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This was a one-hour special that aired on Fox that featured a Family Guy full episode spoof of Star Wars: A New Hope. It won’t be on the regular season sets and they released it as a loaded DVD collection, which is what he have here.
The Main Characters
You should know the characters already, and since this is a Star Wars episode, I will tell you who each character represented. Peter and Brian are the stars, so they represent two of the favorite characters, Han Solo and Chewbacca. Peter takes a star turn as Luke Skywalker and Lois plays Leia. Meg is the least favorite so she is the sea urchin that resides in the Death Star garbage disposal. Stewie, since he’s evil, is Darth Vader. Minor characters like Quagmire and Cleveland appear (as C-3PO and R2-D2) and Herbert is Obi-Wan. That’s pretty much all of them. Joe is still disabled as a Rebel here, and other very minor characters appear.
The Setting
Quahog, Rhode Island, or space in this case.
Main Program (47:32)
The power goes out in the Griffin household which allows Peter time to tell a story. He starts relating a tale that is eerily similar to a George Lucas movie from 1978. Yes, it is Family Guy’s take on Star Wars. If you know the story of Star Wars you will know what happens here. Darth Vader kidnaps Princess Leia and they destroy her planet with a huge floating space station called the Death Star. She sends out for Obi-Wan Kenobi and the message is intercepted by young Luke Skywalker. So the story has Luke meeting with Obi-Wan, bounty hunter Han Solo and his animal friend, Chewbacca, as they embark on a mission to destroy the Death Star, save Leia and defeat the Empire and Darth Vader.
Episode Review
When the episode first debuted on TV, I quickly proclaimed it the greatest episode ever of Family Guy. I have watched this no less than ten times since then and my opinion hasn’t wavered. I was never a huge Star Wars fan (especially of the most recent three episodes) but I am familiar with the original trilogy and this is one of the best homages to Star Wars, complete with all the regular Family Guy wackiness and pop culture references (like Breakfast Club, National Lampoon’s Vacation) and is really well-written, making fun of Star Wars where necessary, but never forgetting to pay tribute to the original source. Stewie steals the show as Darth Vader (especially the part upon hearing of the Death Star’s weakness) and Peter as Han Solo is as penisy as the original. This was just a hoot to watch. Star Wars fans will love it, Family Guy fans will love it and those who love both will simply adore it. The Robot Chicken discussion at the end catapulted this episode from great to cult status area.
DVD Features
A) Extras
1) Feature Commentary
The commentary was recorded by Seth MacFarlane, Patrick Clark, Mike Elias, David Goodman, Joseph Lee, Dominic Polcino, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and Kara Vallow. Seth says they did so many Star Wars gags on the show that the legal department told them they need to check with Lucasfilm to prevent them from getting sued. So they went there and the Lucasfilm people were cool about it and they started doing a whole episode of it. They joke about the hat R2-D2 is wearing before someone says it is a doo-rag. One of the guys mentions meeting Derek Sanderson, a great Boston Bruins player. They joke about the special effects of the original Star Wars and how it was mimicked for this DVD. They talk about the famed Wilhelm scream, and the inside joke to Robot Chicken. This was a quick commentary to go through, as they kept it interesting with just a few gaps of silence.
2) A Conversation with George (12:26)
The George here is none other than George Lucas, director and creator of Star Wars. Seth interviewed George. Seth is very proud to be interviewing George and is actually humbled by it. The first question Seth had was why they were so nice and allowed them to spoof the episode and George says he, as a director, was never competitive with his friends. George says sometimes he watches them either on TV and loves watches the movies he has made, whether it is Star Wars or not. George also mentions he has a TiVo full of Family Guy and George jokes that Seth needs to rebuy the DVD’s. George says he doesn’t know the movies line for line like all the fans do (showing he has other interests). George says he is working on the Clone Wars TV show. Seth asks what George does in his downtime and George says, “I have three kids.” George says the movies that he remembered were Bridge Over the River’s Kwai, Dr. Strangeglove and Hard Days Night (a personal favorite of mine). George says he has ideas for movies he wants to see and in the worst situation he has to direct them, but in the best situation, Spielburg directs it. George got hooked up to John Williams (who he calls Johnny) through Spielburg himself. George talks about the suns in THX-1138 and Star Wars and gives a surprisingly deep answer. George says he doesn’t watch TV, except Family Guy and that he wants to be remembered for raising his kids. This was a really good interview that I wish was longer.
