Family Guy
Presents: Blue Harvest
“Not
having watched
even one episode of the
series of Family Guy,
I really didn’t know what
to expect from the new
DVD Family Guy Presents:
Blue Harvest...”
THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE been watching it since
it first appeared could have told me that Family
Guy is a wildly-irreverent, shrewdly-subversive animated comedy sensation that
has been confounding the PC Police since
the millennium.
As it turned out I was delighted to discover a gem of an animated production
where all the characters fit well together — the gross Peter Griffin, his
long-suffering wife Lois and their three children (Meg, 18; Chris, 15; and two-year-old
Stewie, the world's smartest toddler and who apparently strives for world domination!)
are ably helped by a very mature, self-asured and clever dog called Brian who
can not only drive a car and baby-sit but who can also change nappies!
So far, so good. Apart, that is, from the first (thankfully brief) flush of
toilet humour. The series does, however, have some fantastic moments of hilarity
in its own right as it takes a poke at life in general. Family Guy Presents:
Blue Harvest itself is a wickedly magnificent spoof of Star Wars™
that starts with the lights going out. Without electricity, there is nothing
for it but for Peter Griffin to tell a story — his version of the intergalactic
adventure.
This DVD, from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, is an absolute must
for both Family Guy and Star Wars fans — or anyone who, like
me, loves spoofs and well-observed digs at human behaviour. The title, incidentally,
takes its name from the code name used when filming Star Wars: Episode VI
Return of the Jedi.
Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest is a parody of the Star Wars
movie that started it all — Episode IV: A New Hope. The irreverent
shenani-gans include the opening sequence with introductory information scrolling
through deep space: "A long time ago, but somehow in the future… It is a time
of civil war, and renegade paragraphs floating through space." Brilliant!
Cue for the Griffin family and a host of Quahog's finest to find them-selves
in the middle of George Lucas' beloved science-fiction epic. Feel the Farce
as Peter becomes Han Solo; Lois is the sexy Princess Leia; Stewie is less-than-scary
as a Darth Vader whose nappy-soiling dark side is revealed; Chris is Luke Skywalker
battling against 'Thai' fighters and Quagmire is C-3PO flirting with a 1980's
dot-matrix printer. Along with Brian as Chewbacca — who makes a pig's ear
of reverting to type — and Cleveland as a hip, black, R2-D2, there are
also some highly-amusing cameos from Rush Limbaugh, Chevy Chase, Beverley D'Angelo
and Helen Reddy. And watch out for Simply Red!
The Griffin clan put a freakin' sweet spin on the greatest sci-fi saga ever
told and the laughs come Full Force. Enjoy the outrageous gags and more intergalactic
satire than you can shake your light-sabre at — complete with spaced-out
droids and a fascinating 'cast'. There is also the odd gay reference, 'nappy'
humour and Obi-Wan Kenobi's wilting light-sabre!
Created by Seth MacFarlane, who was also one of the Executive Producers and
a star, Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest is written by Alec Sulkin and
Directed by Dominic Polcino. The episode also stars Alex Borstein, Seth Green,
Mila Kunis and Mike Henry and was produced at Fox Television Animation.
The many zany antics and very clever touches include a dance routine with Obi-Wan
Kenobi and a dance troupe of stormtroopers — unfor-gettable. And watch
out for the side-splitting sequence with a sofa in the middle of a shoot-out
with Lord Vader's stormtroopers. Han Solo delivers numerous razor-sharp one-liners
such as: "I'm the only one whose career isn't wrecked by the movie!" Even an
image of Tom Baker as Dr Who makes a very brief appearance!
The series contained so many references to Star Wars that generated a
positive reception that the producers ended up going to Lucasfilm
Ltd to see if they could do a complete spoof episode of Star Wars.
The result is this 'extra-ceptional' DVD — Family Guy Presents: Blue
Harvest. [We watched it four times in one week and still laughed out
loud at every screening! — Ed]
• Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest
is available on DVD from Twen-tieth Century Fox Home Entertainment from its
release date of 21 January (2008) at an RRP of £15.99 (UK) for the standard
edition and £22.99 (UK) for the special edition.
Standard Edition Special Features: More than four minutes of ex-clusive
DVD material | Animatics/Commentaries | Interviews with Seth MacFarlane and
George Lucas | Uncensored Track | Teaser of next Star Wars spoof: Something,
Something, Something Dark Side.
Special Edition Special Features: Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest
Standard Edition DVD | Collectible Packaging | 3-D Fight Scene | 3-D Glasses
| T-Shirt | Trading Cards | Exclusive Brochure.
Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest is "a dead-on homage that hilariously
picks apart Star Wars, along with much of real life" — Associated
Press
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“Not
having watched