Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie's plot.

I was a bit disappointed with Bart Wars. Don’t get me wrong there are some good episodes on it, but the packaging theme suggests the content will be Star Wars related or at least sci-fi. Not so. The final episode guest stars Mark Hamill and has a few extra features, but that’s it. The rest are just random episodes. We don't get so much as the one where Ralph says he bent his Wookiee.

Dog of Death from season 3 is about Santa’s Little Helper getting sick. He needs an operation the family can’t afford. When they make the sacrifices necessary to pay for the procedure they resent the animal to the point of driving him away. SLH becomes Burns’ new attack hound.

It’s a pretty good episode. I like the story, but it’s not one I expected to see on a Bart Wars disc.

Marge Be Not Proud is from season 7. This belongs on one of the Christmas compilations. In fact, it’s more appropriate for such a disc than Mr Plow (a winter but not Christmas episode) that DOES appear on the first Christmas release. Bart wants a video game for Christmas so bad that he steals it. Marge is very disappointed, and Bart thinks she doesn’t love him anymore.

Again, it’s a pretty good episode, just not what I expected on Bart Wars.

The Secret War of Lisa Simpson is from season 8. Bart lands in military school. Lisa is so impressed with the learning regimen there that she voluntarily joins as well. The only female there she’s an outcast and can’t even count on the support of her brother. Willem Dafoe guest stars.

This one at least has military themes which fits with the Wars part of the title. Still not what I expected, but more appropriate than the other two.

Mayored to the Mob is from season 10. Homer saves Mark Hamill from a mob of nerds. Mayor Quimby is so impressed with his performance that he hires Homer as a bodyguard. But when Homer crosses the mob he puts all their lives on the line.

Finally an episode with Star Wars references. Mark appears throughout the episode with numerous nods to his most famous role. And we get the benefit of this being the episode that has the extras. There is an animatic for the episode which is very basic animation. The best part about this is the unused dialogue. There is also some concept art which has different views of the storyboard, animatic, and a screen with both of them at once. I wondered at first why there are two features with the animatic, but I realized that the audio track is different. The one in concept art follows the final audio track while the other one doesn’t.

The DVD cover art is the best of any Simpsons release, at least for us Star Wars geeks. Bart as Luke in a lightsaber duel with Homer as Vader is very entertaining. The back holds more with the Simpsons girls dressed in Star Wars attire. The disc itself is an image of the 4 oldest Simpsons poking their heads out of the Death Star. I had hoped the menu would feature more original art, but it’s basically the same as the cover.

There is a Play All feature which I don’t think the earlier Simpsons compilations have. It’s a nice addition.

As much as I love the artwork and the Star Wars references in the final episode, I am highly disappointed with the lack of theme continuity. This release has become hard to find for some reason (out of print maybe?). I passed on it when it first came out due to lack of funds. Then I never saw it again. When I finally decided to hunt it down I was unable to find it on the shelves of any of the stores in the area (I checked them all and the funny thing was everyone of them had most if not all the other available Simpsons titles). I also had a hard time finding new copies on the net. Then I had problems with my order which doesn’t factor into my rating directly, but meant that much more effort in acquiring the release adding to my overall dissatisfaction. If you want any of these episodes save your money and temperament and get the full seasons. I’m giving it the worst grade imaginable, an A minus minus!


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12