Futurama: Bender's Game
 | Directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill Starring: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche 20th Century Fox, 2008, DVD Customer Rating: 34 reviews Recommend |
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With fuel prices skyrocketing, the Planet Express crew sets off on a dangerous mission: to infiltrate the world's only dark-matter mine, source of all spaceship fuel. But deep beneath the surface lies a far stranger place... a medieval land of dragons and sorcery and intoxicated knights who look suspiciously like Bender. So park your hover-car and saddle up your unicorn for Futurama's grandest adventure yet: BENDER'S GAME!
At once a merciless skewering of all things fanboy and an extremely satisfying addition to the Futurama franchise, Bender's Game is among the best of the animated series' feature length adventures. The game in question is Dungeons and Dragons, and Bender wants in — only robots aren't programmed with the necessary imagination. Naturally, Bender's plans to develop one go completely awry and land him in an android asylum. The role-playing plotline later re-emerges — in typically convoluted Futurama fashion — via a subplot involving Professor Farnsworth's conversion of dark matter into spaceship fuel, which created a key to a very D&D-influenced universe where our hapless heroes eventually find themselves. The alternate world storyline allows for much lampooning of fantasy tropes, with Lord of the Rings receiving the lion's share of the tweaks. Seeing as how the writers have already devoted much of the movie's running time to parodying Star Wars and Star Trek (and their Lego offshoots), one might think that Bender's Game might suffer from pop-culture overload, but surprisingly, it all feels fresh and frequently funny, and the writers are wise to ground the story in their eccentric characters rather than pinballing them through an endless string of gags. The result is probably the strongest of the direct-to-DVD Futurama releases to date, and one that newcomers to the show's cracked universe can appreciate as much as longtime fans.As with previous Futurama DVD releases, the extras come fast and furious on Bender's Game: commentary by members of the cast and production team (including Matt Groening) is both informative and funny, while interviews with the writers and producers discuss, among other topics, the influence of Dungeons and Dragons on the series and the 3D models used in the feature. Aspiring animators might appreciate "How To Draw Futurama in 83 Easy Steps and the storyboard animatic for the first part of the story, while the "Genetics Lab" feature allows for some amusing Dr. Moreau-style cross-breeding of the characters. Recording session bloopers and a deleted scene offer their own laughs, but the most enjoyable extra must be the preview for the next Futurama feature, Into the Wild Green Yonder, which suggests a shocking development for one of the show's regulars. — Paul Gaita
Beyond Futurama: Bender's Game
 The Simpsons |  Family Guy |  King of the Hill |
Stills from Futurama: Bender's Game (Click for larger image)
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Title: Futurama: Bender's Game
Sales Rank: 69 in DVD
Actor: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche
Director: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Studio: 20th Century Fox, 2008-11-04, Theatrical Release: 2008
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 1.78:1
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Audience Rating: Unrated
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 88 minutes
Package Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches, 0.1 pounds
- Needs more Dark Energy!
- As a long-term Futurama fan, who rejoiced when the films started to appear, and who has enjoyed the previous two while thinking they hadn't yet got back to the inventive genius of the series, it pains me to say it, but this is nowhere near as entertaining. The film's premise of a Lord of the Rings + Dungeons and Dragons type adventure promises much,… More reviews
- What Happened!?
I am A huge Futurama fan. Have every episode and love how smart and well timed the comedy can be. As much as I want to love this installment, I can't. Benders big Game is A Big let down. The comedy is so low-brow and the story and dialog is poorly written in comparison to everything that has been done up till now.
- Futurama: Bender's Game Review
The main cast of Futurama: The Professor (Billy West), Hermes (Phil LaMarr), Leela (Katey Sagal), Bender (John DiMaggio), Amy (Lauren Tom), Zoigberg (Billy West), Nibbler (Frank Welker), Fry (Billy West) as well as Mom (Tress MacNeille) and her three bumbling sons return in this 80-minute special. Futurama: Bender's Game is unlike Futurama: Bender's Big… More reviews
- Lord of the Futurama Movies
- The first one tried to tie the storyline together, but became too entangled in its own explanation. The second one was a story of morals and experimentation that went where no Futurama episode had gone and should go again.
This third Futurama movie finally delivers what I think fans of the series have been waiting for: a Futurama… More reviews
- GET THIS MOVIE!!!!!
- This is my favorite movie in the Futurama series, by far. The first one sucked, the second one was good, but this recent installment was hilariously awesome and just the BEST!! The artistry was very precise, which made the movie that much better.
I pre-ordered this movie and I am so glad that I did. When I saw… More reviews
