See more movie reviews

Family Guy: Blue Harvest (NR, 2007)

common sense media says

Ribald but often hilarious satire of fantasy favorite.

parents & educators say
  • 100% say language is an issue
  • 33% say violence is an issue
See all 20 reviews | Review it

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this cartoon satire of a fantasy favorite has some very adult-oriented humor (tending to be much more verbal than visual), with references to lesbianism, pedophilia, and drug use. The spoof of an opening LucasFilm prologue includes a hearty recommendation of a lesser-known Angelina Jolie movie for its graphic sex content. A few borderline swear words are uttered. Violence, at about the level of that in the live-action Star Wars (except it's all-cartoon) includes spaceship and planet explosions, blaster-shootings, and a few light-saber decapitations. Newcomers to the Family Guy universe might not "get" a lot of insider references and characters.

Positive messages: Main characters on Family Guy are the spectacularly dysfunctional Griffins, a clan of suburban Rhode Islanders, of whom the family dog Brian has the most good sense and manners. Here, as the Griffins and their neighbors take the key roles in a joke retelling of Star Wars (Brian gets to be Chewbacca), some of their unsavory traits are muted or left out. But others are retained, and so we get the whole family (except Brian) laughing at the notion of literacy, and the neighbors Quagmire and Cleveland having promiscuous sex and smoking marijuana. And Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to be a child molester. 
Violence: "Cartoon violence" in the purest form, with spaceship explosions, shootings of characters (mostly bloodless), and a light-saber decapitation gag.
Sex: Verbal innuendo includes heavy hints that aged Obi-Wan Kenobi is a chronic child molester with an unwholesome fascination for Luke Skywalker. A light saber springing into action is metaphorical for an erection. The opening prologue of words crawling across the screen starts to digress about brother-sister incest, ultimately recommending a certain Angelina Jolie movie to the viewer for its extensive nudity and lesbian sex scenes. Declaration that C3PO has had sex with a dox-matrix printer. R2D2 says his droid sister is a "lez-bot." Male sportscasters speculate about the erotic skills of a pretty spectator. An Imperial Stormtrooper talks repeatedly about "boning" his girlfriend.
Language: God's name in vain, "holy crap," "hell," "bitch," "penis" and, in a DVD extra, George Lucas uses the BS-word. Stewie/Darth Vader does a series of borderline-swear-word excrement puns ("I Sithed in my pants").
Consumerism: Natural tie-ins to Star Wars, as well as Family Guy merchandise. References to Doctor Who, Airplane, and other, more adult-oriented movies, including the R-rated Lethal Weapon and HUGE plugs for the explicit cable-TV biopic Gia and the Cartoon Network comedy series Robot Chicken.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Social drinking, smoking in the cantina. The robots R2D2 and C3P0 smoke what seems to be a bag of marijuana, and C3P0 complains about "freaking out."
Our ratings and reviews are informed by child development guidelines. Learn more.

More on Family Guy: Blue Harvest

What to talk about

Talk to your kids

Families can talk about the humor on display here. Sometimes Family Guy exhibits a pretty mean spirit when it spoofs popular culture, but the tone here is generally affectionate, maybe even...respectful. Ask kids about satires like Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein or Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog; can you sense the gagster's genuine fondness for the original material? With a bit of a video search, you can put together a home mini-festival of Jedi parodies -- many created brilliantly outside the Hollywood system by low-budget amateurs, some of which gained the approval of George Lucas himself (Hardware Wars, TROOPS, George Lucas in Love, etc.)

What's the story?

What's the story?

