The Film
Seems like these days the biggest thing going on in the US space program (other than some remote control buggies driving around on Mars looking for a drop to drink) is the animals that we're sending into space, albeit only on the big and small screens. Last year it was flies in Fly Me to the Moon, monkeys in Space Chimps, and now it's adorable little puppy dogs in the straight to video live action Disney extravaganza, Space Buddies.
As the story goes, a pack of cute and fuzzy golden retrievers have gone astray on a field trip with their owners to the local spaceport. And where did they end up? Why in an experimental new rocket plane about to embark on an unmanned mission to the moon, of course. There is hijinks galore as a new man on the team back at mission control tries to sabotage the operation for his own nefarious (yet mysterious) purposes and the hapless pups do their best, with the help of a Russian dogmonaut ("Spudnik") and a ferret to make their way back home.
The "kids test" is one I'll normally use with family-oriented films that come my way for review, and while my 5 year old son did giggle at the requisite fart jokes and other potty humor, my 3 year old daughter (who patiently sat through the entire 78 minutes of TinkerBell more times than I care to count), lost interest after about 20 minutes into Buddies. In perhaps even more damaging testimony to the film's lack of kid-friendliness, they haven't asked to watch it again in the week since we first subjected them to it. Not even once. If you have (or even have met) small kids, you know this is not a good sign.
From what I understand, this is just the latest in a series of spin-offs from Disney's successful film, Air Bud about a lovable and athletic golden retriever. The "Buddies" of this series are Bud's loquacious litter of puppy prodigies. But you'll have to forgive me if I don't seek out its predecessors.
The Picture
I have to admit this is the best talking dog live action film transfer I've ever seen on Blu-ray Disc. The production values (and obviously limited budget) do lend the film a home video quality, which is made only more obvious when viewed under the high definition 1080p Blu-ray microscope. Although the moving mouths of these playful pups are fairly believable, scenes such as the dogs skipping along on the low gravity surface of the moon are so poorly executed in CGI as to be distracting. Perhaps the film's low quality effects would lend themselves better to the far more forgiving DVD format. Or maybe VHS?
The Sound
Only the best sonic treatment here: lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. The 5.1-channel mix is more than ample at revealing the subtle innuendos of doggy dialog. And the immersive menace of a meteor storm does evoke some action out of the surround speakers and LFE track. I'm glad that Disney didn't skimp here, but the DTS-HD mix is probably more than the film requires… or deserves.
The Extras
As a Disney title, Buddies comes with a full suite of BD-Live features, allowing viewers to chat with each other on screen while viewing the film, send "movie mail" to each other, and check their Movie Rewards balances (woohoo, another 125 points!). There are also a suite of other more traditional extras such as a blooper reel (some of those dogs just can't get their lines straight), pop-up "Buddy Facts," a Buddy Finder mode where you look for specific items while watching the film and "Disneypedia: The Buddies Guide to Space Travel" - a short featurette where the puppies explain some of the ins and outs of traveling outside our atmosphere.
Final Thoughts
It's not unexpected that Disney would attempt to capitalize on the success of a film by producing a myriad of straight-to-video sequels. But in this case the trough of original ideas seems to have run dry. There's little in Buddies on Blu-ray to recommend a rental, let alone a purchase. Instead of setting aside 78 minutes for this raucus romp through space, do yourself a favor and watch Wall-E again.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Movie | |
| Extras |
