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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much Better Than It Sounds!, September 8, 2000
I first came across the Air Bud movies channel hopping one night, and at first was a little wary of the premise - a dog that can play basketball (No1). The sequel followed, and in that the same dog ends up playing football. In the third one the dog progresses to soccer - He really is a talented dog! It really shouldn't have worked - but amazingly it does. The dog - played by two different pooches through the movies after the first animal died after the production of Air Bud 1 - is undoubtedly the star of these films, but through the trilogy support comes in the form of Kevin Zegers as Josh Framm, the owner and friend of Buddy, the dog in question. The rest of Framm's family also feature through the trilogy, but both his mom and his little sister are played by different actors - though one hardly notices this. The first movie (1997) is where it all begins. The current owner of Buddy, Norm Snively, a clown by profession (A Clown and a Hound), drops Buddy by the side of the road after a bad performance. A moment later Buddy sees Josh Framm and Josh sees Buddy - but it isn't until later at a deserted basketball court that the two meet again and become friends. Josh is the outsider looking for a friend, and the dog is without any to look after him. Consequently the two become, in essence, best friends. It is there that Josh discovers Buddy is an ace at basketball. The second movie (1998) - Air Bud: Golden Receiver - is a few years later, and Josh is older now and tiring of basketball. His friend persuades him to join the football team. Josh reluctantly agrees after hearing his mothers new boyfriend, whom he does not like, talk about enjoying basketball. Naturally Buddy quickly takes to football and is on the team too. Not as sharp or as endearing as the first movie, this is still an enjoyable sequel and a great fun for fans of Buddy. The third movie (2000) continues the story of Josh and Buddy. This time they move into the world of English soccer. Again, like with basketball and football, Buddy proves to be a natural. Kevin Zegers again appears as Josh, giving that much needed consistency and believability to the proceedings, and the young Canadian again handles himself well. The movie proves a tad disappointing, but will have children enjoying every minute nonetheless. So forget your hockey-playing chimps, cats that sleuth, and talking parrots - Air Bud is most talented of the bunch (after all, the movie series was inspired by an actual basketball playing dog). And with such excellent support from Kevin Zegers, funny scripts and great direction, there really can be only one box set worth buying this Christmas, and that's Air Bud. You just gotta love it!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Buy them separately and save money, April 6, 2006
Given the fact that all the movies have dropped in price to $14.99 each, you'd save a lot more money by purchasing them separately than paying $90 for this boxset (which would round out to $30 a film, twice what you'd normally pay).
Air Bud (1997) - the first in the series, probably the best "family wise".
Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998) - the second, not so good IMO
Air Bud: World Pup (2000) - the third, I enjoy it more than Air Bud, probably because I'd rather watch soccer over basketball.
Not included in the boxset, making it less of a reason to buy are the other films (which I haven't seen yet) :
Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002)
Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003) (which is still marked at $19.99, but it'll likely get a price drop)
and the forthcoming Airbuddies (2006)...
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4.0 out of 5 stars
In Fernfield blue and gold, December 5, 2009
Based upon the exploits of an actual dog, this trilogy follows the fortunes of young Josh Framm and his wonderful golden retriever, Buddy. In the first movie, "Air Bud," 13-year-old Josh (Kevin Zegers) moves with his mother and little sister Andrea to the pleasant little town of Fernfield, WA, "Where Everything is Possible," as its motto declares. Josh loves basketball, to which he was introduced by his father, a test pilot recently killed in an accident, but he's too shy and too deep in grief to try out for the middle-school team. Instead he finds a disused hoop in the parking lot of an abandoned church and starts practicing his shots there. Living in the brush is a dog who has escaped from an abusive master (Michael Jeter). Boy and dog soon become friends, and Josh discovers that Buddy can shoot hoops by banging the ball with his nose. Encouraged by Buddy's apparent love of the game, he becomes the team's assistant manager (a fancy term for water boy), then a team member, and Buddy comes aboard as mascot and later as a player, there being, as the coach observes, nothing in the rule book that says a dog can't play basketball. Eventually the Timberwolves, with Buddy's nose shots, make it to the championship, but the publicity brings the dog's owner out of the woodwork, and Josh must get him back if Fernfield is to win.
In "Air Bud: Golden Receiver," it's a year later, and Josh is distressed when his mother starts dating Patrick (Dale Midkiff), Buddy's veterinarian. Trying to escape the man's regular presence at his house, he tries out for the football team, and to his surprise makes it. What's more, Buddy proves to have the same aptitude for carrying a football as he had for shooting baskets, and soon boy and dog are once again leading the Timberwolves' charge for the championship. Along the way Josh realizes that he really likes Patrick, and he and Buddy risk the team's success to prevent him from leaving Fernfield.
The trilogy concludes with "Air Bud: World Pup," in which Josh is in high school and Patrick has just become his stepfather (in a ceremony attended by ringbearer Buddy decked out in a dog's version of a tuxedo). Smitten with Emma Putter (Brittany Paige-Bouck), a recent arrival from England who was, of course, bred on soccer, Josh decides to try out for the game. What he doesn't know is that Buddy is equally smitten with Emma's female retriever and is in fact sneaking off to spend his nights with her. Buddy also, of course, proves to be Fernfield's secret weapon on the soccer field, and his presence and Emma's on an otherwise all-human-male team leads to trouble for the team when a rival coach gets it thrown off the league. When Buddy becomes the father of six fine pups and begins teaching them his moves, and a pair of rather incompetent former dogcatchers who've gone into business stealing dogs to sell targets the little family, it's up to Josh, Emma, and Josh's sister Andrea to foil their plot. More comic than the previous two films and perhaps not quite as satisfying, "World Pup" still has its share of tension and thrills, besides a lesson to teach about taking responsibility for your own failures.
Even viewers who aren't dog people (I'm a cat lover myself) can enjoy Buddy's amazing skills and the deep bond between him and his humans (and, later, his canine family). And the triumphant conclusion of the first movie, especially, may make you want to cheer. Families should like this set and find nothing in it to object to.
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