The thrilling conclusion to Futurama: Benders Big Score.Bender and the planet express crew must contend with a massive cosmic team that sends the world into panic.System Requirements:Running Time: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/CARTOON NETWORK Rating: NR UPC: 024543520931 Manufacturer No: 2252093
In Futurama's latest and most tentacle-packed epic, space itself rips open, revealing a gateway to another universe. But what lies beyond? Horror? Love? Or maybe both, if it happens to contain a repulsive, planet-sized monster with romantic intentions! Nothing less than the fate of human and robot-kind is at stake as the Futurama crew takes on The Beast with a Billion Backs. The Beast with a Billion Backs will be presented in widescreen format with English Dolby Surround 5.1, along with French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include: The second of four direct-to-DVD adventures featuring the Futurama crew, The Beast with a Billion Backs picks up where its predecessor, Bender's Big Score, left off while balancing multiple love stories and the arrival of a sexually voracious alien from another universe. Unlike Bender, the various story lines converge well here--the tentacled, Lovecraftian creature Yivo (voiced by David Cross), which wants to mate with the entire population of the universe at once, makes Fry (Billy West) its de facto leader (Pope, actually), which in turn plays havoc with his relationship with new girlfriend Colleen (Brittany Murphy). And Yivo's scheme causes the people of Earth to evacuate the planet, leaving it in the hands of robots--which is, of course, excellent news for Futurama's resident mechanical malcontent, Bender (John DiMaggio). Beast is probably best understood and enjoyed by longtime fans of the series, who will recognize and appreciate the countless "surprise guests" (Robot Satan, the Harlem Globetrotters, Bender's hero Calculon, the head of Stephen Hawking), though the feature is certainly well-written and performed by its voice cast, and should provide plenty laughs for first-timers with flexible attention spans. Parents, however, should note that the humor can be fairly suggestive at times, and should exercise caution in regard to younger viewers.
Extras include a very funny commentary track with creators Matt Groening and David X Cohen, stars West, DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche, and key members of the production team. Deleted scenes and a making-of featurette with the voice cast are entertaining, but the real features of value are Futurama: The Lost Adventure, which is culled from the Futurama game for Playstation 2, as well as a lengthy preview of the next direct-to-DVD movie, Bender's Game. Suffice it to say that the Lord of the Rings weighs heavily on the storyline. -- Paul Gaita
Beyond Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs on DVD
Full selection of Family Guy DVDs
Check out The Simpsons on DVD
See the new animated classic American Dad!
Stills from Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Eh, It was ok:
Have you ever watched a movie and fallen asleep during it and not cared...Or after a movie that you just watched you feel eh, ok, but nothing really sticks with you. After Bender's Big Score I was hoping to be awed with a tight story, Bender's usual hijinks, Fry's longing for Leela, and Zoidburgs classic quotables...Instead, I feel cheated, it seemed like whoever wrote this movie had never seen a Futurama episode before, never mind even written one. I really am hoping that the next movie is better, because... more info
Not bad, but nonetheless disappointing:
While this movie would have made an OK episode (with a lot of editing), it is disappointing primarily because it adds nothing to the over-arching Futurama storyline. By now everyone KNOWS that Fry and Leela are fated to end up together, but the producers seem determined to milk the tension indefinitely, as if the only reason the viewers watch Futurama is to see whether Fry and Leela will get together. I have one word of warning for them: Moonlighting. There have been about a half dozen points in the show... more info
What's With The Haters?:
After feeling rather disappointed with Bender's Big Score, I expected the extra writing time to make Futurama's second DVD movie far better--and it did! This thing is effing hilarious, I laughed until my sides hurt. Perhaps the explanation of what the Beast with a Billion Backs was disappointing or confusing for some, but if you like dark humor, this Futurama's for you. 5 stars and that's no joke. Perhaps the best thing they've ever done.
Terrible let down:
This one is a big epic fail. I was really looking forward to the type of zingy and dry humor that is characteristic of Futurama. Instead, it felt like I was watching a poor cross of Family Guy with Freak Show (David Cross voicing as Yivo didnt help). The plot makes no sense and humor is very forced. The initial start up is tolerable but as the film advances, it becomes painful to see all the hilarious characters being wasted aimlessly. Not even worth renting.
