Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Good computer animation, great parody, comedy
Likes: Sci-fi
Dislikes:
Hates: Lame jokes, sex for sex's sake

The Story So Far...
A far-space adventure comedy like "Futurama," "Tripping the Rift" aired on the Sci-Fi Network for two seasons, following the scummy Chode, sex-slave robot Six of Nine, and Chode's motley crew as they jet across the universe and battle evil clown Darph Bobo and his intergalactic gang of bad guys. The show blended adult humor and social commentary to create a fun series for sci-fi fans and those who like to ogle sex robots. Season sets of DVDs from the first two runs were released in October of 2005 and April of 2006, and DVDTalk has reviews of both: Season One | Season Two.

The Movie
I like to think I pay pretty good attention to popular culture, but I had no idea that "Tripping the Rift" made it to a third season (though truthfully, I probably stopped caring after Season One.) Part of the problem is, the show's third arc hasn't made it to American airwaves, which makes it hard to see down here in the lower 48. Because the series hasn't been seen in the U.S., it wasn't hard for the creators of this DVD to package up a handful of episodes, slap on some bridge material and call it a movie. Hey, it worked for "Family Guy," though in that case the episodes were meant to go together, which is certainly not the case here.

Instead, four shows from the third series are soldered together by taking the episode "Chode Eraser," which features a Terminator-like Bobo robot traveling back in time to prevent Chode (Steven Root) from knocking up Darph Bobo's daughter Babbette, and threading it in and out of three other episodes. To say this results in a disjointed storyline is an understatement, as characters seem to pop in out of nowhere, and the entire overarching storyline gets twisted abruptly, with the appearance of a character previously unseen in the "film." The main problem with the film is the theme of the three episodes chosen, which are parodies of other shows and films. As such, the stories and jokes don't resonate outside of their settings and therefore can't connect.

On their own, they actually aren't bad, with a Frankenstein parody, a "Desperate Housewives" episode, an Indiana Jones (or possibly Goonies)-style adventure and a T2 story, though the older gags travel rather well-worn paths, especially the T2 and Frankenstein segments, which are the most obvious and the most over-done, thanks to the hundreds of parodies that have come before. Unfortunately, the Terminator concept is the bit they built the whole film around, which takes some of the bite out of the venture. The Desperate Housewives episode, which can best be summed up by saying "Boobs, boobs, boobs," fits best with the show's sense of humor and tone, mainly because of the boobs. We're not trying to reach new heights here.

Putting the emphasis on parody and references to popular culture, the movie lacks the cleverness and topicality that was the strength of the series' prior seasons, reducing the need for the characterization that was fun previously. As a result, having Jenny McCarthy as the new voice of Six was a waste, as she barely did anything. In fact, the film is more like a buddy film between Chode and Gus (Maurice Lamarche), with everyone else taking a seat far in the back of the comedy bus (though at 75 minutes, it's a rather short bus.) It's also once again a falsely advertised bus, as labels like "Unrated" and "Gratuitous Nudity" are all but meaningless. The only thing uncensored is a bunch of cursing, and the briefest of brief long-distance rear nudity. No one should be looking to a computer-animated comedy series fortitillation , but when you actually have the opportunity for nudity, like say, a strip club, and you have big white bars that say "CENSORED!," you're going to annoy or disappoint viewers. But then, that's one thing this disc does well.

The DVD
A one-disc affair, the DVD is packaged in a standard keepcase, with a pretty holofoil slipcover (which repeats the cover art) and a four-page insert featuring a letter from Chode and a chapter list. The DVD has a static, anamorphic widescreen main menu, with options to watch the film, select scenes, adjust the audio and check out the extras. Audio options include English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks, while there is closed captioning, though no subtitles.

The Quality
The anamorphic widescreen transfer on this "film" looks rather nice, though obviously not up to the quality of a Pixar production. The computer animation is well-detailed and brightly colored, but there's a lack of texture in places (mostly furniture and background), giving it a plastic look, while other elements come off as flat. Overall, for the production level, the video is solid, especially in the well-rendered black-and-white segment, and there's no noticeable dirt, damage or digital artifacts in the image, though the Desperate Housewives parody comes off as soft in spots (which may be a reference to a series I will never watch.)

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is surprisingly strong for what is essentially a stitched-together collection of TV episodes, with a number of scenes employing the surround speakers to put the viewer in the middle of the aural action. For the most part, the show is dialogue-first, and the soundtrack handles that smoothly, delivering distortion-free voices and clean special effects, with properseparation between the characters and the music.

The Extras
Just two extras available on this one, starting with the seven-minute "Captain's Log: The Making of Tripping the Rift: The Movie" Can't say the title fits too well, as several time reference is made to the show's third season, not a movie production, but either way, you get to hear from McCarthy, Root, Lamarche and Melendez, and see them in the recording booth. It's EPK all the way, and is as fluffy as you may expect, though it's fun to hear from Root and Lamarche.

The trailer is just a thrown-together reel of clips from the movie trying to explain the so-called plot, but it comes across as almost insulting in laying out each part of the story. The insert's letter from Chode is amusing, but without Root to read it, it doesn't have the same laugh quotient.

The Bottom Line
Why a movie instead of a third-season collection? Why not a best-of collection? Why not nothing? Was the demand so high for a season that didn't air in America, that we couldn't just wait for a complete release? Whatever the reason may be that we have this odd invention, it resulted in a half-baked excuse for an adventure that isn't all that funny, lacks the smarts of the first season and doesn't follow through on the unrated promises likely to draw in the series' fans. The DVD looks and sounds very good, and features very limited extras, making it easy to say skip this release, and hope for a set of third-season DVDs.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.