Frida Waterfall
Professor
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I don't know where I stand as far as which is better "The Beast with a Billion Backs" or "Bender's Game" as far as comedy goes.
I'll get back to that soon.
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Frisco17
DOOP Secretary
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That...is.....FANTASTIC!!
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iceiwynd
Bending Unit
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Copying and pasting a review I posted on another forum just because I'm really lazy. Using spoiler tags just in case, though I didn't really mention many specifics. Hell, I liked it. Not as good as Bender's Big Score, but better than The Beast With a Billion Backs; 4/5.
The first half was pretty amazing. I was laughing a lot, I was pretty into it, Leela's story was progressing really nicely and it was just... funny. I loved Bender's plight about imagination as well and the scenes in the robot insane asylum were hilarious. Zoidberg was at his best here, and the best he's had since these movies started popping up. I'll agree though that it really did start to fall apart in the second half, which disappointed me because I was actually looking forward to the fantasy, even though I don't play those types of games, just because, well, it should've been really, really interesting.
I think it was parodied nicely but it felt just... slapped on to me. I mean, I know there was the whole thing with Bender so at least it didn't come completely out of nowhere but the way everyone was transported to the fantasy world, and then transported back and... it seemed, it didn't feel natural. It just felt like the writers were musing about how to get all of their main cast into each world and then decided to say fuck it, and just slapped them all in anyway with no real reasoning behind it. Oh yeah, and the twist behind Igner was kind of stupid, even though at least he was pretty funny and I enjoyed Mom in this one.
I mean, I still really enjoyed it and all - everything flew pretty smoothly until partway into the fantasy setting. And I was really, really, really happy there finally wasn't anything about relationships in this one. I'm not really a shippy kind of person, and certainly not for Futurama so to see that stuff mostly ignored, have Leela and Fry as friends, (and hopefully have the Kif/Amy stuff adressed in the next movie because it still needs a conclusion), and to have this as just a more fun video.
It could have been paced better (the build-up was stellar), but it was funny - funniest movie thus far, I'd say.
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Ryan Ro
Crustacean
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Just watched it with my wife. I agree with a few posters on there that the first half feels pretty much like old "futurama."
Short review is that I really enjoyed the first-half, in terms of jokes, wackiness and plot progression. The fantasy arc had its moments but it slowed the film way down and then was just over with no impact on the actual plot (they're just back in the real world). I think the problem was that they were so strictly doing an LOTR riff instead of riffing on all kinds of different fantasy tropes. There were bits but it was so specifically an LOTR parody that to me it became boring and predictable. Futurama itself parodies ALL the different elements of science fiction and isn't a slavish parody/satire of any one particular sci-fi. You know?
And while the BWABB ending didn't bug me, the abruptness of this one surprised me. I fast forwarded through the credits to see if there was something else!
But overall I enjoyed Bender's Game. Glad Futurama is still around. Each movie so far has been "good" but missing something, hopefully IWGY will fire on all cylinders.
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Binder
Starship Captain
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« Reply #264 on: 11-06-2008 16:18 »
« Last Edit on: 11-06-2008 16:28 »
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My lightspeed brief reviewWhen Bender's Big Score came out, I was elated. My cartoon friends were back for all new adventures! (FYI: I also have real friends). Back in true form, BBS was a complicated plot filled with nods to past events and characters. What I loved most was that the film expanded on and altered how I and many other view past events of the series, while standing on its own as a great feature-length story. 9/10 The Beast with a Billion Backs was a step sideways and an inch back from BBS. The plot focused less on nods to past characters and plots, which I was happy for, allowing the story to be its own. The positive of this was that one could enjoy BWABB for what it was, the negative was that the film did little to progress the characters and past stories. If anything the one major impact of the film was that Amy and Kif are broken up. I loved the b-movie homage the film brought as well as the Wernstrom/Farnsworth team-up and League of Robots. While not the best of the DVD movies, It was better than the weaker episodes of the series ('A Leela Of Her Own' or 'A Taste of Freedom'). 7/10 Compared to the past two films, I would place Bender's Game in the same league as BBS. The film (or is that movie?) feels much more like a movie (or is that film?) than 4 episodes strung together. The two major plots run through to the very end, never feeling heavily episodic or truncated to fit a four part narrative. Bender's imaginative dementia organically escalates taking the overlying dark matter plot to its pre-climax (sounds sexual, but it's not) of the fantasy world, before the film's actual climax occurs when returning to the real world. I definitely got the feeling that the Futurama cast and crew have hit their stride with this one and comfortably produced BG. Consistent jokes and consistent pacing of the plot prove this. My favorite aspects of the moviefilm are the return of Mom, the explanation of Nibbler's appearance in Love's Labours Lost in Space, the much appreciated explanation of why the PE crew are comfortable with Nibbler talking to them and the revelation of Farnsworth's son. Oh, and I have to also mention the revelation that dark matter is no more. Two definite impacts to the series, making BG relevant! Huzzah! 8.5/10 Having seen BG, I can't wait for Into the Wild Green Yonder! The geeky fan in me hopes for an explanation of what the new starship fuel has become and a scene or more of Farnsworth and Igner as father and son. I'd love to see Fry interacting with Igner more, as he's now Igner's great-great-great.....great uncle once-removed.
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JBERGES
Urban Legend
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Nix: "...yes... yes it can." Screw the naysayers that are clearly jaded and jaundiced and will never be happy with the new stuff; this was the first movie that felt like the Futurama of old to me. Sure, I liked the other two, but they certainly felt slightly 'off.' Bender's Game brought me back to years ago when I first became obsessed with the show, and left me with a grin on my face for the near entirety of it. 9/10 That said, I think the funniest thing on the DVD was in the D&D&F feature. "I'll always remember my first game of Dungeons and Dragons... Only real low point was that stupid infomercial joke. Soooo stupid... sooo Family Guy.
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Otis P Jivefunk
DOOP Secretary
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At the moment my rankings for the three movies are:
Beast With A Billion Backs Bender's Big Score v v v Bender's Game
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GreyThinkyWhale
Professor
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I watched BG again and it totally grew on me. I actually love this movie! I think it's the funniest out of the three. I still like BBS the best. BG's story wasn't anything special, but I thought it was just pure fun! Here's my rank from favorite to least favorite so far:
Bender's Big Score Bender's Game Beast with a Billion Backs
My opinion exactly, including the list... except that I think I was hit by the full potential of the movie the first time I watched it, and since it's all about the jokes, and the story is nothing special, I can only imagine it'll get more stale with multiple viewings.
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