“Laugh it Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy” has its moments but I think because I’m not the biggest fan of “Family Guy”, the humor didn’t quite reach me as it would others who are fans. I did find some funny scenes and gags throughout “Blue Harvest”, a few less in “Something, Something, Something Dark Side” and even less (almost nill) in “It’s a Trap”.
Laugh it Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy (2007-2010)
Genre(s): Animation, Comedy
Fox | NR – 160 min. – $39.99 | December 21, 2010
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: NA
Writer(s): “Blue Harvest”: Alec Sulkin (written by); “Something, Something, Something Dark Side”: Kirker Butler (written by); “It’s a Trap”: Cherry Cheva & David A. Goodman (written by)
Cast: Seth MacFarlane, Seth Green, Mila Kunis
DISC INFO:
Features: Audio Commentaries, Featurettes, Outtakes, Digital Copies
Number of Discs: 6
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Full Frame (1.33), Widescreen (1.78)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Codec: AVC
THE MOVIE – 2.25/5
In the interest of time and web space, I’m not going to go too in-depth and will provide my initial thoughts for each of the specials.
Blue Harvest — 3.5/5
Plot: The laughs come full “Force” when the Griffin clan puts a freakin’ sweet spin on the greatest sci-fi saga ever told! With Peter playing the swashbuckling Han Solo, Lois as the sexy Princess Leia, Chris as an adolescent Luke Skywalker, Brian as a well-spoken Chewbacca and Stewie finally embracing his dark side as Darth Vader, who knows what will happen?
First and foremost, I’ve never considered myself a fan of the “Family Guy”. I’ve checked out a couple episodes over the years but much like “The Simpsons” kind of enjoyed it from afar and rarely tuned in on a Sunday night. So with that said, I approached Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest – which was a double-episode for the show – more cautiously and found it, for the most part, to mix clever humor with some more obvious jokes. It manages to poke fun some of the plot holes of Star Wars without going over the top.
Something, Something, Something Dark Side — 2/5
Plot: Holy ship! The “Family Guy” empire strikes back with another parody on your favorite sci-fi saga. May the laughs be with you as Luke Skywalker joins forces with Solo and Prince Leia to battle Vader and his imperial minions.
This “sequel” of sorts finds “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane and company poking fun at The Empire Strikes Back with, unfortunately enough, little success. Now, I did find certain little jokes to be funny and the scroll at the beginning is cute but it was a huge step down from Blue Harvest. I know comedy is the hardest genre to master and not every joke can hit its mark, but as someone going in with no biases (for either “Family Guy” or even Star Wars), I did expect more. I don’t know if they just rushed this out there to capitalize on the success of its predecessor but this needed a tune up.
It’s a Trap — 1/5
Plot: One again, the “Family Guy” alliance travels far, far beyond the boundaries of good taste to bring you an outrageous intergalactic journey. Join them for one last outer space adventure as Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia battle against the Evil Empire. Meanwhile, Darth Vader and the Emperor try to recruit Luke Skywalker to the dark side of the Force.
I had read some scathing reviews of this final “Family Guy” parody of the Star Wars saga but went in hoping for the best. Sadly, even the creators understood what this special was like because they said so during the opening crawl explaining that it was mostly the fault of cash-grubbing Fox for forcing them to do one more. Apparently Seth MacFarlane and the other writers have no self esteem or integrity to give it their all rather than throw crap on the screen not caring whether the jokes stuck or not.
One example of this – a ploy to pad the running time – was when Han Solo, Luke and Chewbacca are about to be pushed off the ledge and each character gives a nod to one another as a signal to set their escape plan into motion. While the initial set-up was funny, it went on… and on… and on… etc until you wanted to give up only realizing there’s still another 40-minutes left. And it only gets worse from there.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.75/5
This set comes in a slip case (similar in style and material as the Star Wars special edition box set) which houses three standard Blu-ray cases.
Blue Harvest — 3/5
Feature Commentary – The track is a packed house with Patrick Clark (recording engineer), Mike Elias (editor), David Goodman (executive producer), Joseph Lee (assistant director), Seth MacFarlane (creator), Dominic Polcino (director), Danny Smith (co-producer), Alec Sulkin (writer) and Kara Vallow (producer). The group is generally funny while still providing insights into the writing and animation of the special.
A Conversation with George (12:26) – Seth MacFarlane hosts a Q&A with George Lucas about “Blue Harvest” at Skywalker Ranch.
Once in a Lifetime: The Making of Blue Harvest (19:06) – This featurette covers why “Family Guy” decided to a Star Wars parody and how near and dear the franchise is to those on the staff and how it’s been used on the show over the years.
Animatic Version (40:49) – If you have time and interest in animation, you can watch the entire feature in animatic form and without the music.
