The Movie
My ire at the missed opportunities of Blue Harvest, the first attempt at a Family Guy send-up of the Star Wars movies, was forgotten within seconds of my firing up Seth McFarlane & Co.'s take on the first sequel, Something, Something, Something Dark Side. Quite simply, whereas Harvest relied too heavily on uninspired direct quotes from Star Wars and felt bloated as a result, Something shows both an appreciation for The Empire Strikes Back (which it ably lampoons) and a willingness to tell the sort of jokes that will make fans--of Luke Skywalker and Stewie Griffin--bust a shared gut.
The plot has been a matter of record for almost thirty years: The evil Empire chases the beleaguered Rebels across the galaxy, with hopes of recruiting young hero Luke Skywalker to The Dark Side of The Force. This time however, the familiar roles are played by the Griffin clan; patriarch Peter, wife Lois, children Chris, Stewie and Meg, and faithful dog Brian; along with their assorted cronies from fictional Quahog, Rhode Island. Although a direct-to-video premiere, the 55-minute running time (and occasional use of the F-word) suggests that this is an extended, uncensored cut of the show which will eventually air on Fox and Cartoon Network. But why wait, especially when this special is worth watching more than once?
The Picture
Somewhat disappointingly, Something is framed at an old-school TV 4:3, with black bars on the sides of the screen. Scenes involving spaceships are rendered via intricate digital animation laid over the original live-action movie, which leads to some mildly distracting artifacts in minute portions of the frame. Hard ringing can also appear within soft glows or fine textures. The line art is mostly sharp, and the colors are solid, although no attempt has been made to dazzle us with the range of hues. The text of the end credit scroll is also tainted by a noticeable video strobing. It's eminently watchable, just not spectacular.
The Sound
As with the Star Wars saga which spawned it, this cartoon version boasts some great surround action, as when the probe droids launch from the belly of the Star Destroyer, in addition to multiple vehicle flybys. The John Williams musical score as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra is generously incorporated, along with many of Ben Burtt's original sound effects. Dialogue is crystal-clear (Fox must allocate the good recording equipment for Family Guy these days), sometimes placed in isolated channels as characters talk off-screen. Bass is also enjoyably strong.
The Extras
The audio commentary by executive producers Seth McFarlane, Mark Hentemann and David A. Goodman, writer Kirker Butler, director Dominic Polcino and actor Seth Green is the most significant behind-the-scenes aspect of this edition, and therefore worth a listen. "Family Guy Fact-Ups" provide on-screen trivia during the program, with a sound effect each time. "The Dark Side of Poster Art" (nine minutes) is a fun and surprisingly deep study of the creation of the Empire "Style A" parody poster art re-imagined for this release.
An animatic scene-to-scene comparison, with commentary by director Polcino, displays rough, black-and-white pencil sketches and the final show side-by-side, chaptered between the different sequences (six-and-a-half minutes). Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side Table Read - Featuring Acts 1 & 2 (49-and-a-half minutes) reveals some good unused bits, and it's hard not to laugh along with the cast and crew. Recorded separately, the Sneak Peek of Family Guy - Episode VI: We Have a Bad Feeling About This Table Read (two-and-a-half minutes) whets our appetite for the Return of the Jedi satire to come. All of the video extras are in high-definition.
Disc Two is a DVD-ROM with a Digital Copy of the program for iTunes and Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
Like Robot Chicken's stop-motion foray into the Star Wars universe (and, a few cynics would say, like The Empire Strikes Back itself), the creators got it right the second time around, with less reverence and more edgy abandon. The extras are fittingly fun, and the Digital Copy means we never have to wait to watch it again... and again.
Product Details
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