Of the first 3 of 4 FUTURAMA movies, I love this one the best. The jokes are almost non-stop, the story moves much faster, and overall, this one was more like the regular episodes are/were...The spaceship demolition race was so cool, and the whole 2nd half was a blast (I never was into Dungeons and Dragons, but enjoyed all the references anyways. I liked LOTR movies, so that stuff was great too, and all the many references to other stuff, I always dig that junk!)Have watched this DVD almost every day since it came out, and still haven't gotten tired of it. It just is so darn good, and the characters are all in top form. Some of the best FUTURAMA writing, jokes, etc., for my money.To paraphrase that garbage scow driver, "If you's likes FUTURAMA's, then you's justs got-stas gets 'Bender's Game'!"

Despite raising costs of dark matter, Leela gets involved in a spaceship demolition derby, prompting the Professor to take action to help control her anger issues. Investigation into the reasons behind the rising costs of fuel (and the rising profits of Mom) leads to a terrible discovery far from Earth. Meanwhile, Bender's initial inability to take part in the kids' game of Dungeons & Dragons (due to his lack of programmed imagination), takes off big time – seeing him falling into a fantasy world of knights and witchcraft in his head and a mental institution in real life.The previous two Futurama movies were not that great, with overly busy plotting getting in the way of what the show was actually meant to be – funny and smart. Reading my plot summary here (and seeing the film synopsis in full) might suggest that Bender's Game is more of the same as we have different things going on with the characters all flowing together into a rather mad story. Much to my delight though this is not the case – and it is not because the plot isn't a bit messy, because it is. No, what makes it work here is that it is consistently funny and silly in a way that actually had me laughing. We do still have the plot working hard to make things move forward at times but even when this is happening, the film is still funny. It does this in the way the show always used to, by having lots of little side gags and lots of smart references that are imaginative and funny. The story is still very busy but, because of the amount of laughs in it, I never felt bogged down in the story or that I was getting story at the expense of laughter.It is hard to describe the differences between this and the other films in terms beyond this, but to me Bender's Game is the first film that felt like it was part of the series. It is not perfect though. The fantasy game section of the film is a little too trippy and long for its own good because it just suddenly "happens" in a way that feels like a different film and it is a while before the connection to the main plot is clear. Again though, what saves it is that you're laughing regularly during this. Even with the laughing though, 90 minutes still seems like a bit of an ask and it does feel longer than it is, reminding the viewer that Futurama always was about 20 minutes long and making the same thing work in a product about five times longer is not easy and doesn't totally work.Despite these minor qualms, Bender's Game is the Futurama film I have been waiting for and it is the first one of the three that has captured what I loved about the actual series. It is funny in the way the series used to be funny and, although the plotting is not its strongest point, the laughs cover up a surprising amount of the problems.

After two mediocre straight-to-DVD movies, here's the third of four, and it's now safe to say Futurama is a show that could have just as well stayed buried. Bender's Game isn't a disappointment because after the last two, I was expecting this to fall short of the TV series.The number of laughs in this movie are pretty low. That's because some of the jokes are just silly- for example, putting lipstick on dogs. Others are just immature, a blatant joke about something sexual or bathroom humour meant to shock or disgust, as you'd expect from Family Guy at its worst- for example, having Zoidberg say "I'm getting aroused," or the endless fecal jokes. Worse, the latter turns out to become the main plot of the movie- it's about feces. Not exactly pleasant. Then it becomes a tribute to Dungeons and Dragons- I suppose that may appeal to people who love that game, but I couldn't relate. The AV Club compared this unfavourably to Simpsons episodes where the Simpsons become Biblical or legendary characters.The part about the Demolition Derby seems pointless, the only consequence is that Leela has to wear a shock collar, which disappears when they enter the fantasy world anyway. I guess the shock collar was a little funny, but Leela being shocked when first told when it would shock her (for example, when she curses) was predictable. For that matter, so was the twist that one of Mom's sons is the Professor's son. On the plus side, Leela and Amy get naked again, this time in a shower scene, but even cartoon nudity can't save this movie.

I have watched and commented on all the movies so far and I always bang on about how cartoon comedys don't really translate to the big screen blah blah.The third offering from the franchise has managed to side step this which is why (in my humble opinion it is the best so far) it is more like two and half good episodes of Futerama messily stitched together. I thought this worked quite well, equally they could just have released them as episodes but the end result is pretty much the same. The film moves about a lot which stops you from concentrating too hard on the formulaic nature of the show and ruining it.I would have preferred the material from the films to have been put towards a new series but I love Futuerama with an unhealthy passion and am thrilled to see it back