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Futurama, Vol. 1

Futurama, Vol. 1

List Price: $39.98
Your Price: $29.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Futurama is awesome, HANDS DOWN!!!
Review: Now, I always enjoyed Matt Groening's work from his comics to his fab animated TV sitcoms.(Like "The Simpsons" for example!)
But now that "The Simpsons" are losing there cool after 17 years of production, I am begginning to grow an intrest in this awesome sci-fi bonanza. For example...

1. Unlike "The Simpsons", Futurama has an original storyline and not to mention a POINT!

2. Futurama has TRULLY innovative charathers such as Fry, Bender, Amy, Dr.Zoidberg and Leela to name a few.

3. The Simpsons at times can be same old, same old but Futurama stays original in ALL episodes.

4. We all still love The Simpsons and it's enjoyable antics but if you want even cleverer and funnier antics, Futurama is your sort of thing.

I STILL like "The Simpsons" and recommend it to anyone but "Futurama" is different, original and addictive and it does need more attention, don't you think? My favourite episodes of Season One are "Episode Two: The season has landed", "My Three Suns", "Hell is Other Robots", "When Aliens Attack" and "Fry and the Slurm factory" and the extras are the sort of extras that a DVD Boxset deserve to have.

I love Futurama and I think anyone who liked "The Simpsons" will do too so don't rent this, BUY IT! You'll love it. Hilarious Futuristic Fun!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Tasty Treat for Science Fiction Fans
Review: [note: This is a review of the entire series, not just season one]

Immensely satisfying in both style and substance, 'Futurama' is not only funnier and better written than 'The Simpsons', it also succeeds grandly in depicting a convincingly complex future setting - in fact one of the most balanced and believable ones in all of science fiction (neither a utopia nor a dystopia), filled to the brim with fantastic but faulty technology, humdrum pop culture items and hilarious products and commercials ("Arachno Spores - The Fatal Spores With the Funny Name", "Fishy Joe's Extreme Walrus Juice - Ride the Walrus").

Being a huge science fiction enthusiast, the many inside jokes contained in this show alone could keep me entertained for weeks. Every single bit of alien language and binary code means something hilarious, there's obscure math references such as the Alive-Null-Plex (a majority of the staff writers have advanced math degrees), there's nods to Clarke, Asimov, Lem, Sturgeon, Foster, Dziemianowicz, Orwell, Dick and many, many more. Not to mention 'Soylent Green', 'The Twilight Zone' (Bender's "To Serve Man" apron, 'The Scary Door'), 'Blade Runner'... the list is practically endless. To quote David X. Cohen: "[We're] the most overqualified writing staff on television."

Then there's Christopher Tyng's fantastic scores (especially `A Clone of My Own' and `Roswell that Ends Well' are superb), the too-good-for-TV computer animation, and some of the most memorable and hilarious characters ever, especially the deliciously evil, free-associating Professor Farnsworth and Dr. Zoidberg, a combination of a lobster, a vaudeville comedian, and Curly from The Three Stooges ("It's good cholesterol, but it spreads like bad cholesterol!").

Also, I cannot help but adore how darkly grim, in fact almost Dickensian, this series can become sometimes. This is possibly the only prime-time show that ever got away with completely degrading or vilifying its main characters (in `A Pharaoh to Remember' Bender works hundreds of slaves to death), as well as with destroying entire civilizations and killing millions of innocents. Then there's wonderfully offensive blasphemy (such as Zoidberg's impersonation of Jesus Christ), cannibalism, prostitution, incest - you name it. I love that stuff!

Some of the later episodes, such as the parallel universe tale 'The Farnsworth Parabox', are staggeringly intricate and well crafted, with absolutely mind-blowing results. This puts 'Star Trek' to shame, people.

Favorite episodes: `Love's Labour's Lost In Space', `Fry & the Slurm Factory', `A Head in the Polls', `Why Must I Be A Crustacean in Love?', `The Problem with Popplers', `Mother's Day', `A Taste Of Freedom', `Less Than Hero', `Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles' and `The Farnsworth Parabox.'

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FOX, you've released a winner!
Review: I've always loved this show, though I missed most of the first season. Now getting to watch these, this show ROCKS! I've watched the first 6 episodes so far, and the final two episodes multiple times because I love "When Aliens Attack" and "Fry and the Slurm Factory" that much.

It's not "The Simpsons".

The humor is a bit more intelligent.

The humor is a bit more eccentric because of its sci-fi setting. That's okay, I love eccentricity.

They can get away with a lot of otherwise PG- or R-rated material because of its sci-fi setting. (the sci-fi setting actually makes the humor FUNNY, rather than vulgar. So it's a plus, in many ways.)

This is not to say the entire series is entirely based on eccentricity or 'hidden vulgarity'.

FOX also knows the value of its customers, or at least the value of DVD. The video/image quality of these episodes is as perfect as they can get. It's virtually identical, if not better, than that of broadcast quality. Colors are vibrant, pictures are crisp... yum!

The only minor down side is the lack of Dolby 5.1 treatment for the sound. However, in Dolby 2.0, it still rocks. No demerits.

The only major downside is a goofy, inconsistent menu system. This gets rectified in Volume 3. But it's still obvious and easy to navigate between episodes. No demerits here.

If you're a fan of Futurama, this set is a MUST BUY. Heck, it's so good, I recommend you get it for full MSRP! But I have yet to argue with amazon.com's prices...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Is The Way To Present TV on DVD!!!
Review: Critics could argue all they want about the quality (or not) of FUTURAMA. I've always thought that the show was brilliant and had limitless potential, but I can certainly understand it not being everyone's cup-o-tea. The creation of a zany workforce team -- Fry, Leela, Bender, Amy, Hermes, Zoidberg, the Professor -- is truly inspired lunacy (can anyone argue with that?), and the adventures created for them make for some interesting mind-bending laughs.

