Post by Belchic on Jan 9, 2010 2:37:29 GMT -5
Okay, everyone, I put some careful thought into it, and I decided to write up a nice big review of the Buddies franchise giving my honest opinions on it and what not. I'll try not to spoil anything, but here goes:
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This whole thing started off with a series of movies that Disney did known as "Air Bud". The first movie in the series was released in the summer of 1997. Basically, it's a bout a dog who plays basketball. As many of you all know, this was followed by a line of sequels. Now, granted, I haven't seen any of the Air Bud sequels; I've only seen the first one, but I at least know the premise of each sequel. In 1998, a sequel to "Air Bud" was made: "Air Bud: Golden Reciever". In this one, Buddy plays football. This would be the last movie in the series to make a theatrical release. Following that in 2000 came "Air Bud: World Pup", where he plays soccer. Then, in 2002 would be "Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch", where he plays baseball. Then, finally, in 2003, would be "Air Bud Spikes Back" where he does volley boll. After this, they'll put the series to rest for 3 years, but then launch this spin-off series known as "Air Buddies".
"Air Buddies" is the first in this spin-off series of "Air Bud". In this movie, Buddy has become a father and now has five puppies, each one inheritting one of their father's sport tallents. Also, each one has a personality of their own. First up, we've got B-Dawg, who inherited his father's basketball skills, and he also has a love for rap music and developed a tallent of doing some funky dancing; he's also kind of a coward at times. Then, there's Budderball, who inherited his father's football skills, and he also has a love for food, and is known for letting out horrible-smelling farts when someone pulls his paw. Next is Mudbud, who inherited his father's soccer skills, and well, he loves mud. Then, we've got Buddha, who inherited his father's baseball skills, and he's also a spiritual pup. Finally, there's Rosebud; she inherited her father's volley ball skills, she loves clothing, and well, she's pretty much your typical "girls rule" kind of girl.
Anyway, I gotta say that "Air Buddies" has turned out to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Basically, the plot of this story is that Buddy's owners decided that it's time to give the puppies away to new owners, but the pups don't want to be seperated, so they decide to run away from home so they could all stay together. Meanwhile, there's this sub-plot where this rich kid wants a pet that he can play with; to be more precise, he wants Air Bud. His father sends these smugglers out to find Buddy, but they're also after the Buddies. One of the smugglers happens to be this dimwitted teenager. To be honest, I was really impressed with this movie. The humor in it is really clever. A lot of it reminds me of "101 Dalmatians: The Series". Even the Buddies themselves have similar personalities. Budderball is a lot like Rolly because he's plump, has a desire for food, and his catchphrase, "Oh sweet mama", is kinda like Rolly's catchphrase, "Oh papa". Buddha's a lot like Cadpig as he meditates and talks in a lot of metaphors. B-Dawg kind of reminds me of Lucky as he's overconfident and cowardly. I mean, it's not quite the same as "101 Dalmatians", but it's pretty close. I guess I could consider it to be like a new generation version of it. It's overall a great movie, and a great start to a wonderful movie series. Not to mention, this is also Don Knotts' final film.
Now, sometime later came a sequel to "Air Buddies" called "Snow Buddies". In this sequel, the Buddies stumble onto an ice cream truck and then get shipped to Alaska. There, they meet this Husky named Shasta, whose owner has a dream of competing in a dog sled race. Of course, the Buddies aren't used to being out in the cold; in fact, I heard that one of the puppies died while filming due to the cold weather. Anyway, while all this is going on, all the Buddies' owners are trying to find them and get them back home, which takes a lot longer than it should have. "Snow Buddies", I gotta say, was not quite as good as the original, but it was forgivable.
Then came "Space Buddies", the third installment in the series. In this episode, the owners of the Buddies were going on a field trip to see a rocket launch. Buddha comes up with a plan to sneak himself and his brothers and sister to go along with the kids. However, they end up getting themselves on the rocket and blast into space. While up there, they meet this dog (I'm not sure what breed of dog he is) named Spudnick, who has been living in this space station for many years with his owner, Yuri, an overly-happy Russian dude. Of course, the Buddies are wanting to get back home, as Spudnick is to get home to his little boy, Sasha. When it comes to movies, three is usually a bad number, and most of the time, when you put characters in space, it results in an automatic failure. This was easily the worst of the series, but it was not bad enough for me not to enjoy it. Can you tell I'm a hardcore fan?
