Futurama: Series 1 (UK)

9 / 10
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Every episode from the first season
Certificate: 12
Running Time: 310 mins
Retail Price: £39.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
Features every episode from the first season of Matt Groening`s hit animated comedy.

Episodes:
`Space Pilot 3000`, `The Series Has Landed`, `I, Roomate`, `Love`s Labour`s Lost In Space`, `Fear Of A Bot Planet`, `A Fistful Of Dollars`, `My Three Suns`, `A Big Piece Of Garbage`, `Hell Is Other Robots`, `A Flight To Remember`, `Mars University`, `When Aliens Attack` and `Fry And The Slurm Factory`.

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Commentary for Every Episode
Deleted Scenes
Making Of Featurette
Trailer
Interactive Gallery of Stills and Concept Art
Animatics, script and storyboard for `Space Pilot 3000`
Artwork Easter Eggs

Video Tracks:
Standard 1.33:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 English

Directed By:
Brian Sheesley
Jeff Lynch
Ron Hughart
Mark Ervin
Susie Dietter
Peter Avanzino

Starring:
Phil LaMarr
Lauren Tom
Katey Sagal
John Di Maggio
Billy West

Casting By:
Julie Mossberg
Jill Anthony

Soundtrack By:
Christopher Tyng

Editor:
Paul D. Calder

Production Designer:
Serban Cristescu

Producer:
Patric Verrone
Mili Smythe
Richard Raynis
Max Pross
Bill Oakley
Lewis Morton
Claudia Katz
Eric Kaplan
Weinstein Josh
Alex Johns
Jason Grode
Tom Gammill
Claudia De La Roca
Brian J. Cowan
J. Stewart Burns
Bill Odenkirk
Ken Keeler
Darin Henry
Kristin Gore
David X. Cohen
Matt Groening

Executive Producer:
Ken Keeler
Eric Horsted
Matt Groening
David X. Cohen

Distributor:
Twentieth Century Fox

Your Opinions and Comments

8 / 10
I'm a huge fan of Futurama, i began from the start of the series when many considered it a huge flop, i loved the over the top adult humour (not that it was offensive) and the complete sci-fi rip off story lines, how anyone with a sense of humour could ever say this was a flop is beyond me.
Anyway lets get down to the DVDs themselves.

Video: -
The video is presented in 4:3, which isn't a bad thing considering it's a television show, ok an Anamorphic Widescreen presentation would've been great but the picture is fine the way it is, and for the quality it's fantastic with capitol F, with no dirt or grain and no signs of compression, with all the bright and beautiful colours being shown correctly (as the darn well should be).

Sound: -
Here we get a DD2.0 mix which i think is great, as with the picture a 5.1 mix would've been great (and suitable for this series because there is lots of activity in the background) but the 2.0 mix works just as good, the with all the sounds and dialogue sounding crisp and clear.

Extras: -
Not a great deal of extras but enough to satisfy your hunger for all things Futurama, as we are treated to an Audio Commentary on each episode which are quite amusing and informing, and a few deleted scenes (not for every episode) and a featurette on the last disk.
The entire first series is spanned across 3 disks, with 13 episodes in all.

Overall i think the package is great but not for all tastes, i would say if your a fan of Family Guy you will enjoy this as the humour is quite similar to that of Family Guy, another factor is the price which i think is set a little to high, at £35 the ordinary DVD collector might not want to risk buying it because they might not enjoy it.
Final work try b4 u buy, if u like buy.
posted by Kain^ on 11/3/2002 01:35
9 / 10
Matt Groening creator of the Simpsons brings us his second show, Futurama to the DVD format and just like the Simpsons season one DVD boxset it is a treat! It follows the adventures of Fry, a pizza boy from New York City 1999. On new years eve while on a prank call he is frozen and awakes a 1000 years in the future. Here he is assigned the job of delivery box by fate assignment officer Leela. However Fry refuses and tries to track down his Nephew Professor with the help of a foul mouthed drinking robot by the name of Bender. However not before catching up with Leela again who he manages to persuade to come with him. When he finally does find his nephew, he is given a job on his space ship as a delivery boy.... This sets the scene for the rest of the episodes as Fry gets to grips with the future.
The program is presented as it was displayed on the TV in a 4:3 aspect ratio. The picture is clean and grime free and the colours are bright and clear. This is because the picture is a digital to digital transfer.
The sound for the whole season is Surround sound which is now very old. However it serves the purpose very well and the lines and jokes are always clear. Its a shame that a 5.1 sound was not used but it is not really needed for this and only serves to increase the price of production and hence the DVD.
Included is a number of extras spread across the three discs. These include commentary on all the episodes by Groening and co. Animatics, deleted scenes, Scripts, Storyboard, Featurette, stills and a season 1 trailer. The pick of the bunch is the commentary tracks. These are very funny and provide a lot of information on the background to the episodes. It also covers the references which can be found littered through any episode. Great stuff. The animatic is also very good and shows the whole first episode in this format. Animatics are the early stages of animation used to block out scenes. While the animation is ropy its great to compare this to the finished episode and see what was changed and the starting points. The deleted scenes are a nice inclusion and some are very funny. However you will only watch them once. The same goes for the featurette, which while good did not into a enough detail for me. Still worth a look. The stills are also good and shows you a lot of early concept drawings. Again it shows the roots of the show very well. Overall good extras but the commentry tracks stand out a mile.
If you are into science fiction or not you should find something in Futurama to like. The writing is witty and clever and always plenty of variation on the stories. Because Futurama is set in the future it allows for a much slacker story lines than the Simpsons and it is all the better for it. Littered with loads of references throughout to science fiction works both new and old this is one of the best animated tv shows since, you guessed it the Simpsons. It is a must own and is backed up on a very good disc.
posted by Kevin Luff on 13/3/2002 11:29
9 / 10
Well i think futurama is the best thing since the simpsons! It`s a good show, this DVD is also very good. The commentries are the highlight and are the only commnetris I have listened to twice!
posted by Clive_Evil_C on 12/4/2003 01:26
9 / 10
Futurama, if you don`t already know is about a guy called Phillip J.Fry who gets frozen and wakes up in the future - in the year 3000 where he works with the crew of a planet express delivery company delivering crazy packages throughout the galaxy, it`s the new show from the creator of The Simpsons - Matt Groening! This first season is a great intro to the show with episodes like a "flight to remember" and "Fry and the slurm factory",there is a total of 13 episodes on 3 discs full of extra features. The funniest and most interesting characters are...Fry - the frozen idiot, Bender - the lovable foul mouth,drinking robot and Dr Zoidburg - the sea creature who is hungry and crazy. The rest of the crew consists of - Leela, Professor Farnsworth, Amy and Hermes.
The season takes them all over the universe and is a super DVD deal with the only good DVD commentaries ever and coulorful 3D. The best things about it are that it`s theme tune kicks futuristic ass and it`s so funny.

Buy this now, you won`t be dissapointed and if you are then your a really strange creature!
posted by tintin 2003 on 10/7/2003 20:29
9 / 10
This is the best comedy i have ever seen. It is 10 times better than the Simpsons.

This is a true start for a comedy that wouldn`t be remembered.

I love Bender, Zapp & Zoidberg as they are my favourite characters. I love the aliens from Omicorn Persei 8, as at last Aliens with a sense of humour :) :) :)

The extras are really good especially agreeing on with the commentary as one of the best ever from the creators and voices of the show.
posted by barry110 on 17/5/2004 18:46