FAMILY GUY: BLUE HARVEST is an episode of the nothing-off-limits Fox Network cartoon comedy Family Guy, and takes a full hour instead of the usual half-hour to retell the story of the 1977 blockbuster hit Star Wars movie. A sudden power outage ends a session of slack-jawed TV viewing in the household of rotund, loudmouthed Rhode Islander Peter Griffin, but the family guy rises to the occasion by telling his brood a tale of "fathers and sons" -- the storyline of the first Star Wars feature released. In this version the Griffins, their friends, neighbors, Adam West, and recurring gag characters from the cartoon take on the roles of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and a disquietingly dirty-old-man-like Obi Wan-Kenobi.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Fans (and even non-fans) may be a bit surprised by this extended Very-Special-Episode of the animated sitcom that sometimes seems so full of pop-culture references and mini-parodies that the plotlines barely hold together. One well expects that series creator Seth MacFarlane and the vocal cast have so much fun with the Force and deliver big laughs at light-speed; too bad they end the thing on a rather somewhat sour note, with young Chris Griffin/Luke Skywalker calling his storyteller father "a big jerk" and leaving (this is an inside-inside joke about Peter/Seth MacFarlane belittling a cable TV satire Robot Chicken, done by Chris' voiceover actor Seth Green).

That aside, what's unexpected are some sequences that don't have gags at all, but are just dead-on recreations of classic LucasFilm moments as the gag script follows the original storyline faithfully. Revelation: the Family Guy guys actually love and respect George Lucas' history-making debut of the Luke Skyalker saga, and this spoof is as much a tribute as it is puns and non-sequitur references to Sanford and Son and Deal or No Deal. Among the DVD extras is a sit-down dialogue between Seth MacFarlane and George Lucas, who says his staff got a kick out of Blue Harvest.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Director: Dominic Polcino
Cast: Adam West, Alex Borstein, Patrick Warburton, Seth Green, Seth MacFarlane
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 50 minutes
Theatrical release: September 9, 2007
DVD release: January 28, 2008
MPAA Rating: NR
This review was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
 
 

Review It

 

Review Family Guy: Blue Harvest

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
 

What parents & educators say

13
Based on 3 parent & educator reviews:
  • 100% say language is an issue
  • 33% say violence is an issue
  • 33% say sexual content is an issue
  • 33% say they noticed product placement
  • 33% say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking
Read the reviews

Most useful reviews by all members

super-kidney
teen, 13 years old
11
 
Funny, but...
Very funny, but don't show it to the wrong kids.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (4) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (6)
Greg Foltynowicz
teen, 14 years old
12
 
tweens
more mild only 1 F bomb and some suggestive comments and one reference of drug use. The robots R2D2 and C3P0 smoke what seems to be a bag of marijuana.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (4) | had useful details (5) | read my mind (4)
teenreviews(17yrs)
adult
13
 
IT'S NOT GAY!!! In fact they make fun of gays (also bad) but funny
I thought, since it spoofed, it would suck, but it was hilarious characters sometimes drink the language is occasionally graphic "F--k you, you son of a b---h" or "holy s--t" but VERY FRIG-IN FUNNY!!! But iffy for 13+ My Rating: PG-13 for some strong language
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (4) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (4)
brandonneo
kid, 13 years old
17
 
Why make a gay movie?your show already sucks
CRAP
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (4) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (4)
I_TellTheTruth
teen, 17 years old
15
 
IFFY 15+
LANGUAGE: Frequent bad language, occasionally graphic ("F-ck you, you son of a b-tch!"; "You'd f-ck her for a week and get tired of her") SEX: Well, Herbert is a pedophile. His lightsaber represents his penis at one point during the movie. And that one Stormtrooper keeps talking about boning his girlfriend.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (4) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (4)
Family guy lover
teen, 16 years old
10
 
A little bad for kids but good for teens and adoults
Love it a little bad language and other things but it's awesome!!!!!!!!!!
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (4) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (3)
PYEsinc
teen, 14 years old
12
 
hilarious, but not for kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The words "b--ch" (once preceded by "son of a"), "a-s", and "s--t" are tossed around comically, which sends a bad message, but some of the comedy comes from the bad language and euphemisms (i.e.: baby Stewie says something like, "I have one big problem, which is that I Sithed my pants"). In addition, there is one use of the word "f--k" ("f--k you, b--ch!"). There is a lot of innuendo here and there, such as when R2D2 says his sister is a "lesbot", when C3PO says he "just had sex with his 90s printer girlfriend", and when a Stormtrooper says he "boned his wife". At the beginning, C3PO asks R2D2 to hold his bag of cocaine.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (3) | had useful details (3) | read my mind (4)
Spielberg00
teen, 14 years old
12
 
