The Muppets Take Manhattan / Muppets in Space [Blu-Ray]

The vagaries of intellectual property ownership are behind the release of these (thankfully individual) Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack versions of The Muppets Take Manhattan and Muppets in Space ― they're the only two Muppet films not owned by Walt Disney. Presumably released to capitalize on the rebirth of the Muppets franchise with the (dear god, let it be good) upcoming Jason Segel film, the movies make strange bedfellows. The Muppets Take Manhattan is a timeless classic and Jim Henson's final Muppet film (and, really, a rather lovely end to the franchise, if you choose to view it that way), while Muppets in Space is... Muppets in Space. It's not actually that Muppets in Space is a bad film ― the love inherent in the Muppet characters shines through, and if you remember 1999 and things like Dawson's Creek, it's actually pretty funny ― it's simply that if you watch it after The Muppets Take Manhattan, you really start to wonder, who on Earth would ever think "yeah, I need to own Muppets on Space on Blu-Ray so I have it and can watch it whenever I want to"? Let's put it this way: it's a perfect Sunday afternoon, the remote is broken and the television is stuck on a YTV kind of film, and the Blu-Ray extras (er, outtakes and a Dust Brothers music video?) aren't going to change that. The extras on The Muppets Take Manhattan are even sadder: a brief interview with Jim Henson and some bizarre shorts ("Muppetisms") from 1999 that add absolutely no value (one of them features shrimp Muppet Pepe, who didn't exist until 1996). However, the transfer is beautiful ―New York City looks amazing ― and the movie is a funny, joyful tribute to, well, life: the struggle to succeed and make something of yourself. It just happens to be told with frogs, pigs and bears, but is no less sincere for it. Jason Segel has a lot to live up to.