This time around. Gonzo, the only Muppet of an unknown species, is feeling all alone, and has been having unusual dreams of his heritage. But Gonzo’s dreams are real for a secret US government’s (headed by Jeffrey Tambor of The Larry Sanders Show) has been tracking alien derived messages all around the world using they satellites!

When Gonzo appears on Miss Piggy’s new TV show(having just replaced Andy McDowell) to send a message to outer space the government agency kidnaps gonzo (and Rizzo the Rat) and it’s up t his Muppet pals to get them out!

After a slight lag in Muppet fun with Muppets Treasure Island and Muppets Christmas Carol (both still pretty damn funny) Muppets from Space really takes us back to the good ‘ol days with many dashings of well disguised Adult humour and plain old Muppet mayhem!

Since [Muppet Creator] Jim Henson’s passing, Steve Whitmire(best known as the voice of Rizzo the Rat), has taken over the duty of voicing Kermit the Frog and does a pretty good job, but anyone familiar with the sounds of this green frog will no doubt notice many differences!

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?

VIDEO

Here’s yet another cracker Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer from the Columbians (also available on the flip side of the DVD in 4x3 Panned and Scanned). With only the most trivial of problems in this transfer, it is none the less first rate with regards to extreme vibrancy in colours, that show absolutely no signs of bleeding, a rock solid level of black, terrific image depth and a very nice level of sharpness that that has alaising kept to the absolute minimum….. Muppets from Space is real eye candy!

AUDIO
Complimenting the wonderful video transfer is a top notch Dolby Digital 5.1 English Audio mix. With the zaniness of the Muppets in general,  it’s a damn good excuse for going nuts with the audio track as well! While the front stage does most of the work, the surrounds do kick now and then with not only musical ambience, but also discrete sound FX! And the LFE track also does a nice job in the bass department with a low thumping when required! Overall this is a very dynamic 5.1 mix….Love it! (Have a listen to the German 5.1 mix….Muppets Speaking German is as funny as the movie itself!!!)

EXTRAS
Coming under Columbia’s Collector’s Edition Banner, there is a decent amount of extras, some great, some not so great!

Topping the list is a live video/audio Commentary (the first of this type seen on the Awesome Ghostbusters DVD). This time around the VIDEO part of the commentary is much better, with finer detail to show the commentary crew (Rizzo, Kermit, director Tim Hill, and Gonzo) they actually move around a lot more here!. This Comm track is far from conventional and personally I thought it was funnier than the movie itself at times!. If you’re after an in-depth look at the making of a movie, then look elsewhere as this commentary track is far from it! (contains some truly great one-lines from the Muppets!!)

NOTE: In order to view the Live portion on the commentary you MUST have your DVD player set to output 4x3 letterbox as it will not function in 16:9 Mode!)

In the Trailers department are the 4x3 Theatrical trailer with audio tracks in Dolby Sound for English, as well as Dolby 5.1 in English and German!
The Muppets Teaser Trailer (in Dolby Surround and 4x3), Stuart Little (4x3 and Dolby Surround), plus Muppets Take Manhattan (4x3 and Mono)

Music Video (Dust Brothers "Shining star" , 4x3 in Dolby Surround)

OUTTAKES Presented in 1.85:1, there are 19 outtakes totalling some 6 minutes with 2 channel sound. 1 once major gripe with these outtakes is that to view them you must individually select each outtake. There is no option for "continuous play"…it’s a real pain in the arse and the outtakes aren’t even that funny to boot!

TALENT PROFILE usual Profile fodder (these at least flow on from each profile!)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….you just gotta love the Muppets, and they are in true form in the gorgeous looking and sounding Muppets from Space.