4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: AQUA TEEN FOREVER: PLANTASM

Home » 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: AQUA TEEN FOREVER: PLANTASM

Nov 09, 2022 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

After a failed space mission, the members of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force return to Earth and go their separate ways, despite their matching Aqua Teen Forever tattoos. Their home has been condemned, and a very bitter Master Shake (Dana Snyder) tries to get former neighbor Carl (Dave Willis) to let him shower and stay at his place, but ends up living in a box in Carl’s back yard. Meanwhile, Meatwad has been secretly staying and cleaning himself at the local Humane Society, much to the annoyance of the people who work there. Frylock (Carey Means) has actually ended up in a somewhat happy new life working in the IT department for online retail giant Amazin’. But when his skills are noticed by company owner Neil (Peter Serafinowicz, The Tick), he gets put on a special task to help the big boss raise his stature (literally), and starts to butt heads with Neil’s former second in command/head of product development, Elmer (Paul Walter Hauser, Cobra Kai). However, the company’s cheap, exploited alien labor force has been growing increasingly discontent over their working conditions, and decide to unionize. This leads to an escalation that soon threatens all life on Earth, and it becomes apparent that the Aqua Teen Hunger Force will need to once again work together to stop it.

I had never actually seen an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force before checking out this film, so I went into this movie not really knowing what to expect. The main characters are a trio of sentient food products. Frylock, a container of french fries, is a genius, able to solve any problem he puts his mind to—though why he needs these other two remains a mystery. Master Shake (you guessed it, he’s a milkshake) is the narcissistic jerk of the group. He’s a bit of a loudmouth who always has something to complain about. Meatwad, a ball of meat, is a bit dim, but sweet, with the mindset of a child. Living next door is their friend (though that may be a bit too generous) Carl, a disgusting, large, porn-addicted man child who’s often spending some “quality time” with himself.

Once the film gets into the main story, it works pretty well. It’s fast paced, crazy and a bit over-the-top—obviously inspired by what’s going on with Jeff Bezos and the way he treats his Amzaon employees. Each of the main characters is explored in greater detail as the story takes some fun twists and turns. And the world is filled out with some very strange alien characters. However, the film is really short, clocking in at just 75 minutes, and so the first 15 minutes or so feel more like padding that only tangentially relates to the main story. Some of this includes an epic space homage to John Carpenter’s The Thing that opens the movie, as well as a Space Jam parody that serve as the opening credits. There’s also this really funny running gag with a pair of alien Mooninites hijacking the movie and breaking the fourth wall—they even they poke fun at how short the film is and how much the audience paid to watch it. The filmmakers have put in this really creative interactive element to this gag that I found hilarious. These 8-bit Mooninites, Ignignokt and his son Err, were easily my favorite part of the film, and had me laughing out loud.

Some of the humor is a bit crass and crude, but it feels like this is probably true to the original series. Fans of the original show will notice that the animation is a million times better for this film. Everything has been redesigned and redeveloped for the movie to give it a more cinematic look and feel, rather than something created in someone’s basement. In addition to the original voice cast for the main characters, the film brings in the amazing Peter Serafinowicz and Paul Walter Hauser to really keep things lively and entertaining. There’s also a fun cameo by sports star Sean Kemp.

Warner Bros.’ 4K release looks and sounds amazing. The picture looks pristine with bright beautiful colors, lots of detail in the backgrounds, and clean lines in the characters. The opening sequence in space looks quite incredible. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout and makes excellent use of the surround sound to add ambiance, and make the film feel more immersive. This is especially noticeable at the film opens and a space ship if flying across the screen, and as the action starts to get a bit crazy and over-the-top.

