The third of a series of four planned Futurama spin-off TV movies, Bender???s Game follows Bender???s Big Score and Beast With A Billion Backs, and comfortably sits alongside them. It???s good, and it???s sometimes very funny, but is unlikely still to be regarded as vintage Futurama.

The plot of Bender???s Game takes the regulars on a mission that soon sees them in a strange land, which bears a striking resemblance to something out of Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings. This isn???t, as you???d expect, the safest place to be, and thus the scene is set for lots of genre gags that are, at their finest, hard to resist.

On the downside, the pacing is a little off this time round, and it takes Bender???s Game some time to hit its stride. The quest part of the movie doesn???t kick into until well over half the running time is up, and while there???s real ambition in the narrative, it does demand some patience.

But still, even if this isn???t top notch Futurama, it still packs in plenty of belly laughs, and squeezes more entertainment into 84 minutes than many movies get close to in two hours. You still yearn for the tightness of the TV show format, but the quality of the writing just about drags Bender???s Game through, leaving us thirsting for the fourth, and potentially final, movie. --Jon Foster

more from futurama, the science fiction cartoon from the people who brought you the simpsons. Like the last two releases beast with a billion backs and bender's big score this is four episodes edited together into one long film of roughly eighty five minutes, with one long story running throughout.

this story is a lord of the rings parody heavily influenced by the role playing game dungeons and dragons. but more on that in a moment.

the disc contains the film itself, with direct scene access.

a language track in english

subtitles in english danish finnish norwegian and swedish

and the following extras, most of which are rather short, but there is some fun stuff amongst them:

a commentary from some of the cast and the production staff

a storyboard animatic: this is the first of the four parts in rough drawing form, complete with the soundtrack but with no music [and a certain guest voice actor clearly hadnt recorded their part at the time when this was done]. it's quite fascinating to watch if you wonder how the animation process is done

the futurama genetics lab: this allows you to merge pictures together of certain futurama characters and seeing what the resulting merges look like and would be called. it's quite fun.

a dungeons and dragons and futurama featurette: a short film with some of the writers reminiscing about their youth playing the role playing game dungeons and dragons. this is played with laughs with one participant not being interested in the game at all and reacting badly because of that, so it's quite an amusing watch

as is: how to draw futurama in 83 easy steps: a feature that shows you how to draw some of the characters. the artists involved do clown around a fair amount whilst doing the drawing, so even if you're hopeless at art you should get some fun from it

3d models with animator discussion: this shows the designs of some of the spaceships used in the feature. it's short but quite interesting.

there's a single two minute long deleted scene from the feature. it's quite good.

blooperama three is a short film of the voice cast at work, making a few mistakes along the way. if you wonder what they look like and how they work then this is good viewing.

into the wild green yonder is a trailer for the next futurama dvd. it's a collection of funny scenes but it gives no indication as to what the plot is.

but the best extra here is benders anti piracy warning, a short film that parodies the anti dvd piracy ads seen at the start of dvds. this stars bender, and since the advert says 'you wouldn't steal...' it doesnt quite work on him. this is incredibly funny and has to be watched.

for a couple of easter eggs watch this on a computer, and when on the third extras screen move the pointer around the screen right next to the list of extras, and click on two of the symbols there. the first will show more film of the voice cast at work, and the second is another dungeons and dragons feature.

the feature itself?

with fuel prices rising across the galaxy, planet express have to take the fight to mom, evil fuel tycoon, to get what they need. at the same time bender gets a little too hooked on playing dungeons and dragons and - this parodies 1980's newspaper scare stories about people hooked on the game and unable to tell fantasy from reality as a result - he goes rather crazy. that's the plot for the first two parts. the next two have the characters, as a result of what happens in parts one and two, thrust into another dimension where life is like the lord of the rings crossed with dungeons and dragons, and having to battle the evil ruler of that world.

the big question of course is: is it funny?

and with these films the answer seems to be a matter of subjective opinion. personally I didn't find it quite as funny as the beast with a billion backs, and the pacing is a little slow at times, but the gags do still come thick and fast enough to make it generally worthwhile.

In my opinion, at any rate. but that's what the dvd is like a whole. so why not make up your own mind? hopefully this review will guide you in doing such.

parents be advised that this is a twelve certificate, because there's the occasional bit of innuendo and some cartoon violence and gore

The first 4 seasons of Futurama are masterpieces, with originality, plently of wit with a dash of adult humour, good to amazing storylines and most importantly structure. Bender's Game is a far cry from the old Matt Groening magic to put it politely. Infact I couldn't be bothered to watch the last 20 minutes and I couldn't tell you what happened in beginning as it was that unmemorable. Bender's Big Score was decent enough thanks to its classic Futurama plot but since then it all seems to have gone downhill, which is a real shame.

Better than the first two but still dissapointing, if your a die hard fan and have got the series on dvd you are going to buy this anyway, i did, good to know that they are improving, by the seventh film they should be excellent again, but unfortunatly, or should that be fortunatly, they are only making one more.

It was very entertaining and i could easily watch it again. Why are people giving 1star just be happy you got new futurama, looking forward to the next installment now.

Whats to say? You either like the Futurama take on other peoples plots or you don't. I wasn't keen on Benders Big Score because it seemed overloaded and time travel paradox plots get complicated. The Beast with a Billion Backs was better, more understandable. This one hits the spot for me with the LOTR parody added to the generic Dungeons and Dragon world... albeit Bender's mania makes me think of the TV anti D&D rant "Myths and Monsters"
With Leela as a sexy centaur (and Uni acting as an equine dart) whats not to like? As usual the main plot device is a product of Prof Farnsworths fractured mind, but the whole film fits together beautifully in my opinion.
Question: what are they going to use for fuel now?