has cutaways and flashbacks but there's no warmth. Futurama expertly balances genuine emotion with sidesplitting comedy. Futurama is probably my second favorite show of all time, hands down. I love it. It's like somebody with my exact sense of humor wrote this show. "Let's try and get out through this steam pipe. No good, it's full of steam!" Oh man.
Anyway, enough of that. This is the first season of Futurama on DVD. First of all, let me say that, unlike Family Guy, I really ejoy the fact that they have commentaries on all of the episodes (take that FG and your 2 commentaries per disc). The commentaries make watching the episodes over and over again a must. In a way, they almost double the number of episodes in the series - the antics of John DiMaggio, Billy West, David X. Cohen, and Maurice LaMarche in particular (Morbo, Horrible Gelatinous Blob, and Lrrr sounds nothing alike) are at times almost as howlingly funny as their onscreen counterparts. By all means, watch *all* the commentaries.
With that said, let's not gloss completely over the negative. Why Futurama is an amazing show, Season 1 is the worst season of Futurama. They haven't quite found the groove yet, in the commentaries or the episodes. The voices aren't as good or as funny as they would come to be. Hermes, Zoidberg, and The Professor are too subdued. Bender's voice is more gravelly and less madcap craziness. The plots aren't as sharp and developed, and the jokes are less sure of themselves. But cheer up! They only pale in comparison to the following seasons of Futurama, which are among the best TV episodes I've ever seen broadcasted on television. No joke.
Without further delay, I'll briefly rate and review the episodes of the first season. If they seem harsh, keep in mind this was the first season, a time of growing pains, the show was still opening into what would become a beautiful crysalis. Anyway:
#1- Space Pilot 3000 - 6/10. Good but not great. A nice way to open the show, but doesn't blow you away. On another note, I never get tired of seeing the construction worker from the "You gotta do what you gotta do" poster show up on weird posters through the series.
#2- The Series Has Landed - 5/10. Simply average. This episode doesn't really do anything for me, the show is still laying a lot of groundwork at this point. My favorite line: "Jackie Gleason wasn't an astronaut. He was using space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife."
#3- I, Roommate - 6/10 - This episode is a little better than the first. Fry gets kicked out of the Planet Express building and moves in with Bender. Wackiness ensues as they search for an ideal place to live (not in New Jersey). You feel the show take a big step towards what it would become.
#4- Love's Labours Lost In Space - 9/10 - Now you're talking! Introduces characters like the hilarious Zapp Brannigan and Kif Kroker. These two are great. "And what's the name of the law, Kif?" "*Sigh. Brannigan's Law." This is one of my favorite episodes of Season 1. The commentary is good too.
#5- Fear of A Bot Planet - 4/10 - And back down we go. This episode has an interesting premise, but Bender being nastier than usual, and not in a funny way, kind of hurts it a little, besides the fact that the jokes are somewhat weak.
#6- A Fishful Of Dollars - 6/10 - Fry's bank account has drawn a lot of interest in a thousand years, so with his newfound riches, he wants to buy anchovies. Okay, I didn't describe it in the most glowing terms, a number of people really like this episode, I'm not one of them.
#7- My Three Suns - 7/10 - Fry becomes emperor of a desert planet. It's funny, but it could have been a lot funnier.
#8- A Big Piece of Garbage - 2/10 - Probably in my bottom 5 of Futurama episodes. There is very little to like about this episode at all. The title fits.
#9 - Hell Is Other Robots - 7/10 - This episode has been called one of the best by some people, I like it as well, but not as much as others, again. Bender undergoes a voyage of self-discovery that takes him from seedy dens of electrical vice (jacking on), through religious renewal, and finally to the depths of hell itself. Luckily he has good friends to help him out.
#10- A Flight To Remember - 9/10 - Equally touching drama, epic space-fantasty, and hilarious parody, Futurama does a great job with its send-up of Titanic, and as always, it's great to have the Zapper and Kif back. While it has some dynamite lines (Brannigan's "learning disability") it also has some touching moments - Fry and Leela, standing together, lonely yet not alone, admiring a far-off nebula as untouchable as Leela must seem to Fry, and Bender's love for a robot above his own station in life. This is a great episode that has a little bit of everything.
#11- Mars University - 7/10 - A number of threads revolving around the title university take center stage in Futurama's sendup of the classic movie "Animal House." The talking monkey, Guenter, is endearing and comical, and as always there are plenty of laughs (Fry's spit-take from a glass of punch that appears out of nowhere) but after the near-perfection of A Flight To Remember, this one falls a little short.
#12- When Aliens Attack - 7/10 - The beginning is a little slow, but it really picks up when the Planet Express crew is forced to act out the last episode of a cancelled FOX television show from the 1990s - or else face total annihilation.
#13- Fry And The Slurm Factory - 8/10 - Nearly a 9, in my book. Hilarity ensues when Fry wins a tour of the secretive factory of Slurm, a repulsive but popular 31st century drink. What's the secret ingredient? You may not want to know. Fry's addiction to Slurm ("damn arms!") and his and Bender's adventures with the Z-Ray in the beginning are definite highlights of this fine episode.
Keep in mind, if you think I've been harsh on these episodes, starting with season 2 when I get around to finally reviewing them (I've seen them all when they were originally aired and have watched all of them a number of times since) you'll be seeing a lot more 9s and 10s. These early episodes are only appetizers to what will be a very pleasing main course. The season gets a little weak in the middle but it finishes strong.
Summary of Futurama, Vol. 1
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