Bender's Game reviews (Spoilers ahoy!)

[#280 :]

Anyone know what the rocket ship song was?!? Its stuck in my head but I have no idea if it was ever a full song or something they just made up for that segment!

[#281 :]

It's called Rocketship by Kathy McCarty. It's a real song.

I had it stuck in my head all day yesterday!

[#282 :]

! thanks!

something to loop until I go even more insane!!!!!

[#283 :]

I downloaded that song and, after listening to it a couple of times, I cant decide if I really like it or if its the most obnoxious thing I've ever heard. 

[#284 :]

Well gotta say BG used the best part XP

Oh well, I'll just stick with the full Futurama theme looping.

[#285 :]

Is it overly geeky that it bothered me that Takei was piloting an NX and Bakula was flying a Constitution-ish?

[#286 :]

Is it overly geeky that it bothered me that Takei was piloting an NX and Bakula was flying a Constitution-ish?

Nope, bugged me too!

wait...

Okay maybe yes.

[#287 :]

I watched it for the first time, I loved it, I thought it was great. I would say BBS is the best so far, then BG, and then BWBB. I felt like there could have been a little more Fry dialogue, but other than that I thought it was great. Who knows maybe I need to watch it again, which I definitely will. I loved it overall. The intro was pretty cool, it felt like the 60's. That or a drug trip. They go hand in hand ha ha.

[#288 :]

We're owl exterminators!

[#289 :]

The intro was pretty cool, it felt like the 60's. That or a drug trip. They go hand in hand ha ha.

Not very original but I enjoyed it too.  Nice tribute to Yellow Submarine.

[#290 :]

We're owl exterminators!

LOL! Thanks for posting that.
My favorite Igner line: "We both ate'd the crissles, na ha ha ha ha!"

[#291 :]

Right then I know I'm late to the party but I've got both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Bender's Game.

First, the film itself and well, I was happy with it but felt it could of been better. The first half hour or so is the closest to the old Futurama we've come so far and is further proof that Futurama should of stayed in the episodic form. The second part is still good but things nearly fall off a cliff in the final part. Not that there wasn't funny bits in the last part but the beginning was sooo good that it struggled to keep that great momentum going. The Igner plot was kind of obvious (or maybe that's just me) but it was good to see Mom back again. The Leela anger plot was reasonable but fell away towards the end (hopefully the ideas here are used in Into The Wild Green Yonder). The film did flow better than the previous two and hopefully that also continues into the fourth.

Now then, DVD vs. Blu-ray. Well, features wise there is little in it. Yes, Blu-ray has the video commentary but my Blu-ray version is missing the preview to ITWGY although the box has it written on the back (anyone else had this problem?). Also, has anyone noticed that the UK Blu-ray has regions A and B on it and looks like the US version (it even has the FBI warning instead of the usual European ones). The DVD on the other hand is just region 2, is not missing the preview to ITWGY and is more European (the subtitles options are different also on the two versions). Sound and picture is superior on the Blu-ray version but I must say that in animation the difference is much smaller than that in live action films. If you want the best out of Futurama it's just as well you get the DVD version first mainly for the ITWGY preview.

The extras are a touch dissapointing, but then again I was looking forward to the All My Circuits episode mentioned in the BwaBB commentary. Still what is here is fairly good and I liked the Anti-Piracy warning with Bender.

Overall then I give it 69%.

Oh and if you want my scores for the other two they are:

Bender's Big Score: 65%
Beast with a Billion Backs: 75%

Yes I preferred BwaBB to BBS so go shoot me.

[#292 :]

Is it overly geeky that it bothered me that Takei was piloting an NX and Bakula was flying a Constitution-ish?

On second look, Bakula's ship looks much closer to an Ambassador than a Constitution

[#293 :]

So from what I've been reading in various places, it seems like one thing almost everyone tends to agree on is that the first half/two-thirds or first hour is better than the concluding part.  With the other movies I don't think there was as much concurrence or consensus on which was the best or most enjoyable section.

