Street Date: March 25

Official Synopsis:
ripping The Rift: The Movie is the saga of a bunch of derelict mutant misfits who live, work and play on the starship Jupiter 42, which is controlled by a neurotic A.I. known as Spaceship Bob. Bob's neuroses are kept in check by the verbally abusive pilot T'Nuk while the ship's inner workings are tended by Gus, the melancholy robotic chief engineer. No one's really sure what job is performed by teen slacker Whip, but everyone has a definite idea of sexy android Six’s specialties. Captain Chode, a walking purple blob of rancor, hates his crew and they hate him right back. As Chode and the crew work on their latest money making scheme in the space Princess protection business they are unaware that a cyborg killing machine, know as the “Exterminator,” has been sent back in time by the evil Bobo to eliminate their copulating captain, a mission that isn’t as easy as it might seem.
  
Our Take:
I’ve seen maybe one episode of Tripping The Rift on TV, and it wasn’t that I didn’t want to watch the show, I just never seemed to catch it. With this new direct-to-DVD film, I finally get to check out what all the hubbub is about with Tripping The Rift: The Movie. I have to say, unless the DVD’s for the actual TV series come very unrated I can’t imagine the show being as good as this movie.

I expected a lot of in jokes towards the sci-fi genre (Terminator, Star Trek, etc.) but I wasn’t ready for the hundreds of other references to films and/or pop culture that have nothing to do with the science fiction at all; everything from Psycho to Desperate Housewives. The cool thing is that everything fit in nicely. Not even the Desperate Housewives bit felt out of place and although the driving secondary plot (this is where Terminator references come into play) isn’t exactly original in it’s creativity, it never ceases to entertain or move the plot along in a fun and sometimes wickedly funny way.

I wasn’t initially sold on the style of the CGI based on the advertisements that I had seen for the show but once you start watching it really grows on you and fits the goofy tone of the show/movie perfectly. This is no doubt thanks to the great voice performances by literally everyone on the show. Usually there is one character that lacks a bit, but not here – everyone does a great job, including the “name” talent such as Stephen Root and Jenny McCarthy.

Special features include:

* Captain’s Log: The Making Of TRIPPING THE RIFT: THE MOVIE (7 minutes) – Interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and actual movie footage comprise this making-of.

I stated earlier that I couldn’t imagine Tripping The Rift the show being as good as Tripping The Rift: The Movie. This is because the amount of swearing in this film. I don’t know what they do for language on the show, but here all the F-bombs only elevate the movie’s tone and create a more… charming comedy. I couldn’t imagine these characters any other way.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B+
DVD: C

- Landen Chase Pelish
Staff Writer