Space Buddies – Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews

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Finally a film about dogs in space! Back in 1986, there was a film called Dogs in Space starring Michael Hutchence. He was the singer from INXS who choked the chicken to the extreme. This film had zero footage of puppies being launched towards the moon. I felt cheated. Even My Life as a Dog talked about Laika, there was no dramatization of the Russian dog blasting off into orbit. The genre of intergalactic dogs is pretty thin. Space Buddies finally delivers on the promise of a barking countdown.

For those who arent familiar with Disneys Buddies series, these five puppies are the offspring of the dog known as Air Bud. Rosebud, Buddha, Budderball, B-Dawg and Buddy live in a suburban community that almost looks like Vancouver. The kid owners are supposed to go visit a nearby private space exploration agency. They have arrived on a big day since the first rocket plane is scheduled to go to the moon that day. What type of company allows field trips on a high pressure day? Even more amazing is how the Buddies sneak onto the school bus and then get access to this alleged high security zone. Is somebody at Homeland Security sleeping on the job?

The dogs get their own spacesuits by a top secret process. They sneak onto the spaceplane. Next thing you know, theyre off to the moon. Who dropped the ball? How can a billion dollar project not spend $5 an hour to hire Barney Fifes grandson to keep dogs out of security zones? While businesses need to cut back to survive the recession, this moment is frustrating. What if terrorist dogs had snuck onto the spaceplane? What would happen to America with evil puppies in space?

Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show and Office Space) dominates the film as a cosmonaut stuck in an abandoned soviet space station. His only company is a pit bull called Spudnick. If Silent Running was a kids film, Bruce Dern would have played his lonely space traveler like Diedrich. Amy Sedaris chips in with the voice of a ferret. She might have made this movie a bit more entertaining if shes appeared in human form on the screen.

Theres no major stars playing the voices of the puppies. There is an odd connection to fame since the voice of Rose Bud is Liliana Mumy. Her father is Billy Mumy. He played Will Robinson on Lost in Space. They are now a father-daughter astronaut team. Coincidentally Billys mom on Lost in Space, June Lockhart, had her daughter act in zero gravity. Anne Lockhart fought the Cylons on Battlestar Galactica. Its reassuring to know that our fictional space program is giving us second generation interstellar explorers.

For the longest time, the Soviets maintained that Laika lived for days while zipping above the globe. The official story was that she ran out of dog food in her capsule and died from starvation. In 2002, the truth got out that Laika died from being broiled to death in Sputnik 2 a few hours into the mission. The thermal control system had gone bad. The Buddies better understand how lucky they were on their trip to the moon compared to the dogs that came before them.

Space Buddies is the perfect movie for kids who are curious about NASA, but havent a clue that dogs cant fly the space shuttle. Theres very little educational content here outside of the knowledge that puppies will get into extreme trouble if they arent kept in a secure enclosure. This film should only be watched with a five year old in the room.

The video is 1.78:1 full frame. The 1080p image transfer lets you see all the details of the futuristic sets. You will know how to get a puppy to bounce on the moon if you look close enough. The audio is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Most of the film has the puppies talking so the levels are consistent.

Buddy Bloopers (2:55) reminds us that puppies arent one-take wonders like Mickey Rourke.

“Dancing In The Moonlight” is a music video featuring Disney star Alyson Stoner. She recently starred in Camp Rock with those Jonas Brothers. She has a great name for Smiley Face 2: Brownie Bonanza.

Disneypedia: The Buddies Guide To Space Travel (12:56) almost makes you think they did research to make this film as accurate as Apollo 13.

Buddy Facts makes up for a lack of a commentary track with the puppies. There are Pop-up bubbles filled with trivia and factoids. It plays throughout the film. Kids might get a rush guessing when the next bubble appears.

Space Buddies is really for kids. The action is rather basic. The storyline is completely unrealistic. What grown up can believe that puppies can sneak into space? This isnt in the same league as Babe or Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp when it comes to talking animal entertainment. If it keeps your kids quiet for 84 minutes, youll probably see it as Oscar worthy.

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Walt Disney Video presents Space Buddies. Directed by: Robert Vince. Starring Diedrich Bader, Field Cate, Jason Earlesand Amy Sederis. Written by: Robert Vince. Running time: 84 minutes. Rating: G. Released on DVD: February 3, 2009. Available at Amazon.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.