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Amazon.co.uk Review
Set in the year 3000, Futurama is the acme of sci-fi animated sitcom from Simpsons creator Matt Groening. While not as universally popular as The Simpsons, Futurama is equally hip and hilarious, thanks to its zippy lateral-thinking contemporary pop cultural references, celebrity appearances (Pamela Anderson and Leonard Nimoy are among a number of guest stars to appear as disembodied heads in jars) and Bender, a distinctly Homer Simpson-esque robot. Part of Futurama's charm is that with decades of sci-fi junk behind us we've effectively been living with the distant future for years and can now have fun with it. Hence, the series stylishly jumbles motifs ranging from Lost in Space-style kitsch to the grim dystopia of Blade Runner. It also bridges the gap between the impossible dreams of your average science fiction fan and the slobbish reality of their comic reading, TV-gawping existence. Groening himself distinguishes his two series thus: "The Simpsons is fictional. Futurama is real."
The opening series (premiered in 1999) sees nerdy pizza delivery boy Fry transferred to the 31st century in a cryogenic mishap. There, he meets the beautiful, one-eyed Leela (voiced by Married with Children's Katey Sagal) and the incorrigible alcoholic robot Bender. The three of them join Fry's great (x30) nephew Professor Farmsworth and work in his intergalactic delivery service. Hyper-real yet strangely recognisable situations ensue--Fry discovers he is a billionaire thanks to 1,000 years accrued interest, Leela must fend off the attentions of Captain Kirk-like Lothario Zapp Brannigan, and Fry accidentally drinks the ruler of a strange planet of liquid beings. --David Stubbs
On the DVD: As with the earlier Fox release of The Simpsons, Season 1 this otherwise excellent three-disc set is let down by clunky menu navigation. There are way too many copyright warnings, no "Play All" facility, and you have to click back and forth to begin each new episode or find the additional features. By way of compensation, the menus look great and there's a goodly selection of extras on each disc. The entertaining commentaries are by Matt Groening and various members of his creative team, including producer David X Cohen and John DiMaggio (the voice of Bender) and Billy West (Fry). There are a handful of deleted scenes for certain episodes, plus the script and storyboard for the very first episode and an interactive stills gallery. The 4:3 picture is pin-sharp as is the Dolby 2.0Surround.--Mark Walker
DVD Description
DVD Special Features:
Disc 1:
Episodes--Space Pilot 3000; The Series Has Landed; I, Roommate; Love's Labour's Lost in Space
Special Features--Commentary for each episode; Animatics for "Space Pilot 3000"; Deleted scenes from "The Series Has Landed" (2) and "Love's Labour's Lost in Space" (1); Script and storyboard for "Space Pilot 3000"
Disc 2:
Episodes--Fear of a Bot Planet; A Fishful of Dollars; My Three Suns; A Big Piece of Garbage; Hell is Other Robots.
Special Features--Commentary for each episode; Trailer for Futurama Season One; Deleted scenes from "My Three Suns" (1) and "Hell is Other Robots" (1)
Disc 3:
Episodes--A Flight to Remember; Mars University; When Aliens Attack; Fry & The Slurm Factory.
Special Features--Commentary for each episode; Special featurette; Deleted scene from "When Aliens Attack"; Interactive gallery of stills/concept art--this gallery consists of 44 still images, four of which have buttons to select video segments
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Sound: 2.0 Surround
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the world of tomorrow,
This review is from: Futurama: Season 1 [DVD] (DVD)
Most people assume that the future will be better than the present. Not so in Futurama. Even a thousand years from now, politicians are still crooked, the Internet is still full of porn and people are just as stupid as they ever were. Maybe even slightly more so.Futurama is Simpsons creator Matt Groening's second animated show, crashing together the worlds of Star Trek and Springfield in a fast-paced comedy that combines social satire, farce, movie spoofs and hot alien chicks. Loser delivery boy Fry is accidentally frozen on New Year's Eve 1999, getting thawed out a millennium later just in time to see in the year 3000 - in his new job as, you guessed it, a delivery boy. Hooking up with cyclops space captain Leela and surly robot Bender, as well as the other misfit employees of the Planet Express delivery service, Fry gets to experience all the malfunctioning wonders of the 31st Century. At its best, Futurama is easily as funny as a top-whack episode of The Simpsons - hardly surprising, since many of its writers moved over from Groening's first show. The jokes come just as fast and are every bit as sharp, and each episode stands up to multiple viewings because of the sheer number of sight gags and hidden details tucked away in the background. The writers all appear to be huge science fiction fans as well - spotting every reference, from the obvious to the obscure, is an almost impossible task, but if you get them it's yet another layer of comedy to enjoy. This boxset actually contains more than the 'official' first season of the show - the four episodes on disc three were held back until the show's second year. Their inclusion here is a definite bonus, bringing the total up to 13. The standard of the shows is so high that it would be far quicker to list the few shows that aren't quite as brilliant as the rest. But, like The Simpsons, even a comparatively weak episode of Futurama is better than 90 percent of the dreck currently found on TV. The audio commentaries are nearly as entertaining as the episodes, as the various people involved in each are having a great time reminiscing and reliving the jokes. Groening and co-creator David X Cohen also drop in nuggets about early ideas for the show and point out hidden details that will be paid off years down the line. The deleted scenes were all dropped for reasons of time rather than lack of humour, so are worth watching. Audio is just stereo, but the picture is crystal-clear and full of vivid colours - far sharper than the first Simpsons boxset, probably down to Futurama's extensive use of computer graphics. A lot of people didn't give Futurama a chance purely on the grounds that it's "sci-fi". In reality, there's usually more science in a L'Oreal advert - it's a comedy, and a bloody good one at that. You owe it to yourself to take a trip into the world of tomorrow!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love It!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Futurama: Season 1 [DVD] (DVD)
In light of the shabby treatment given to Futurama by the Fox network in the States (and by other networks in other countries as well), I was overjoyed to have the first season of this innovative program finally made available on DVD. I'm the first on my block with a set, and probably the only one in town with one, as it is not available yet here in the States. Go figure! But as Matt Groening says in an interview on one of the discs, if you love science fiction, you'll love this. And if you hate science fiction, you'll love this. One word of caution: Disney it ain't, with suicide booths, a malt liquor-swilling foul-mouthed robot, and some rather adult situations. If you like your toons with an attitude, then go for it! It's well worth the price, and the special features will provide hours of enjoyment.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Futurama Rules!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Futurama - Season 1 Boxset [VHS] [1999] (VHS Tape)
In my opinion, 'Futurama' is a clear cut front runner for being the best animated TV show ever. Shaking off the shadow of 'the Simpsons' is difficult, but if they have to be compared, 'Futurama' is certainly the more original, witty and imaginative of the two, with a stronger cast of characters and a more inventive context. And, for a pilot series, this is a pretty darn good collection, filled with sharp jokes and some surprisingly poignent moments. So be uncynical and just sit back and enjoy these fantastic adventures of feisty Leela, alcoholic Bender, immature Fry, accident-prone Amy and eccentric Professor Fransworth. Sci-fi and comedy doesn't come any better than this!
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