Customer Reviews

Family Guy - Blue Harvest [UMD for PSP]

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

As already being a fan of the Star Wars Legacy and Family Guy, I was excited when I saw the commercials for the Family Guy Star Wars Special. I knew this was different then just the regular episodes, and like so many others, I tuned in and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the storyline similar and different to the actual movies, it also had its own subtleties that made it unique to the way only Family Guy could do it. The movie is based on "A New Hope" (the one that came out in 1977), launching a generation of Star Wars loyalists. Everyone gets a part, and I love Stewie as Darth. It was a perfect fit as he tries yet again to conquer the world.

You can get either the regular DVD or the special edition pack. I am not really sure what's in the regular DVD, but I just bought the special edition at a store today and you get everything. Obviously, the biggest reason you would get the special edition version is because of the shirt. I love it. The details and colors are amazing. What's funny is, it looks like C-3PO/Quagmire is asking R2-D2/Cleveland about his sister's lesbot.

Additional goodies that you get are the baseball style cards, where one side you can put together and its a jigsaw puzzle (I wont spoil it for you), the 3-D glasses so you can watch the fight scene in 3-D. The 19 page booklet is included with sketches and storyboard. Another great feature is that Disc 2 includes the movie where you can transfer it to computer, video iPod, iPhone, and other portable media players. What that means is you can watch the movie on your iPhone, Zune, etc. The final piece is the box. Its actually a great finish piece that puts everything into place neatly and you can even use it as a centerpiece display to show off.

It's worth it. I don't think it's a rip-off like other people claim. You get a lot for 25 dollars, and I am happy and I know that this is something I will enjoy for a really long time. Freakin' Sweet.

As is stated repeatedly on the Commentary Track, there was no Rotoscoping of the original film by the Family Guy artist team. They hand-drew or computer-generated everything themselves, though you would SWEAR they painted over cells of the original film! The artwork of the Millennium Falcon and the Imperial Star Destroyers (is that one word or two?)as they fly through space is just too good to be believed.

As for the jokes, not all are slam-dunks but there are far more hits than misses. The only segment that brought things to a screeching halt was the "Dirty Dancing" musical number.

There are a few clever jokes that poke fun at the original movie's lapses in logic. The ending is a bit abrupt, but maybe we can chalk that up to the fact that FG already did the Throne Room Medal Ceremony scene (the final scene in "Star Wars") in an earlier episode of the TV series. They already used up the best ending.

I bought the collector's edition. The bonus goodies are kinda neat so long as you buy the thing at a sale price.

The collector's edition includes a pair of 3-D glasses to watch a 3-D bonus segment following the escape from the Death Star, but the effect doesn't really work that well.

The set also includes a second disc that lets you download the entire episode to your PC or iPod. I don't know if that is exclusive to the Collector's edition or if it comes with the standard edition too.

Collector's edition comes with a T-shirt too, but being a man of Peter Griffin-esque girth, it simply ain't gonna fit me.

As both a die-hard Family Guy and Star Wars fan, I was thrilled when I heard about this double episode, and really enjoyed it when it aired on FOX. I taped it while watching, but have since lost that copy so am glad they were so quick to release it on DVD.

If you just want the this for the epsisode alone, then I suggest buying Family Guy - Blue Harvest -- the bare bones DVD. Granted, the price is still a bit steep for just 2 episodes, but to be fair they pack it with a ton of special features and a a bonus disc with a "portable digital copy of Blue Harvest" that's compatible with iTunes & Windows Media Players.

But with the Special Edition, you get much more, and as a collector and fan, that is what really appeals to me. Just read the Product Description for the full list. As for the actual show, fans of either franchise will probably find a lot to like. Though it is a spoof, it remains very faithful to the original Episode IV in many respects. The humor was great, though the some of the parts dragged a little. The couch in the trash compactor bit was funny, but it seemed to go on bit long. The musical numbers didn't add much for me, and I was not overly thrilled at the use of the old pedefile as Obi Wan. It seem innapropriate somehow. For those little niggles I dropped a star.

Overall though, a fun and worthwhile package for Star Wars and Family Guy fans everywhere!
Just one other niggle -- Amazon dropped the price to just below $25 so it does not qualify for Super Saver Shipping. Not cool guys.

"Blue Harvest" is Family Guy at its worst. First, it's not as much a parody of Star Wars as it is a parody of other things, like "Airplane", "The Breakfast Club", and "National Lampoon's Vacation" just to name a few. Sure, all the main characters in Star Wars are replaced by the Griffins, but most of the jokes aren't about Star Wars. All of the gags could've been reused in any other Family Guy parody, but, of course, that's how Family Guy always is. Chris was right - the Robot Chicken Star Wars parody is much better than this.

Seth McFarlane is, clearly, a geek. I for one am quite happy about this. What other TV show is there with so many hilarious references to things like "Speed Racer", "Star Trek" and, of course, "Star Wars"?

According to the commentary on this DVD, the show did so many SW spoofs they were told by the Legal Department they needed to knock it off or Lucasfilm might have grounds for action against them. Rather than stop, McFarlane and friends went to George Lucas and got permission to do a full hour-long episode.

The result? "Blue Harvest".

Not only is this a hilarious "Star Wars" spoof, but we also get references to things like "American Dad", "Airplane!", "Doctor Who", "Robot Chicken", the Wilhelm Scream, the pointless contents of gift-baskets and why repairing a Y-wing engine can be risky.

There's some dead-on parody of various elements in SW, like the illogic of stormtroopers noticing that a door is locked and ignoring it, and the fact that parsecs are a measurement of distance not time. On the plus side, Han/Peter DOES shoot first, so there ya go.

Really my only real criticism of the episode is that it is, if anything, too short. But what there is of it is really good.