[#294 :]

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

Here's mine:
Bender's Game
v
v
v
v
Bender's Big Score
v
v
v
v
Beast with a billion Backs

[#295 :]

Just got my copy today!  I liked it a lot.  Leela's shock collar and Bender getting sent to the robot nut house didn't bother be at all, because every character on Futurama gets it!   It was great to see old favorites like Roberto, the doctor and nurse, Off. Smitty and URL, and Sal and his buddies.  The demolition was great, and finding out about the Nibbolians being exploited for Mom's purposes was surprising!  The Morks were funny and Leela beating up Zoidberg was excellent!  Mom's sons were funny especially as owl exterminators!    I espeically liked Peaches!  Fry being possessive of the die was great and Bender being a knight was just awesome!   It was great!  Second best next to BWABB!

As for the trailer to ITWGY, looks promising!   It doesn't look like a war between men and women.  We'll find out soon enough! 


Here's my order:

BWABB
BG
BBS

[#296 :]

framegrabs:

note to self: never spend an hour uploading 15 framegrabs to the internet ever

But I'm glad you did. 

If you had told me that this movie was going to have a Fry/Leela shower scene, Leela getting off on a shock collar and an extended Amy/Leela kissing scene, I would have said, "Hell, I'd sit through Mom doing a pole dance to see that!"  And so it came to pass.

[#297 :]

If you had told me that this movie was going to have a Fry/Leela shower scene, Leela getting off on a shock collar and an extended Amy/Leela kissing scene, I would have said, "Hell, I'd sit through Mom doing a pole dance to see that!"  And so it came to pass.

I swear the writers were reading some fanfics late at night before they wrote some of those scenes.

And I'm totally cool with it.

[#298 :]

B+

Lots of great "geek" humor, the instant-classic Leela/Amy make-out session (even Bender was aroused! ) and the unexpected revelation of Igner's parentage actually fit (as did the extra background for Nibbler), but the film had a really abrupt ending (and who wants to bet they'll just ignore/reset the whole Dark Matter fuel crisis in the next movie?). Still, there were plenty of laughs in this installment, although I'm still holding out hopes for ITWGY to be an out-and-out ship-fest and give us some Fry/Leela Amy/Kif closure.

"Those burgers are great! You can eat live eight of them and not gain any weight due to the diharhea!"

[#299 :]

You're lucky, in America ! In France, we can't see "Bender's Game" before April ... And the French version is so bad ! (I don't know if you understand what I say, because I translate my sentences in English with the automatic translator ...).

[#300 :]

Roger that, five by five.  We are lucky in America, but it doesn't depend on Futurama.  OK, enough jingoism.  I wonder if you could order a copy in French (and a North American dvd player) from a retailer in Quebec?

Some of the jokes are visual and Leela and Amy are great in any language.  Ils sont très magnifiques, non ?

[#301 :]

Actually it's elles sont très magnifiques.

**

I liked the Scary Door segment, the part with the montage of Morbo's interviews, and that random bit with the un-camouflaged rabbit getting eaten by the polar bear.
Those were all relatively amusing.

[#302 :]

Is it bad that I'm only just now finding out that this has come to the stores?  I guess I know what I'm doing tonight!

[#303 :]

Forgot to mention I also liked the Killbots.  Also, seeing Walt and Larry as babies was funny and it being revealed that Inger was Farnsworth's son was all great!   Since the Professor was dumped by Mom for Wernstrom, could it be Walt and Larry are Wernstrom's kids? 

[#304 :]

Actually it's elles

No, I meant the jokes...yeah, that's it...

After watching it a few times I'm liking it pretty well.  I think the long anticipation of it being a send-up of the fantasy genre had me expecting a different movie.  The first time, I was very impatient sitting through the regular crazy world, thinking "when will they go into the parallel fantasy universe?" 

Now, I'm picking up some of the humor in the first two thirds and it is fairly good.  The robot asylum was already over-mined in my opinion, but I appreciate some things like The Scary Door episode and the Professor's moody antics.  Leela's anger management didn't do much to develop her character but it was entertaining.  And I also liked the killbots.

I think "epic length" does not necessarily equate to epic or epically funny.  I rank this around the 30th percentile of the series episodes, which still places it rather high in my personal spectrum of the entertainment universe. 

[#305 :]

Igner made me laugh my ass off. He has to be one of my top favorite characters now. Its because hes so innocent. I wander whats going to happen in the next one considering, we now know Igner is Farnsworth's son. Will he stay with his mom,  or go with his dad, or will it be a joint custody. There had to be another dumb person on the Fry blood line sooner or later.

