FAMILY GUY is one of those series that
don’t interest me that much even though the STARS WARS spoofs (and the multiverse episode) hold my interest. This time around, the FAMILY GUY crew follows up the first STAR WARS spoof (BLUE HARVEST) with a
spoof of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with SOMETHING, SOMETHING, SOMETHING DARK SIDE.
I do feel this spoof sometimes just recreates the moments in the film without focusing on the humor. It is like they’re in love with the film too much and forgetting to have fun with it. I do feel the guy with the bag of ice joke just falls flat. Two
of my favorite moments are the opening crawl when 20th Century Fox let the FAMILY GUY staff do (which pokes fun
on how Fox sold off the rights to Lucas) and their take on the “I love You, I Know” exchange. I do appreciate that they don’t include any Danny Elfman moments (and wonder why in the hell
they had to include a BACK TO THE FUTURE cliffhanger moment). I love them
for pointing out that Lando is wearing Han’s clothes and it’s weird. I
wonder what they will do in the next STAR WARS spoof and hopefully they will get to make fun of the prequels. My one hope is that they don’t enjoy the movie too much and forget to make fun of it at times. Also what is up with them doing the animation in 1.33:1 (Full Frame) while all
the extras are in 1.78:1 (which means the feature is window boxed for the commentary and pop-up track versions).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio commentary by Executive Producers
Seth MacFarlane, Mark Hentemann and David A Goodman, Writer Kirker Butler, Director Dominic Polcino, and Actor Seth Green. It is a solid track even though the pop-up track covers lots of the same ground.
Fun-Up Trivia track is a pop up track that
has info about Family Guy, this spoof, and the Empire Strikes Back film.
THE DARK SIDE OF POSTER ART features interviews
with the guys who did the cover art for the DVD release and the guy who painted the original poster for THE EMPIRE STRIKES
BACK. The featurette would have been better without the night vision bits from
the guy who painted the spoof cover (I just found it very annoying). Also an
animatic comparison featurette is on the disc.
Also a full table read of SOMETHING, SOMETHING,
SOMETHING DARK SIDE is included in addition to a sneak peak at the table read for FAMILY GUY- EPISODE VI: WE HAVE A BAD FEELING
ABOUT THIS
FINAL ANALYSIS: I’m not a FAMILY GUY fan, but I enjoyed this new STAR WARS spoof.
I just hope they don’t forget to make fun of it while trying to recreate the film’s big moments.
This DVD review is (c)12-31-2009
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. All Rights Reserved. The reviewer does get the irony of writing the review on Christmas since the film
takes place on Christmas Eve. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
