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Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs | 
 enlarge | Director: Peter Avanzino
Actors: Brittany Murphy, Dan Castellaneta, David Cross, Phil Lamarr, Billy West
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $17.85
You Save: $12.14 (40%)
New (52) Used (21) from $15.25
Rating:  142 reviews
Sales Rank: 349
Format: Ac-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5
MPN: 2252093
UPC: 024543520931
EAN: 0024543520931
ASIN: B00158K0V0
Theatrical Release Date: June 24, 2008
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The thrilling conclusion to Futurama: Benders Big Score.Bender and the planet express crew must contend with a massive cosmic team that sends the world into panic.System Requirements:Running Time: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/CARTOON NETWORK Rating: NR UPC: 024543520931 Manufacturer No: 2252093
Amazon.com
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 
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Stills from Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 137 more reviews...
 Disappointing September 6, 2008
John Wright (Virginia, USA)
Have been a fan since day one, have the dvds, Xbox game, calendars, comic books, etc. I find myself quoting the show at least a few times a week, and usually introduce uninitiated friends to the show whenever I get the chance. Sadly, I can't recommend this film to any but long-time fans, and I'm pretty sure there's a 50/50 chance that they'll be disappointed, like I was.
These films will never live up to the high standard set by the show (watch a few episodes of season 4 in one sitting and you'll understand), but they should do better than this. The first film did a respectable job carrying on the franchise, tied up some interesting loose ends (ah, Seymour!), showed some emotional depth and managed to pull off a fairly intricate time-travel plot line. I liked it the first viewing, and have really come to love it after repeated viewings. It built up a lot of expectation for the remaining films. But Beast dashes those hopes quite expertly.
The writing is weak. When one of the highlights is Stephen Hawking shooting lasers out of his eyes, you know there's not much here. Zoidberg is an afterthought. Bender's story goes nowhere, wasting a lot of potential (even though actor John Di Maggio is untouchable, as usual). Amy, while admittedly shallow, sinks to a new low of shallowness after Kif's death. And there are other gripes... if you're conversant with the shows, you'll see them clearly enough.
The straw that broke the Beast's back for me was the handling of the Fry/Leela relationship. Fry's lovelorn relationship with Leela has been a major part of the series from the first season. In Big Score, we see that Fry and Leela can work as a couple, which is hinted at in the series, and seems to be a building story going into Beast. Let's face it, you've been hoping that Fry will finally get his girl by the end of the 4th movie. But in Beast it's all thrown away as if it was nothing... Fry falls for a woman who has multiple live-in boyfriends and seems to care absolutely nothing for Leela (as if the events of Big Score didn't just happen). Years of drama gone without so much as a whimper. There's little doubt that Cohen et al will bring things to a tidy conclusion by the final film, but here this is just poor to the point of being pathetic. And btw, Brittany Murphy's character and acting here are downright irritating.
On the plus side, the regular cast is magnificent. They help make these movies instantly familiar and comfortable, and you can't help but get excited when the feature starts. The animation is very good also. I enjoyed seeing more of Zap and a little less of Hermes. The special features are worth checking out, and as always the commentary is pretty satisfying in a fanboy sort of way. Multiple viewings have even lessened the pain of disappointment a bit.
Some Futurama is much better than no Futurama, and at least the disappointment of this film means the next will probably seem much better by comparison. Hopefully it will be great on its own merits, and not because Beast was in many ways a missed opportunity.
Bad September 4, 2008
bean
Futurama is my favorite animated show of all time, but this movie was just bad. It is not funny.
 An OK movie August 29, 2008
Ed Johnson (Limon, CO USA)
Not nearly as good as Benders big score, but it was definately Furuama and it has its moments. Not one of my favorites, but worth watching anyway, give it to a friend when you're done and save them the 20 bucks.
 It really is THAT bad. August 28, 2008
Kupcake (Orange County, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I hate to review a movie from a beloved series so poorly but this really was one of the worst/most boring/painful to watch films I've ever seen. It doesn't even deserve cult status. I watched it recently with a fellow Futurama/Simpsons fanatic and about 3/4th of the way through the movie we looked at each other and asked, "should we turn this off now or keep waiting for a joke?" We finished it, but I felt like it was a complete, mind-numbing waste of time. Frequently I enjoy movies that others found worthless or tasteless, but this one has no merit whatsoever. Don't destroy your opinion of the regular Futurama series by watching it. Bender's Big Score is far better.
 For Collectors, Just Another Addition - For Fans, Disappointment August 28, 2008
Kelley G. (Mt Olive, New Jersey)
I have to agree whole-heartedly with some of the other reviewers here who found this movie disappointing. When I first heard Futurama was being revived, I was thrilled as this is hands down my favorite animated series (Family Guy sometimes shares that spot). 'Bender's Big Score' was funny, and poignant, and contained the same laugh-out-loud and cheer-for-Fry's-love-of-Leila that one would expect from the series. It wasn't great, but it was certainly better than this movie.
'The Beast with a Billion Backs' - the title itself a take-off of the reference in Shakespeare's Othello by Iago when he tells the king, "Your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs," - promised a tongue-in-cheek satirical story. I anticipated the same depth and level of humor which makes Futurama so different from other animated series, such as Family Guy (which is fraught with silliness and no substance). I was disappointed by this seemingly quickly written and poorly thought out plot and storyline; I was disappointed by the less-than-stellar portrayal of the show's characters; and I was eager for it to end.
While some of the humor from the TV series still remains present in this movie, it is hollow and empty, lacking in the quality and spark the series possesses still.
Add it to your collection if you are buying the prescribed movie series, but don't expect it to be your favorite.
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