The robot asylum was already over-mined in my opinion, but I appreciate some things like The Scary Door episode and the Professor's moody antics.  Leela's anger management didn't do much to develop her character but it was entertaining.  And I also liked the killbots.

I thought the hammers in the robot asylum were classic. Also the look in Benders eyes when he was sitting in his cell yelling help. That was hilarious, he really looked like a nut job. I think they did a good job using the robot asylum again. It was great to see Roberto again though, hes awsome.

[#306 :]

I DIDN'T GET IT. I wrote more about this in my futurama group on facebook. But basically, I'm not into fantasy, never played D & D, WoW, or seen stuff like LOTR...all that humor was lost on me. how sad...

[#307 :]

Well, I've never played D&D before and I'm not a LOTR fan...but still freakin loved this movie. I found it so hilarious. Since i'm neither a D&D and LOTR, that is probably why I didn't enjoy the last half hour as much as the first hour of the movie, but overall I loved this film! <3 I absolutely loved all of the scenes with Mom and her three sons. I gotta love her sons especially Igner, haha! "We're owl exterminators!" lmao Haha I loved the scene when the three sons are trying to enter the PE building and Fry answers the door and they trick Fry into thinking that they're owl exterminators.

[#308 :]

Is it overly geeky that it bothered me that Takei was piloting an NX and Bakula was flying a Constitution-ish?

I noticed that, too, but given what Takei said I found it rather amusing.

Bender's Game short review:
Lot's of gags that made me laugh hard, but I have to admit that the plot (if you want to call that way) was inferior to the previous DVDs. Also, I think it would be a lot less funny if you had to watch Bender's Game split up into several episodes.

Nevertheless, it's enjoyable and perhaps the funniest of the DVDs so far.

[#309 :]

To ff, and anyone else who loved the series but "didn't get" Bender's Game: you've clearly lost your nerd mojo. You've probably spent too much time socializing, partying, drinking, dating, and generally engaging in other non-nerdy activities. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed!

[#310 :]

That could be the reason, but I just didn't like it much at all. I was watching it thinking "Hold on, this is Futurama your fave show ever, why are you bored?". I watched Anthology Of Interest I yesterday and I still flat out love it. So I haven't gone off the show. Once I've worked out everything that went wrong I might make a proper post about it. I'm not used to disliking this show so it's hard...

[#311 :]

That could be the reason, but I just didn't like it much at all. I was watching it thinking "Hold on, this is Futurama your fave show ever, why are you bored?". I watched Anthology Of Interest I yesterday and I still flat out love it. So I haven't gone off the show. Once I've worked out everything that went wrong I might make a proper post about it. I'm not used to disliking this show so it's hard...

Second.

I've posted my main problems with why I don't like it as a film (plot is weak after BBS and BWABB) but why I don't like it as a extra Futurama to love is another matter.

Still not sold 100% and I've had to force myself to watch it multiple times to be sure I haven't had a knee-jerk reaction in the first place. It's like I want to love it but I just cant - maybe I'm just going mad.

[#312 :]

Plot is weak compared to "interdimensional infinite-tentacled alien dates the entire human race?" You and I have very different ideas of what constitutes weak.

[#313 :]

Whole universe in peril vs Finding a D12?

You tell me what's weak.

[#314 :]

Plot is weak compared to "interdimensional infinite-tentacled alien dates the entire human raceuniverse?"

[#315 :]

the universe wasn't in peril, it just went through a rocky relationship. People are so melodramatic about breakups...

[#316 :]

At least you have something interesting to say about that movie.

[#317 :]

If you find criticism interesting, maybe.

I think Bender's Game is probably the best so far. More like Futurama than BBS, and the plot, while a little weak, wasn't nearly as much of a logic-defying, character-destroying clusterfuck as BWABB. I thought the fantasy-world segment was sort of dated and uninspired, but the first hour or so was actually pretty darn good.

[#318 :]

I think Bender's Game is probably the best so far.... I thought the fantasy-world segment was sort of dated and uninspired, but the first hour or so was actually pretty darn good.

Only the first hour was good? Come on, defend it properly.

Or do you just secretly agree that it wasn't anywhere near as funny as you wanted.

[#319 :]

I don't see why I would have to have loved every second to defend it properly; it was still far short of the original series. It's still significantly better than BWABB, though.