This collector's edition DVD set is really nice. In addition to the episode (with footage not shown on TV), you get tons of extras, including commentary and a fun interview with George Lucas! Plus, hey, trading cards and a t-shirt. The shirt is, of course, XL. Never it let it be said they don't know their fan-base.

If you like "Family Guy" and "Star Wars", buy this. If you don't, you'll sink into a cesspit of self-loathing and hatred that you'll never work your way out of... well, ok, possibly not. But you will miss out on something very entertaining, and that's bad enough!

I'll keep this as brief as possible. Family Guy: Blue Harvest will be a major dissapointment to all but die hard Family Guy and Star Wars fans, of which I am both. But even with that said, I was still not very happy about this. Excluding the first season, I would say that this episode (and let's not kid ourselves here, it's not a movie, it's an episode) ranks in the least funny. With so many chances for good gags, I was constantly surprised at the lame jokes that the writers chose to make. I would say that the funniest bits were during the intro and outro segments with the family sitting on the couch. It's true that the animation here is top-notch, and they did an incredible job of matching scenes from the original film but, frankly, if I want to see those scenes played out with that kind of detail, I'll just watch the original, thanks. All that being said, if you are a compulsive collector of DVDs as I am, this is the only way you will own this episode (those that say they are waiting for this episode to be released with the regular season set are kidding themselves).

Regarding the Digital Copy included with the DVD version; completely useless. It can only be used a single time, and if you don't make use of it within 12 months of the episode's release, your right to use it basically becomes invalid. Plus, according to the reading I did from the disc's faq, it's non-transferable, so once you have it on your computer (or ipod or whatever) it can't be copied over or re-installed if you get a new system (I may not be 100% on all of this, but this is how it works as best as I could figure it...reading terms of use agreements makes my eyes cross). With these kinds of limitations, why include a digital copy at all? Better to have skipped it and lowered the overall price of this DVD.

Family Guy's homage to Star Wars is hilarious. The FG character's slip easily into their SW personas while still keeping their original personalities. Stewie is a natural choice as Darth Vader. Some of the others, like Chris as Luke and Peter as Han Solo, seem odd at first, but the writers do such a good job you buy into it. The whole episode has a deep, rich look to it. They follow the story with exactness using the original dialog whenever possible. They've copied every detail to pull you into the Star Wars universe.

Some of the jokes are pure Family Guy, like when Luke is staring out at the twin suns of Tatooine and the music swells, Chris/Luke turns and says "John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra everybody" and there they are playing the score. The Chris/Luke has them play the theme to the People's Court. Other jokes are based on observations I never would have made. On board the Millenium Falcon, when Luke/Chris says to Peter/Han "You don't believe in the force, do you?", Han/Peter replies, "You mean that thing you just found out about 3 hours ago and are now judging me on?"

Blue Harvest is a very funny, very well made episode and I'm glad to hear they are going to do the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Every once in awhile I see people complaining that Family Guy is gouging their fans. You see reviews whining about seasons being cut in half and how the Stewie special is really just three episodes put together, but none of that ever bothered me because I enjoyed the show. Sure, it's lazy a lot of the time just like the South Park guys pointed out in the Cartoon Wars episodes, but I still enjoy the show. And I always look forward to seeing a new episode on TV or a new DVD coming out.

This was no exception. And keep in mind, I've been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid. So, today I bought the Blue Harvest special edition.

It has a couple of decent extra items. A book on the art of making the movie, cards, 3-D glasses, a shirt... nothing amazing, but okay stuff.

In retrospect, I wish it had come with a rape whistle so that I might have alerted others to the fact that I was buying this hackneyed phoned-in garbage and gotten help instead of having to spend the night curled up in a ball at the bottom of my shower whimpering, "they didn't even try to be funny. They just remade the movie with their characters, threw in a couple of gags, and thought that was enough. That wasn't a spoof. That was garbage. Spaceballs is a spoof. This was... this was just garbage. I was raped by garbage. I was raped by garbage. I was raped by garbage..." until I finally turn grey, slowly break into ash, and then am washed down the drain into the sewer lines where I can finally feel clean again.

Trey, Matt... you guys were right.

I knew you were right then, I just didn't really listen. And you're right, it's not rape if you give consent. And I guess I did. I have no one to blame but myself, and the horrible, horrible jerks who thought this should have been released anywhere other than YouTube.

I'm about as die-hard of a Family Guy fan there is, and I really looked forward to this episode, but after watching it, I was overall disappointed at best. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some seriously funny scenes - the best by far being Peter and Brian moving the couch out of the garbage and onto the Falcon... that was all sorts of awesome and probably worth the price of the whole DVD. Aside from that though, the jokes really didn't live up to the hype that the show created. I kept waiting for the next awesome "like that one time" scene but compared to the average Season 5 episode, there's no comparison.

As much as I love Family Guy, I hate FOX with a deep passion. Not only do they have no respect for Seth McFarlane having canceled this show already how many times now, but they just want to milk every dime out of its fan base. There's no reason why they should be splitting seasons in half and charging the same price, let alone glorifying this one "slightly longer" episode like its the best thing ever in an attempt to make more money.

This episode should be included with the rest of the season episodes - I don't recommend buying it unless you're a true collector, and I REALLY don't recommend buying it for someone you know who's a Family Guy fan unless they already own the other DVD's.

This film is on par with the standard set by the Family Guy TV series - funny, a pile of in-jokes and references to other well known movies and TV shows, and all in all is quite entertaining.

However, it is really just another episode (or double episode) of the TV series, rather than a stand-alone film.

The price I paid for it, AUD$29, was, in hindsight, obscene for what I got, and I would hazard to say that this film should have simply been included in any boxset from the season it was part of. I wouldn't consider it a worthy purchase, on it's own, for anything more than US$5.