Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
Studio description:
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 Review: Decently done, but missing the old magic
Like another reviewer defined themselves, I’m not one of those people who thinks that the old stuff is better & the new stuff is bad. The first movie (Bender’s Big Score) was cute & enjoyable. This film is as well, but there’s just something missing from it.

The premise is that Bender’s constant jumping back & forth in time caused a rift in space, which is home to a rather strange alien being. Other plot points involve Fry’s disasterous attempt at dating as well as Amy’s “marraige” to Kif. BwaBB is cute, but it just doesn’t seem to really live up to it’s predecessor, Bender’s Big Score. I’ll give it 4 stars for the nostalgia & the entertainment value I got from watching it, but this just wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped it would be. Still, there’s one more movie to go… here’s hoping that it makes up for this one.

Customer Review: Fan of the show, not of the packaging.
While I didn’t care for this installment as much as I liked “Bender’s Big Score,” I still enjoyed having more adventures with the Planet Express crew.

It’s a shame that the packaging will utterly destroy my DVD before it gets watched two or three more times. In all, the movie has been viewed twice, and in removing it from and returning it to the cardboard sleeve it comes in, it is already significantly scratched.

If you’re buying this DVD, be sure you have a standard plastic case to put it in, or you’re throwing your twenty bucks away.

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Songs of Free Men/ A Paul Robeson Recital
There was nothing like the Robeson sound, ever. To describe his deep, rich, perfectly equalized instrument is futile. Go instead to “Balm in Gilead,” the opening track, and see if you can listen to the last pianissimo phrase without falling to pieces. Robeson was at his best when the music was slow and the words contained spiritual or social messages. Faster, lighter fare like Kern’s “I Still Suits Me” or Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So” find the serious-minded singer out of his element, lacking irony and swing. “Old Man River,” though, gets a simple, dignified treatment. It’s Songs of Free Men, though, that will just keep Robeson’s artistry rolling along, especially in Sony’s astonishing transfers. –Jed Distler
List Price: $11.98
Amazon Price: $11.98
Used Price: $6.48
Customer Review: Pleased
Really enjoyable set of songs. I never tire of hearing Robeson sing. These songs are my constant delight while on the road.
Customer Review: Robeson on wax
I found this album in a thrift store last week, for a couple of dollars. It’s the original pressing on four 78 RPM records, in a gatefold format. It’s in pristine condition. I really bought it for the incredible cover art, although I hope to be able to listen to it in this format at some point.

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