"Santa Buddies", the latest edition of the franchise, I would have ot say is the best one by far. Everybody loves Christmas specials, and this one is no exception. In this movie, the Buddies are trying to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, in the North Pole, Santa Claus and his crew are trying their best to get ready for Christmas, but there's this icycle that holds the Spirit of Christmas alive, and once it's all melted, Christmas will be gone forever. In the North Pole, in this movie, somehow, dogs and people are able to talk to each other, not to mention, there are dogs who work at Santa's workshop as well. Santa has a dog named Santa Paws, who has this puppy named Puppy Paws, a trouble-making dog who just wants to be a normal puppy. He finds the address of one of the Buddies and finds his way over there. He meets the Buddies to make friends with them, but also causes a lot of crazy Christmas chaos. Well, I won't give too much more away, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed once you watch it.
Now, at first, I thought "Santa Buddies" might possibly be the last movie in the series. However, I have been hearing a rumour that another Buddies movie is in the works: "Scary Buddies". Presumably, this one will be Halloween-related. As of today, there is no Wikipedia page of it, and nothing has yet popped up on IMDb. I don't know if it's getting made or not, but as of right now, it's only a rumour. Since I'm a hardcore fan, I think it should get made. I would really like to see the Buddies go on another adventure. Or better yet, they should make an animated TV series. That would be awesome! But right now, all we can do is just hope for the best.
So, yeah, that's basically what I gotta say about the Buddies movies. If you haven't seen them, and you're a fan of dogs, then these are definately for you. However, a lot of people have been giving a lot of bad reviews about them. Well, don't listen to them, because they have no heart. Fans of "101 Dalmatians" will definately enjoy these films. However, before you watch them, if you don't think they'll be any good, I'd like you to just erase all memories of "Air Bud", "Homeward Bound", or whatever, and just think of this as a new experience.
That's all I gotta say, and just because it's me, I'll just say it like an amateur. I'm done. Have a nice day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This whole thing started off with a series of movies that Disney did known as "Air Bud". The first movie in the series was released in the summer of 1997. Basically, it's a bout a dog who plays basketball. As many of you all know, this was followed by a line of sequels. Now, granted, I haven't seen any of the Air Bud sequels; I've only seen the first one, but I at least know the premise of each sequel. In 1998, a sequel to "Air Bud" was made: "Air Bud: Golden Reciever". In this one, Buddy plays football. This would be the last movie in the series to make a theatrical release. Following that in 2000 came "Air Bud: World Pup", where he plays soccer. Then, in 2002 would be "Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch", where he plays baseball. Then, finally, in 2003, would be "Air Bud Spikes Back" where he does volley boll. After this, they'll put the series to rest for 3 years, but then launch this spin-off series known as "Air Buddies".
"Air Buddies" is the first in this spin-off series of "Air Bud". In this movie, Buddy has become a father and now has five puppies, each one inheritting one of their father's sport tallents. Also, each one has a personality of their own. First up, we've got B-Dawg, who inherited his father's basketball skills, and he also has a love for rap music and developed a tallent of doing some funky dancing; he's also kind of a coward at times. Then, there's Budderball, who inherited his father's football skills, and he also has a love for food, and is known for letting out horrible-smelling farts when someone pulls his paw. Next is Mudbud, who inherited his father's soccer skills, and well, he loves mud. Then, we've got Buddha, who inherited his father's baseball skills, and he's also a spiritual pup. Finally, there's Rosebud; she inherited her father's volley ball skills, she loves clothing, and well, she's pretty much your typical "girls rule" kind of girl.
