Friday, December 21, 2012

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000) Review:


After the success of Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), Disney and Pixar studios thought it would be profitable for them to make a spin-off of one of the main characters, specifically Buzz Lightyear. Yes, having a Woody spin-off would have been interesting but honestly, I'm not quite sure any child would be interested a "western setting" TV show. Science fiction and futuristic worlds is what the majority people love now because it's a boundless area for exploration.

Lightyear & his team
The story of this movie is about Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen (from  the Toy Story franchise), which enters the screen like any other space ranger would; confronting evil. There's really no need to go into plot for this review because it is very simplistic and understandable. And although this video is made mainly for the kids, young to old adults should be able to enjoy this film as well without having to shake their heads all that much.

Along with Tim Allen is Nicole Sullivan (Mira Nova), Larry Miller (XR), Stephen Furst (Booster) and Wayne Knight as the Evil Emperor Zurg. All of these actors give commendable performances as their characters. My two favorite characters were XR and Emperor Zurg. Larry Miller gives XR a great sense of humor and a lot of sarcasm to the table. As for Zurg, Wayne Knight just knows how to make Zurg sound evil but only on the surface and not too dark. Even Zurg has some comedic moments that are fun to watch. "Nanna Zurg"? Cute Zurg, real cute.

Emperor Zurg about to get some information from the LGMs
The animation, although I would not say totally looks professional, it at least looks good on the TV screen. From what I saw, there were only a few real visible continuity issues but overall the film was fairly persistent on sticking to what it output. There were even a couple of Easter eggs, for example, a small time on screen the viewer may see a magic lamp...cough cough Aladdin (1992) or...a giant three pronged claw that latches onto a mystical orb that belongs to the little green men...cough cough Toy Story (1995). It's all in there, it just needs to be looked at with a keen eye.

Action sequences are well animated too. The colors mesh well with the surroundings that they belong to and what they represent. Adam Berry is the composer to this film and I must say that he did a great job creating a main theme for our beloved Pixar character. The tune is catchy and also entertaining. I am still disappointed that the studio didn't make a Woody spin-off. I still think that would've been cool. Oh well. This film led up to a great TV series so that's a plus.

Having a spin-off of one of Pixar's most memorable characters was an excellent decision on Disney's part. The whole video is a blast.

Points Earned --> 9:10

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