Meh… Bender’s Game was only a smidge better than Beast with a Billion Backs.
Neither have hit the par of Bender’s Big Score yet. And I’m starting to wonder how Into the Wild Green Yonder will go.
To put on a chart, I’d have to say:
(Bender’s Big Score) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (Bender’s Game) >>>>> (Beast with a Billion Backs)
HOW THE FUCK can you like Bender’s Game more than BwaBB??? At least BwaBB was friggin’ hilarious!
Gonna watch the third tonight.
Bender’s Big Score was too good.
after seeing the first two movies.
futurama should have stayed dead.
i dont even wanna see bender’s game "/
What the fuck…?
The first two were great. They were classic Futurama, pure comedy, then hit you with the emotional slap in the face at the end.
I didn’t like the first two simply due to the fact that Fry became an overly depressed and emotional loser. In the series he had his moments of frustration, mostly due to Leelas rejection, but he always remained a fairly optimistic and upbeat guy who loved being in the future. It’s part of what made his character fun and cool, and they completely destroyed that in both of the first two films.
that and it was exactly what i’d imagine it’d be ie: lets push every character we had on the show for nostalgia and one off jokes and honestly as someone who refuses to rewatch the dog episode i didnt think the plot was that great
Yeah, I didn’t dig how they ripped the emotion away from the dog episode (saddest thing ever).
I personally loved the fact that the character was finally moving on. It’s what makes Futurama (and the early Simpsons) so great. Futurama is NOT a sitcom. Now that the show is coming to an end, the characters are finally reaching their closure. Keeping them the same until the ending would have been stupid, and I would have actually felt robbed.
The movie in no way ripped off the Fry’s Dog scene. The dog ending was just sad, while BBS was bittersweet… with a promise of a better future.
Except that the movies didn’t address the ending of the series, in which Leela more or less was acknowledging Frys feelings. At that point Fry and Leela either get together, or Fry straight moves on for real and stops wasting his time. I don’t see how the characters were evolved in the movies when Fry is still desperate for Leela, and Leela still barely notices/cares that he likes her.
Those themes were gone over multiple times in the series and actually did evolve as the seasons progressed. By The Devils Hands it was finished. Instead of taking this as a launching point and making the movies interesting in terms of character development, story, or even humor, they act like it never happened and rehash the same theme yet again, the only difference being the utter compromise of Frys character.
Seriously, devoting his life to a fish because it reminded him of Leela? Fry was never that pathetic, he liked Leela, and would go to the wall for her, but she wasn’t his reason for existence. The biggest criticism I can level against all the movies so far is they all feel forced. Nothing seems to flow naturally like it did during the series, and it shows.
Except that was just the first of the four movies. I’m sure it’s coming to a close in the final movie. I never got a emo loser vibe from Fry in the first movie, maybe I just have to watch it again. Bender’s Big Score was one of the best futurama “episodes” in my opinion, but I can see why you would think differently. People react to change differently.
Don’t get me wrong; I liked Bender’s Big Score.
Bender’s Game sucked ass, though. It really was like watching Family Guy (which isn’t ironic at all; maxx doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Ever).
Except that it’s the lack of change that I’m criticizing. The evolution of Fry and Leelas relationship through the seasons was completely ignored in the movies, and essentially rewound back to its early stages. At the same time certain aspects of Frys character were ignored in order to further the plot.
The point is made several times in the series that Fry loves being in the future, and feels far more at home there than he ever did in the past. I feel the biggest problem with the movies is they reduce Fry down to nothing more than the relationships he may or may not be in. This is not character growth, in fact it’s the opposite, as you’re removing multiple elements of a character in order to entirely focus on a single part of the whole.
Actually, one of the most pivotal points of the series was the revelation that Fry misses his past life. This comes up a couple of times but is most apparent when Fry has to save the universe from the giant brain. At that point, he gets to decide whether or not he wants to return to the year 2000, and chooses not to largely because of Leela.
I came away with a different opinion on that episode, I suppose. Fry largely felt manipulated and betrayed by Nibbler and the Nibblonians, and was about to be exiled to another dimension forever. This was compounded by the fact he felt completely unappreciated at that point, and as such decided to return to his old life. I didn’t really see that as a result of missing that life, but preferring it to sacrificing his entire life due to the Nibblonians.
This is the impression I got too. Throughout the series Fry makes it obvious that he misses his old life, but is too stupid to care enough. He just takes whatever life throws at him.
There are other clues scattered throughout the later portion of the series, like Fry missing his dog or his having any interest in history or his craving for anchovies (and everything else from the 20th century) when he becomes a billionaire. Or how about the 7-leaf clover and Yancy? Hell, even Fry’s ex is a tie to his past that he cannot let go.
The only real reasons Fry would stay in the future are Leela and (to a much lesser extent) Bender, since Fry doesn’t remember that he saved the universe. And since Leela ends up hooking up with someone else, Fry would have far fewer qualms about going back.
I came away from that episode with the impression that it was a combination of both missing his old life and being sacrificed.
Nibbler:“What’s one life weighed against the entire universe?”
Fry:“But it was my life.”
Note the use of “was” instead of “is.” I think he’s referring to the life he left behind.
Good points. I suppose I just didn’t like seeing Fry being so, well, pathetic when he did return to his old life. Ah well.
So I was in Meijer today and saw another Futurama DVD movie, Bender’s Game. I’ve yet to see the first two. Should I cop all three?