Anyway, I gotta say that "Air Buddies" has turned out to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Basically, the plot of this story is that Buddy's owners decided that it's time to give the puppies away to new owners, but the pups don't want to be seperated, so they decide to run away from home so they could all stay together. Meanwhile, there's this sub-plot where this rich kid wants a pet that he can play with; to be more precise, he wants Air Bud. His father sends these smugglers out to find Buddy, but they're also after the Buddies. One of the smugglers happens to be this dimwitted teenager. To be honest, I was really impressed with this movie. The humor in it is really clever. A lot of it reminds me of "101 Dalmatians: The Series". Even the Buddies themselves have similar personalities. Budderball is a lot like Rolly because he's plump, has a desire for food, and his catchphrase, "Oh sweet mama", is kinda like Rolly's catchphrase, "Oh papa". Buddha's a lot like Cadpig as he meditates and talks in a lot of metaphors. B-Dawg kind of reminds me of Lucky as he's overconfident and cowardly. I mean, it's not quite the same as "101 Dalmatians", but it's pretty close. I guess I could consider it to be like a new generation version of it. It's overall a great movie, and a great start to a wonderful movie series. Not to mention, this is also Don Knotts' final film.
Now, sometime later came a sequel to "Air Buddies" called "Snow Buddies". In this sequel, the Buddies stumble onto an ice cream truck and then get shipped to Alaska. There, they meet this Husky named Shasta, whose owner has a dream of competing in a dog sled race. Of course, the Buddies aren't used to being out in the cold; in fact, I heard that one of the puppies died while filming due to the cold weather. Anyway, while all this is going on, all the Buddies' owners are trying to find them and get them back home, which takes a lot longer than it should have. "Snow Buddies", I gotta say, was not quite as good as the original, but it was forgivable.
Then came "Space Buddies", the third installment in the series. In this episode, the owners of the Buddies were going on a field trip to see a rocket launch. Buddha comes up with a plan to sneak himself and his brothers and sister to go along with the kids. However, they end up getting themselves on the rocket and blast into space. While up there, they meet this dog (I'm not sure what breed of dog he is) named Spudnick, who has been living in this space station for many years with his owner, Yuri, an overly-happy Russian dude. Of course, the Buddies are wanting to get back home, as Spudnick is to get home to his little boy, Sasha. When it comes to movies, three is usually a bad number, and most of the time, when you put characters in space, it results in an automatic failure. This was easily the worst of the series, but it was not bad enough for me not to enjoy it. Can you tell I'm a hardcore fan?
"Santa Buddies", the latest edition of the franchise, I would have ot say is the best one by far. Everybody loves Christmas specials, and this one is no exception. In this movie, the Buddies are trying to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, in the North Pole, Santa Claus and his crew are trying their best to get ready for Christmas, but there's this icycle that holds the Spirit of Christmas alive, and once it's all melted, Christmas will be gone forever. In the North Pole, in this movie, somehow, dogs and people are able to talk to each other, not to mention, there are dogs who work at Santa's workshop as well. Santa has a dog named Santa Paws, who has this puppy named Puppy Paws, a trouble-making dog who just wants to be a normal puppy. He finds the address of one of the Buddies and finds his way over there. He meets the Buddies to make friends with them, but also causes a lot of crazy Christmas chaos. Well, I won't give too much more away, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed once you watch it.
Now, at first, I thought "Santa Buddies" might possibly be the last movie in the series. However, I have been hearing a rumour that another Buddies movie is in the works: "Scary Buddies". Presumably, this one will be Halloween-related. As of today, there is no Wikipedia page of it, and nothing has yet popped up on IMDb. I don't know if it's getting made or not, but as of right now, it's only a rumour. Since I'm a hardcore fan, I think it should get made. I would really like to see the Buddies go on another adventure. Or better yet, they should make an animated TV series. That would be awesome! But right now, all we can do is just hope for the best.
So, yeah, that's basically what I gotta say about the Buddies movies. If you haven't seen them, and you're a fan of dogs, then these are definately for you. However, a lot of people have been giving a lot of bad reviews about them. Well, don't listen to them, because they have no heart. Fans of "101 Dalmatians" will definately enjoy these films. However, before you watch them, if you don't think they'll be any good, I'd like you to just erase all memories of "Air Bud", "Homeward Bound", or whatever, and just think of this as a new experience.
That's all I gotta say, and just because it's me, I'll just say it like an amateur. I'm done. Have a nice day.