However, I think Fox should receive kudos principally for presenting this package the way any TV show SHOULD be presented on DVD, and that's with commentary tracks on every episode. That's the prime reason I give the show 5 stars. Hearing from the creative staff -- the unsung heroes of animation shows -- is truly an added bonus, and the insights this cast & crew have to offer throughout these episodes is funny, sometimes educational, and often satirical! A great, great, great choice by Groening and others!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: whyyyyyyyyyyyyy! why did fox get rid of futurama
Review: i started watching this show because i (emarissingly) can't veiw the simpsons. you know settle for the next best thing. but judging by the few simpsons episodes i've seen the comedy was the same but futurama was going somwhere with its plots like the future and fry and leela getting together. each charecter has his own little developing part in the season. i would give this an 100 but it only goes up to 5

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good news everyone!
Review: this is one of my favorite shows I only have volume 2 but I love this show!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: NO STARS!!! Endlessly NON-entertaining. Avoid watching.
Review: I've caught this disaster a few times in it's pointless existence in syndication after Family Guy on the cartoon network. I tried to give it a chance, being a big fan of older Simpsons shows and Family Guy, but the dry sense of humor it's characters constantly belched out was torture and I can't believe people waste their money and time buying these dvds and watching them over and over. I only gave this show a few comments here to warn people about how terrible it is. It's no wonder that they had to settle on Billy West and Peggy Bundy as the main voice 'talent.'I think Matt Groening jinxed himself with the few seasons he made of this show before it was cancelled, because it seems that lately The Simpsons is headed down the same path. I couldn't care less about who disagrees with me on this, or who doesn't want to take my word for it, It doesn't matter, I know what is funny and what is not. Fans of this garbage should be ashamed of themselves though, Ha Ha, and people with a good sense of humor should be aware, Family Guy will soon make it's triumphant return to Fox, while Futurama won't. D'OH! Giggity Giggity Giggity.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: IT IS GREAT AND FUNNY
Review: When I started seeing Futurama I was many questions about the begining but now I know many thing about it.
I think it's a funny vision of future.
Thank Matt

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Welcome to THE FUTURE!!!!
Review: Yes, Futurama was anticipated with a lot of excitement by me, my brother, and a number of our friends (likely all of them, but I can't honestly remember). I recall watching the first show and enjoying it, back when it premeired in 1999 (along with Farscape!), though I must confess that I wasn't the most diligent viewer. I believe that the heads at Fox, in their infinite wisdom, yanked Futurama from its comfortable time slot on Sunday nights (which it shared with "The Simpsons", which I watched and continue to watch religiously to this day), and when it was no longer on on Sunday nights I was just too lazy to find out when it was and therefore missed a number of them. My brother and I received this first volume of Futurama (containing the first 13 episodes broadcast, thus spanning the very short first season and the first four shows of the second) approxamately a year ago, and though I remembered several, half the number of shows included here were new to me. All were enjoyed immensely by the both of us, and just over this past weekend I reviewed every single one of them (brought them along with me when I took off again for college. Who has time for studying?).

Highlights here include the original pilot, which does a nice job building up the "brave new world" this series is set in, wonderfully introducing our characters and making us eager for more by the time it's finished. Great appearance by the disembodied head of Leonard Nimoy (feeding time). My next true favorite show is disc two's "Fishful of Dollars", where Fry discovers how wealthy he is in the future and sqanders his fortune on a can of soon-to-be-extinct anchovies, followed shortly after by "My Three Suns", set on a desert planet inhabited by a race of liquid... people... . (watch for a subtle "Man Who Would Be King" reference toward the end). "Hell Is Other Robots" sports a great musical number, and finally, on disc three, we get my all-time favorite episode of Futurama, the hilarious "Fry and the Slurm Factory", which speaks especially to the former Mountain Dew-junkie who continues to live inside me, even after three years of abstaining (for the most part) from the highly caffinated-sugar-loaded Beverage of Kings. The only thing that keeps "FATSF" from being perfect is the fact that a large chunk of its humor comes from the classic movie/book it parodies/steals from, "Willie Wonka/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". But aside from that, it's loaded with great moments, situations, and lines. A classic half-hour of quality television. "Tell them [the Grunka Lunkas] I hate them!"

Futurama's great... great writing, voice acting, and great visuals. Honestly, did an animated show EVER look this good? Reserve your copy of Volume One today!

Carry on Carry on,

MN

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I really, really want to like this series more
Review: Really. I got this for $20 so it was a great price point and the reviews here at Amazon are out of this world but for some reason this show isn't that funny. I love the characters which is WHY I bought this. The packaging is striking. The extras are commendable. But outside of the Professor, Fry, Bender, and Leela, there just isn't much that is 'funny'. I listen to the commentaries and Matt and the gang are laughing wildly, and I'm just thinking to myself: Why is that so funny to them? I do give this Volume 1 a 3.5 stars, but the show seems simplistic and just a futuristic variation on Simpsons humor. Which isn't a bad thing really, just seems second hand. I do like the show, but unlike others here, shows I 'like' do not get automatic 5 star ratings, those are reserved for classics.

This show needed a major retooling. There are just too many characters that aren't worth air time. Zoidberg comes to mind as does the Jamaican. Even characters like Zap Brannigan should be funnier than they are, I just can't quite put my finger on the problem. Somebody needed to slimline this cast because unlike the Simpsons lightening doesn't strike the whole cast, in fact, at times it barely sprinkles.


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