Jon Peters Reviews: “Robot Chicken: Star Wars DVD”

Sometimes you have to take a step back to actually realize how influential ‘Star Wars’ has been. It’s too easy to say how popular ‘Star Wars’ is and not knowing how deep rooted this universe is. I was driving by a Fatburger last week and saw the 501st Storm troopers Legion out greeting kids. You can’t attend a sporting event without hearing John Williams memorable ‘Imperial March’ theme. It’s in our blood.

But as the prequels came and went, it also proved that the holy trilogy can be ripe for spoofing. Recent X-Games commercials on ESPN use a Darth Vader-like villain in the ads; ‘Family Guy’ recently released ‘Blue Harvest’, a spoof using their humor, and now so has Adult Swim’s ‘Robot Chicken’.

Using their show’s template, they mine the six films for material; some silly, some obvious, some original, but all pretty funny. I do think most ’star Wars’ fans or people looking for a good natured laugh will enjoy this. But the style of ‘Robot Chicken’, you must enjoy. It’s essentially a sketch comedy show, using stop-motion animated toys, with some skits lasting seconds, other some odd minutes, all wrapped up in 11 minutes. Here, they expand the show to 23 minutes, helping themselves explore all possible comedic situations.

Some of the funnier bits are the ‘Yo Momma!’ dissing contest between Luke and the Emperor, the Orientation Video on how employees on the Death Star handle Vader’s use of the Force to choke them, the reoccurring gag of people falling and the union member wishing for a better job, or the untold story of the alien who lost his arm in Mos Eisley thanks to Obi Wan. They mine every element form the series, like those huge worm things in ‘Empire’ where the Millennium Falcon escapes its mouth, or Jar Jar from Episode I, nothing’s left untouched or sacred. As if the film’s ick factor from a possible Luke and Leia relationship wasn’t odd enough for you, look for their exclamation point to it. Give Seth Green and the writers a lot of credit; what could’ve been a side thing became a hilarious effort for fans of Adult Swim and The Trilogy.

DVD:

Audio/Video: The transfer is as good as it was broadcasted, although the image is letterboxed on all sides, annoyingly for those with 16X9 TVs. The audio is crisp and clear too.

‘Chicken Nuggets’: This feature allows an icon to pop up and once selected, you can view a video commentary from the team.

‘Animation Meeting’: This pointless extra has Seth Green re-enacting scenes and dialogue from the film. Skip.

‘On Air Bumps’: Features some unrealized ideas with introductions. Sadly, it’s unfunny.

‘Deleted Scenes’: Using story boards, we see some material that was left un-filmed. Only one good bit, but worth a peek.
‘Alternate Audio’: These features audio improvised by the voice actors just playing around with some scenes, hoping to come up with some gold.

‘Time Lapse’: This is more for the fans of stop-motion animation as it shows the tedious work develop across time lapse. Decent watch for the technique.

‘Panel Discussion’: This is perhaps the best extra, as the team is on stage answering questions about ‘Robot Chicken’ and ‘Star Wars’. Funny and worth watching.

‘Trailers, Photo Gallery, and Behind the Scenes’: Your standard extras. You know what you’re getting into.

The episode is hilarious. If you’re a fan of the show or ‘Star Wars’, it’s worth the price. There are plenty of extras, but unfortunately there not as good as promised. I was expecting more and was disappointed, but I won’t let that ruin this recommendation.