Rating: Not Rated
Starring:
Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin
Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin
Seth Green as Chris Griffin
Mila Kunis as Meg Griffin
Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown
Special Features:
Commentary by Seth Macfarlane, Patrick Clark, Mike Elias, David Goodman, Joseph Lee, Dominic Polcino, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and Kara Vallow
A Conversation with George
Once in a Lifetime: The Making of Blue Harvest
Animatic Version
Family Guy Star Wars Clip Show
Family Guy Promo
Other Info:
Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Running Time: 48 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“In the season premiere of the offensively uproarious series’ sixth season, ‘Blue Harvest’ finds Peter, Lois, Chris, Stewie, Brian and some of Quahog’s finest in the middle of George Lucas’ beloved science-fiction epic. Feel the Farce in the most irreverent and hilarious way possible; with Han Solo (Peter) Dumpster diving for furniture; Darth Vader (Stewie) soiling his diapers; Luke (Chris) battling against ‘Thai’ fighters; and C-3PO (Quagmire) flirting with a 1980s dot-matrix printer. Featuring hysterical cameos from Rush Limbaugh, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo and Helen Reddy, ‘Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest’ is a dead-on homage that hilariously picks apart Star Wars, along with much of real life.”
“Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest” is not rated.
Mini-Review:
As a die hard “Star Wars” geek, I enjoyed this particular episode of “Family Guy.” I don’t usually watch the show, but I couldn’t resist checking out the parody. Right off the bat they start with jokes in the opening crawl as they ramble about Angelina Jolie appearing naked in “Gia.”
As the show continued, I was struck by how closely they copied the ship effects from the films. It appears they traced over the original footage of the Star Destroyer, Millennium Falcon, and other vehicles. This ends up being one of the problems with the show they frequently just copy “Star Wars” rather than parody it. This is when the show is its weakest.
That being said, there are plenty of great jokes. We see R2-D2 lean out a window of the Falcon and take shots at a TIE Fighter with a gun (held sideways). We see Luke and Han take a couch out of the Death Star trash compactor. This kind of stuff goes on and on. Then there are the more subtle jokes that only “Star Wars” fans will appreciate. They manage to parody the guy that follows the Falcon down with a target gun as it lands on Yavin. It’s the little touches like that which fans will appreciate.
My other problem with “Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest” is that it’s not appropriate for kids, but there are no real parental warnings on the packages. I mean, Obi-Wan is portrayed as a pedophile eyeing Luke throughout the episode. There are sexual jokes and drug related jokes. I can just imagine some parent walking through Wal-Mart, seeing this is a “Star Wars” parody, and buying it for their kids. Let the buyer beware.
If you’re a “Family Guy” fan or a “Star Wars” fan, this is required viewing for you if you’re older.
There is a pretty good selection of bonus features in this particular DVD edition. The highlight is “A Conversation with George” in which Seth Macfarlane interviews George Lucas. I’ve seen a lot of interviews with Lucas, but this is the most laid back I’ve ever seen him. In fact, this is the first time I recall him uttering a profanity in an interview. It’s certainly the first time an interviewer has hummed “Star Wars” music to Lucas and made him try and guess which scene from the movie it came from. (Yes, Macfarlane stumped Lucas.) Also included is a “making of” video showing all the cast extolling their love for “Star Wars” and their desire to work on this particular episode. We’re even treated to footage of Macfarlane presenting the “Family Guy” episode at “Star Wars Celebration 4.” Rounding things out is a clip show featuring all the “Star Wars” parodies from past episodes put together, a commentary, and an animatic version of the show.
