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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Arboria Irish Moss 81-Inch Pyramid Trellis
Pyramid Trellis in Irish Moss green 81 inch high x 24 inch square at the base. An attractive and functional trellis cage for all kinds of climbing plants. This model features a beautiful, durable Irish Moss green stained finish. Customers love this appealing color! These well-built units are designed with attention to detail and structural integrity. They are produced entirely of select western red cedar that contains natural decay and insect retardants for long life. Ease of assembly is a major feature of Arboria design. Arboria products go together quickly, requiring only a screwdriver and a hammer.
List Price: $95.50
Amazon Price: $89.99
Making Bentwood Trellises, Arbors, Gates & Fences (Rustic Home Series)
Long has written a friendly, conversational book about bentwood garden accessories, some fantastic, others prosaic or elegantly simple. In nine main chapters, he covers selecting wood, making a basic trellis, more elaborate and decorative trellis designs, bentwood gates, bentwood fences, arbors, and trellises made without bentwood. He discusses the selection of plants for your structures, and finally, adds a chapter on simply enjoying your bentwood structures, even going so far as to include a few yummy recipes for muffins, teas, and shortbread to savor in your newly created garden environment!
The techniques outlined by Long can be easily adapted to your own individual designs and creative ideas. As Bertha Reppert, the founder of the Rosemary House, says, “I shall never look at plant prunings the same way again.” Bentwood garden structures offer a natural, eye-pleasing alternative to plastics and mass-manufactured garden installations, making use of the garden itself to generate construction materials that might otherwise end up burned or in a landfill. –Mark A. Hetts
List Price: $19.95
Amazon Price: $13.57
Used Price: $7.82
Customer Review: Making Bentwood Hearts!
A little disappointing. Great if you want to make most things with heart shapes in it. I didn’t. Good for explaining how you go about putting one together, and a few nice designs. The recipes in the back where odd - a nice idea, and i suppose better than another six pages of a heart shaped patterned trellises. Also a lot of diagrams rather than pictures - Pictures would work better i think - obviously dearer to print though.
Customer Review: Recycle that brush!
This book gives good directions and shows many attractive ideas. I am going to try a living fence and some supports for pole beans in the garden-that should be much prettier than the metal posts and twine I used last year.
Who knows perhaps this charming fellow is a prince in disguise! Either way, he’s a handsome sculpture to tuck away into your garden! Natural clay with burnished finish. 6 3/8″ x 4 1/8″ x 3 1/8″ high.
