grade Movie Reviews

• Reviewed by insertnamehear grade 10 / 10

  Good News Everyone!

  It was a sad day in 2003 when I learned that Futurama had ended. I remember watching the first episode and being hooked straight away. It's not very often humour and genuine sci-fi have been balanced so expertly. But thankfully, like Family Guy before it, Futurama has now been given a new lease of life in the form of 4 direct to DVD movies (to be split into 16 episodes to make up a new season). When something this great is brought back, there is always the lingering fear that it won't retain the "magic" of the original. But I can confidently say that the magic is back! When Family Guy released Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, I feel it suffered the problem of seeming too much like an over-long episode, a problem I think that the Simpson's movie also suffered (though both were not without their fair share of laughs). However,Benders Big Score, the first of these new Futurama features FEELS like a movie. I feel it should appeal to old fans (who will be spoilt by many in-jokes and call backs, as subtle as they may be) and those (and shame on them) who have never encountered Futurama before. The story kicks off with a quick introduction of the characters, and within 5 minutes, old fans will be in familiar territory, and newcomers will be brought up to date. What follows is nearly an hour and a half of laughs, sci-fi action, and romance.This is a film I would definitely have paid to see at the cinema over the Simpson's movie. I hope that the DVD sales of this and the next 3 films do well, as it was sorely missed.Welcome back Futurama!

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• Reviewed by eeehlo grade 10 / 10

  classic

  Recently, we have seen several full-length features from our favorite TV-series. Family Guy, the movie. Simpsons, the movie.One thing both of these lacked were going back and not only recalling, but intertwining our favorite side-characters into the plot.Futurama does this beautifully and we see not only commonly featured side-characters, but characters that hard-core fans will rejoice to see, and I _wont_ give any examples here, because every element of surprise in this movie is what makes it worth watching.I want to stress that I was very critical to the idea of a movie after such a long pause, and I was a die-hard fan. I signed the online petition all of those years ago when it got canceled (rumor has it all those signatures got printed and transported to box the CEO of FOX into his office, but thats only a rumor as far as I know). Having said this, I want to ensure everyone that even if you go into the movie with high expectations - they will be exceeded.The plot may seem tangled, but the writers don't leave anything out. Nothing is "forgotten", like in Lost. If you watched the TV-series, you will love this. If you didn't - tough luck (but you will probably wind up loving it anyway). Its literally a celebration of all of the five seasons aired on television, and its impressive that they did this without repeating anything.All of the old themes are brought back - its like the show never went off the air. You will straight off the bat be able to re-identify with characters and feel the same way about the show you did all of those years ago.I haven't seen a story tied up like this in years. The ending is _beautiful_.This is for the fans.FUTURAMA - IT JUST WONT STAY DEAD!

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• Reviewed by puggso_32 grade 10 / 10

  Brilliant

  I have just watched this, and was a fan of the original show and am being completely honest here when I say this is not just one of the best animated movies I have ever seen but in fact one of the best movies of any genre I have ever seen.Unlike the previous Family Guy and Simpsons films (both shows I am a fan of by the way) Benders Big Score seemed to have something extra in it separating it from these two films.The jokes are great, the music and songs are great, the animation is absolutely superb (the 3d animation looking much better than when the show originally aired) and the story is very smart and also quite touching.The writing was absolutely superb, cramming in a lot of past characters but not in a way that it felt they had been thrown in for the sake of them being there (as can be noticed Mom does not make an appearance at all) and also adding new call-backs to well known parts from the series.All in, just superb and make sure you see it one way or another.

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