3) Once In A Lifetime: The Making of Blue Harvest (19:06)
The writers are huge fans of Star Wars, as illustrated by the many references in the show, as well as art by the artists in the series. They talk about the origins of the episode (which is heard in the commentary). So the idea is set, and the feature moves from the different pieces of the puzzle, from the storyboard, to the directing, etc. An original idea was Quagmire as Solo, which Seth said would work better with Peter. This is just a nice look at how the episode evolved and how much work went into it. The level of passion from those working with it is really cool. They talk about how Blue Harvest got its name (it was the fake name for Return of the Jedi) and how it won’t make sense since they are doing the sequels now, too. They show footage of bringing the clips to a Star Wars convention and getting a great response.
4) Animatic Version (40:48)
This is the animatic version, which, for those who haven’t read any of my reviews, is basically the rough animation draft. It is still frames of all the different scenes, with no color and just line work. There are some jokes here that wasn’t included in the original. There is no background orchestration, just the recorded voices of the main actors. I love watching these to see how the episodes transforms from rough pencil to final product.
5) Family Guy Star Wars Clip Show (9:36)
This is a collection of all the times in the series when Family Guy spoofed Star Wars. They are shown chronologically and a true fan will tell you exactly which episode they were from. I am a huge fan and even though I know off the top of my head which episodes they are from, I will just watch and enjoy it. It is amazing to see how many times they spoofed Star Wars (almost half an episodes worth!). There were some misses but more hits and so it was a fun waste of 10 minutes. Some of the references are reaching a bit, while some are pretty outright.
6) 3D Blue Harvest Scene (2:05)
This is a 3D scene (the box set came with 3D glasses) of Peter and Chris blasting TIE fighters in the Millenium Falcon. I didn’t open the 3D glasses but I bet it looked cool.
7) Family Guy Promo (0:47)
This is a promo for Family Guy showing some scenes of the gang (Peter causing Meg to vomit after farting on her) and says you need Fox Sunday to see the new episodes. They used good clips.
B) Audio/Video
The audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround and the video is shown in fullscreen 1.33:1. The video looks very nice, a huge improvement over earlier DVD releases of the series. The sound is an improvement, too.
C) Liner Notes/ Packaging
There is a one-page sheet promoting exclusive art from the Blue Harvest special on one side and a promo for new episodes on Fox. There is a second sheet with instructions on how to transfer the second disc (the digital copy) to your PC or MAC. If I had an Ipod with video feature, it would be on there.
D) Easter Eggs
1) Table Reading (2:37)
From the main menu go to Options. Highlight “Resume Episode” then press left to highlight the lightning bolts. Press enter to get short clips of a table read by the Family Guy cast. I don’t know what episodes these are from to be honest with you. It was fun to hear, though. It appears to be deleted dialogue from this feature that never made it to the animatic step. Some of the jokes were funny. Wait, maybe this is for the, “The Emperor Strikes Back?” Yeah, Hoth is mentioned, definitely the fifth episode.
2) To Be Continued (0:21)
From the main menu go to Features. Highlight, “Family Guy Promo,” then press left to highlight bubbles in the water. Press enter to get a To Be Continued tag in “Something Something Something Dark Side,” with the chicken at the end. I do hope they plan a sequel.
Overall Review
The DVD set is just incredible. Of course I went all out and bought the super-collectors edition with the T-Shirt, the cards, the 3D sunglasses and so on but the real great thing about this collection is the DVD. The feature is still one of the best episodes in Family Guy history, the extras were above and beyond what usually is on these disc (an animatic of the full episode, two great featurettes, and a commentary). You don’t need the big special edition one but pick up the regular set and you will not be disappointed. Just a fantastic set, the best single DVD set Family Guy has released. Bring on the sequel!
Overall Rating
10.0
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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