DVD Review:

Family Guy: Blue Harvest

Movie

Let me start off this review by saying, that I am not a big Family Guy fan, but after watching this DVD maybe I should be.  From what I can gather from the extras included on this disc, is that in many episodes of Family Guy there were short parodies of Star Wars.  One day someone said let’s do a whole episode based on Star Wars.  So that is what Blue Harvest is all about.  The reason I had heard about this DVD release was that it was going to be the first release from Fox with an Itunes compatible version of the movie.  I thought that was a great idea because that would eliminate a step as far as getting it on to my Ipod.  I must say I loved this episode.  I thought it was fantastic.  There were so many instances that I found incredibly funny.  When Princess Leia tries to send Obi-Wan a message via R2-D2, I found there take on it to be genius.  There are many other gags, like when Han Solo and Chewbacca try to get a couch on the Millennium Falcon in the middle of a fire fight.  If you’re a fan of Star Wars, this is well worth picking up!  I enjoyed it and it makes me want to check out more of the show.

8.5 out of 10

Video

I thought the quality of the video was solid.  The colours were bright and vivid.  It really brings out all the impressive computer animation that was used.  To me it looked slightly better than what the show looks like.  Whenever I review cartoons it’s really hard to critique it.  But I would say that the transfer accomplishes what it should and brings the Star Wars parody to life.

8 out of 10

Audio

For this DVD you get a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack, which is an upgrade for the show.  The show relies heavily on the score from Star Wars by John Williams.  But in my opinion that is where it excels.  Having that music really makes you feel like you’re watching Star Wars.  The only issue I had was there was not a lot of happening in the subwoofer department.

7 out of 10

Extras

The main extra of the set is a feature-length commentary.  I personally like commentaries on shows like this because they not 2 hours in length.  This is a friendly chat with some information about this episode in the commentary.  But since this was an episode the whole crew wanted to make they had a lot to talk about.  It’s definitely worth a listen.

Next up is a conversation with George.  I thought this was interesting because it was very candid and Seth asks him some funny questions.  There is also a making of which is 19 minutes long and is interesting to watch.  Additionally,  there are some animatics and a promo for the show.  The best part for me has to be the Itunes compatible version of the show.  What a great idea and I hope Fox continues this tradition.

7 out of 10

Overall

I really enjoyed this set, but I think I might be a little put off that this is more of a cash grab than anything.  But I think if you’re a fan of the show and you’re a Star Wars fan you will definitely find it fun.

Highly Recommended.