Better than the show.
My rating: PG-13 for suggestive innuendo throughout, frequent language, and for cartoon violence.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (3) | had useful details (3) | read my mind (3)
dennan m
kid, 12 years old
12
 
good sad ...but i give it 12
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (3) | had useful details (3) | read my mind (3)
fangningsheng
teen, 14 years old
11
 
Hilarious
This movie was really funny. I love family guy and this is probably the best special. I would rate it PG-13 for crude and sexual humor throughout, language and comic violence.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (3)
decider1
kid, 13 years old
13
 
Good movie , a little rude though ...
Good movie , but "C3P0" and "R2D2" are rude to much . But , if you ignore that , then its all ok . Real funny in parts , and that old guy , is so so so funny !! Thats why iv'e gave this movie 3 stars . But after you've watched it , because its a short movie (not to short , but not as long as your average movie) , you cant watch it again , cause you know whats going to happen , but i would recommend it to people , who need a little cheering up , and then , when you forget about it in a couple of years , (if you can!) , then watch it again .
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (3)
Movie Man
adult
17
 
An Absolute Blast! It Wonderfully Plays With and Catches the Flaws of One of the Greatest Sci-Fi Films Ever!
Although often very crude, this is one of my favorite spoofs of all time. Yes, it's short, but you definitely get your money's worth. This hilarious send up catches George Lucas off guard and touches some very big plot holes, which will make you laugh, not only because it's funny, but because it's true! I loved it; any fan of Family Guy MUST see it if they haven't already; any fans os spoofs will probably highly enjoy it, as will Star Wars fans, and any other type of fan might get a kick out of it! I highly recommend it! Thanks for reading - Movie Man
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (3) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (2)
imm30
teen, 13 years old
13
 
VERY FUNNY!!!!!!
Pretty inappropriate but very funny!!!!!!!!!
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (2)
9001
teen, 15 years old
15
 
16+
Strong inappropriate content is not suitable for young children.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (2)
jeffirwin
teen, 13 years old
11
 
for tweens
preety good spoof
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (2)
PeaceOutPeoples
kid, 12 years old
13
 
Edgy movie, but hilarious!
I was pretty shocked to hear "F--k you!" come out of Cleveland's mouth. I also heard "Holy s--t!" during a discussion about Tyra Banks. You have the regular mild language and sexual innuendo like you usually hear in Family Guy to add to that, but other than that, it's fantastic movie that is great for any Family Guy lover, Star Wars fan or not.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (2) | had useful details (2) | read my mind (1)
Moviefan101
teen, 17 years old
14
 
The Family Guy Star Wars Saga Begins!!!
Family Guy Blue Harvest is a parody of Star Wars IV A New Hope. Just like any Family Guy episode their is a lot of sexual humor and a lot of language. This is the only Family Guy i've watched and this was so funny I fell to the floor laughing for ten minutes. Stewie played the perfect Darth Vader with his one liner jokes. My favorite line from this is the following "look at this couch!! Somebody threw out a whole couch and it's in great shape. Yeah you put a little febreeze on that scrub it out a little bit and it would look great in your apartment" this is an example of a one liner that Peter Griffin (AKA Han Solo) said in this funny one hour special. Coming Soon: Family Guy Something,Something, Something Darkside
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (1) | had useful details (1) | read my mind (1)
zackaback
teen, 17 years old
13
 
Good Movie
Love It
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (1) | had useful details (1) | read my mind (1)
mr mann10
teen, 17 years old
11
 
Amazing
Really funny like most family guy's. A must see if you're a family guy fan/Star Wars fan or not!
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (1) | had useful details (1) | read my mind (1)
october1985
adult
10
 
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (1) | had useful details (1) | read my mind (1)

More reviews ...

An independent voice for families
Age-appropriate reviews
Advice on the big issues
 

vote now

Will you see Family Guy: Blue Harvest?

Won't miss it
On the fence
No way

Already seen it? What do you think?

I recommend it
It's a pass
 

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

More Force-full comedies
For kids who love science fiction
Browse more movies
About our rating system
ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age
Our child development rating guidelines