Family Guy Star Wars Clip Show (9:36) – This feature shows all the Star Wars referenced in the show over the years (well, since this release).
Lastly is a Family Guy Promo (5:43).
Something, Something, Something Dark Side — 2.75/5
Feature Commentary – This track includes MacFarlane, Polcino, Mark Hentemann (Executive Producer), David A. Goodman (Executive Producer), Kirker Butler (Writer) and Seth Green. Like the previous one, it’s generally fun but offers some insights into the special.
Family Guy Fact-Ups – This is a standard pop-up trivia track.
The Dark Side of Poster Art (9:18; HD) is a featurette that looks at the artwork used for the “Family Guy” Star Wars special and imitating the posters for said franchise.
Animatic Scene-to-Scene (6:36; HD) looks at various different animatic scenes compared with the final version. Nothing very interesting but at least it comes with commentary by director Polcino.
Table Read – Acts 1 & 2 (49:27; HD) – This is a fun feature where you can watch the cast and crew go through the script for Something, Something, etc and features Seth Green, Mila Kunis and others.
Sneak Peek of “Family Guy – Episode VI: We Have a Bad Feeling About This” Table Read (2:26; SD) is a self-explanatory feature giving a glimpse at the cast reading for the next, god-awful, installment in the “Family Guy”/Star Wars spoof.
It’s a Trap! — 2.5/5
Feature Commentary – On this track are MacFarlane, Goodman, Cheery Chevapravatdumrong (writer), Shannon Smith (producer) and Peter Shin (supervising director). I like group commentaries but this one annoyed the hell out of me. Of course, it doesn’t help that the episode sucked.
A Very Special Message from Darth Stewie (1:26; HD) – This is a dumb extra where Darth Stewie leaves a message for Luke asking for help to make a photo slideshow. Yeah, it’s just as lame as the feature itself.
Star Wars Trivial Pursuit: The Ultimate Championship (31:29; HD) – Self explanatory featurette where four “Family Guy” writers and/or producers come together to compete in a Star Wars trivial pursuit. It’s actually not that bad, though I’m not enough of a fan to know even a third of the answers…
Drawing with Peter Shin (19:29; HD) – The supervising director gives you, the viewer, a look at his talents. Although it is a long featurette, it’s really not very interesting, though perhaps aspiring cartoonists might get something out of it.
Sock Puppet Outtakes (1:29; HD) – Do I really need to say anything? Just the outtakes for the already lame sock puppet used to mock the special edition additions.
Animatic (39:19; HD) – Now you can suffer through the select scenes animatic-style!
Making the Scene (6:14; HD) – Peter Shin returns comparing animatic scenes with the final shots and trying to emulate the movie and changes they made.
Each Blu-ray comes with a Live Extras portal (BD-Live) and a digital copy disc (the third serves as a DVD/DC combo).
VIDEO – 4.25/5
Blue Harvest — 3.75/5
The first of the “Family Guy” Star Wars specials is presented in its original 1.33 aspect ratio and while I can’t say it’s anything amazing, it’s still a good looking transfer. The colors are vibrant enough and I noticed no signs of pixilation.
Something, Something, Something Dark Side — 3.75/5
Similarly, the second installment also comes with a 1.33 original aspect ratio and looks good in HD. As with Blue Harvest, this isn’t a transfer that will make you go “wow” or anything, but certainly a modest upgrade over its DVD counterpart.
It’s a Trap — 4.5/5
Ironically enough, the worst of the three movies actually has the best of the video transfers. This special is presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and looks excellent on Blu-ray. Colors pop off the screen and the clarity, even by animation standards, is great.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
There’s not going to be much variation with the audio. Each film has been given a half decent 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio transfer. As you might expect, although there’s a lot of audio effects which probably utilize the lossless audio the most, these are dialogue centric films/specials. The sound clarity is nice on the ears, though at the same time, nothing outstanding, yet still an upgrade over the DVD versions.
If I had to rate them: Blue Harvest (4/5), Something, Something, Something Dark Side (4.25/5) and It’s a Trap (4.25/5).
OVERALL – 2.5/5
Overall, “Laugh it Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy” has its moments but I think because I’m not the biggest fan of “Family Guy”, the humor didn’t quite reach me as it would others who are fans. I did find some funny scenes and gags throughout “Blue Harvest”, a few less in “Something, Something, Something Dark Side” and even less (almost nill) in “It’s a Trap”. The audio and video for all three releases are more than acceptable and probably moderate upgrades over their DVD counterparts. Features-wise, for the most part the commentaries are fun and there are a couple featurettes that are worthwhile, otherwise it’s just a forgettable collection.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 01/26/2011