The 4K release comes with 4K disc and Blu-ray discs packed on either side of a standard 4K keepcase, along with a cardboard slipcover and an insert with instructions on how to redeem a 4K Movies Anywhere compatible digital copy. There is also a folded poster of the cover art plastic-wrapped to the keepcase. The release is loaded with some excellent bonus features. A really entertaining audio commentary with a large number of cast and crew members can be found on both discs, but the remaining material can only be found on the Blu-ray. This includes a music video, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a longer animatic version of the entire film, as well as 4 minutes of deleted scenes. The deleted scenes are a bit disappointing as most are just a couple of words, but the rest of the material is great, making it well-worth the price of admission.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:15:49)

4K UHD:

2160p / Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Blu-ray:

1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Digital (code may not be valid after 12/31/2024):

4K Digital Copy (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Poster:

inside the plastic wrap covering the keepcase is an 18×24″ poster that unfolds to match the same artwork as what’s on the front cover.

Extras:
The only bonus feature include on the 4K disc is the commentary. For everything else, you’ll need to use the Blu-ray disc.

Aqua Teen is Back (6:59)
Co-creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro talk about getting the call to make a movie, finding the right story, reinventing the show with new backgrounds, locations & characters, broader humor, redesigning the show from the ground up, making it look like a real cartoon, returning and new characters, creating the Space Jam sequence, how the show came about and was hated by the network, and more. Stars Carey Means (“Frylock”) & Dana Snyder (“Master Shake”) talk about being cast as these characters, and bringing them back now. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer for Bento Box Atlanta Craig Hartin, basketball legend Shawn Kemp, head of compositing for Bento Box Atlanta Jshua Mullinax, and stars Master Shake & Frylock (yes, the characters themselves).
Commentary* (1:15:45)
Co-creator Dave Willis, stars Carey Means (“Frylock”) & Dana Snyder (“Master Shake”), executive producer for Bento Box Atlanta Craig Hartin, producer for Adult Swim Matt Foster, editors John Brestin, Nick Gibbons, Paul Painter & Ned Hastings, and producer Nick Ingkatanuwat provide a fun and lively commentary throughout the film. They provide some behind-the-scenes stories about the production, the evolution of the script, the interactive text portion of the movie, and more.
Deleted Scenes (4:22)
Collection of 22 short deleted scenes. There are couple longer entertaining moments but most are just a single line or a couple words of dialogue (literally just what’s in the title of the scene). Play All, or select from:
- Let Me Put a Bead of Caulk Right There (:28)
- Let Me Introduce You to My Colleagues (:41)
- I’m an American (:35)
- The Gravy Train Is Rolling In (:11)
- Man-Sized (:11)
- Don’t Say Anything (:11)
- For Me (:10)
- Have My Mom Make Love to Shawn Kemp? (:14)
- Cobra, Are You Ready to Be Released? (:13)
- Slash Them Tires (:16)
- Now You Look Pale and Sickly (:13)
- It’s Got the Whole Megadeth Genome (:11)
- No One Borrows That Much Sugar (:13)
- That Sounds Badass (:14)
- Oh Hi, Frylock (:11)
- I Got a Verbal Agreement with the Bugs (:17)
- Herb-Crusted Beef Wellington (:11)
- Aqua Teen Forever, Man (:10)
- What Can Boxy Brown Do For You? (:10)
- Sorry Nothing, Fool! (:17)
- I’m Getting to it! (:10)
- Out Most Vulnerable Spot! (:10)
Animatic with Full Textbot Script (1:20:27)
The entire film presented in animatic format, with full, imeerisve sound but rough animated sketches with and without color. During the regular version of the movie, you can text a number that allows the Mooninites to hack your phone and text you throughout the film. In this animatic version, those same hilarious texts (plus a lot more) pop up on the TV screen as you watch.
El Walko in SloMotiono (3:00)
The cast and crew gather in slow motion in a parking lot while wearing costumes in this music video for the film’s theme song.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm won’t be for everyone—the humor can be a bit odd and crude at times, but if you don’t mind that, there are some really funny moments. The film is quite short, but the disc comes loaded with lots of entertaining bonus material that definitely makes it worthwhile. The video and audio presentation is quite solid. This is easily a must own for fans of the original Aqua Teen Hunger Force series, and definitely worth a look for those who enjoy odd, quirky animated programs. In 2023, the film will also be available for streaming on HBO Max and will air on Adult Swim.