Muppets from Space
If you’re anywhere around the same age as me (I won’t say how old) then like me, you probably grew up with the original Muppet Show. I used to tune in every weekend to catch the antics of the mad but hilarious puppets.
If you’re anywhere around the same age as me (I won’t say how old) then like me, you probably grew up with the original Muppet Show. I used to tune in every weekend to catch the antics of the mad but hilarious puppets. So when I first heard of the film ‘Muppets from Space’ I though it would be a film based on the great sketch they used to have called ‘Pigs in Space’. Unfortunately it’s nothing of the sort but I thought I would try it out anyway.
Gonzo, is feeling depressed about not knowing what he is and where he comes from. That is until he receives a message in his breakfast cereal telling him that his relatives are coming to visit and he needs to send them a sign. A secret government agency setup to protect the earth from alien invasion notices Gonzo’s sign from satellite photographs.
When he appears on Miss Piggies new talk show the government agents capture him and Rizzo the Rat and take them to their secret headquarters. It’s now up to the rest of the Muppets to rescue them and take Gonzo to finally meet his family.
The disk is double sided with a 1.85:1 Widescreen picture on the one side and a 4:3 Pan & Scan on the other. I thought that the picture quality was excellent, very sharp and bright with strong colours. A very good Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack too, with some stand out moments like the spaceship landing, Gonzo’s rooftop shock and the rat maze scene. The soundtrack is very good too with some funky music tracks. All dialogue is also very clear.
The extras on the disk include a music video 'Shining Star', some trailers for this film, ‘The Dark Crystal’, ‘The Labyrinth’ and ‘The Storyteller’, some talent files, some outtakes that are not as amusing as you might expect them to be and an audio commentary track. The commentary track is very good as it features the silhouettes of Director Tim Hall, Kermit, Gonzo and Rizzo who appear to be sat in front of the screen watching the film. Don’t expect an informative background into the film here as the commentary is pretty much 88 minutes of jokes and gags, very amusing though.
I’ve seen quite a few reviews of this film that really bring it down for not being as funny or enjoyable as previous Muppet movies. I have to go against the grain here and say that I really enjoyed it. While I agree that it certainly isn’t the best one, it’s still a highly enjoyable one and a half hours with some great gags.
There’s several film spoofs in here including ‘Close Encounters’, ‘Men in Black’, ‘Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Independence Day’. As usual for the Muppets there’s also plenty of cameos including David Arquette, Andie McDowell and Hollywood Hogan.
An enjoyable film that comes on a very good disk packed with some good extras, a great picture and a well-mastered soundtrack. A well deserved 4 out of 5.
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