A heartwarming and enjoyable family film for the whole family! For those who enjoyed the original “Air Bud” film or the most recent “Buddies” films, parents will definitely want to pick up “Air Bud: Golden Receiver” as this time, Bud plays football.
DVD TITLE: Air Bud: Golden Receiver – Special Edition
DURATION: 90 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: NTSC, Widescreen (1:85:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Spanish language track, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
RATED: G (All Ages Admitted)
RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2010
Based on the character “Air Bud” created by Kevin Diccicco
Directed by Richard Martin
Written by Paul Tamasy & Aaron Mendelsohn
Executive Produced by Michael Strange, Anne Vince, William Vince
Produced by Robert Vince
Associate Produced by Ian Fodie
Line Produecr: Michael Potkins
Director of Photography: Mike Southon, B.S.C.
Music by Brahm Wenger
Edited by Melinda Friedman, Bruce Lange
Casting by Abra Edelman, Elisa Goodman
Production Design by Rex Raglan
Art Direction by Eric Norlin
Set Decoration by Johanna Mazur, David Parke, Grant Pearse
Costume Design by Patricia Hargreaves
Starring:
Buddy the Dog
Kevin Zegers as Josh Framm
Cynthia Stevenson as Jackie Framm
Gregor Harrison as Patrick Sullivan
Nora Dunn as Natalya
Perry Anzilotti as Popov
Robert Costanzo as Coach Fanelli
Shayn Solberg as Tom
Suzanne Ristic as Principal Salter
Alyson MacLaren as Andrea Framm
Tim Conway as Fred Davis
Dick Martin as Phil Phil
Warren Moon as himself
Now you can kick off all-star family fun with the heartwarming Air Bud: Golden Receiver Special Edition, featuring exclusive all-new bonus action: Sports Channel play-by-play quarterbacked by the Buddies! This time out, Buddy, the hoop-shooting, hotshot canine, tackles a new sport—football. When his teenage owner reluctantly becomes the school’s new quarterback, Buddy catches the spirit and joins the team. Soon, the two find themselves leading the Timberwolves to the state championship. But victory hopes are sidelined when two sinister Russian circus owners take a bite out of everyone’s plans and dognap Buddy for their star attraction. Give three cheers for Disney’s hilarious hit that goes the whole nine yards for outrageous fun and adventure.
The sequel to “Air Bud”, “Air Bud: Golden Receiver”, the family film that won hearts in 1998 and was released on DVD back in 2000 makes its return to DVD with a special edition release in 2010.
With the success of the first film in the box office (making $24 million), “Air Bud: Golden Receiver” was the second of five “Air Bud” films which would then spin-off to the current “Buddies” films (four total as of now) featuring the children of the original Air Bud.
The film continues where the last film left off. In the last film, Josh discovers his golden retriever, Bud has the talent of playing basketball and eventually helps him Josh and his team win a championship. This time around, Josh Framm (played by Kevin Zegers, “Gossip Girl”, “Transamerica”) and his friend Tom (played by Shayn Solberg, “Eureka”, “Agent Cody Banks”) talk about football and how Tom wants both of them to play for the team in order to catch the interest of the girls in school. But Josh is not too sure he wants to play because his sport is basketball.
When he takes Bud for his yearly exam at the vet, they discover that their vet is out on sabbatical and taking his place is Patrick Sulllivan (played by Gregory Harrison, “North Shore”, “Falcon Crest”, “Reunion”) and everything seems to check out fine. Meanwhile, two animal thieves from Russia – Natalya (played by Nora Dunn, “Saturday Night Live”, “Entourage”) and Popov (played by Perry Anzilotti, “ER”) see a video of Bud playing basketball and now have their eyes set on stealing him.
Meanwhile, when Josh returns home one day, he notices guys are calling home and learns that his mother Jackie (played by Cynthia Stevenson, “Surviving, Suburbia”, “Men in Trees”, “According to Jim”) is being asked out to go on dates. He pretends he doesn’t care but deep inside it bothers him. Each time a guy comes to the house to date his mother, Josh ends up scaring them. One day, while Josh’s mother is rollerblading with Buddy, Buddy pulls her towards the wharf and she accidentally falls on top of the new vet, Patrick. And not long after, the two start dating and get closer with one another.
With Josh still hurting since his father’s death and not sure if he’s ready for his mother to date, let alone seeing Patrick at their house constantly, Josh decides to join the Timberwolves Jr. high football team. Hoping to not see Patrick and avoid getting caught up with his mother’s relationship. Josh knows nothing about football but after showing Coach Fanelli (played by Robert Costanzo, “Hill Street Blues”, “The White Shadow”, “Joe & Valerie”) his throw, Fanelli makes him the backup quarterback.
While practicing his throws at the park, Josh notices that his dog Bud has an interest with the football. When he throws it, Bud catches it and realizes that Bud has the talent to catch footballs. Long passes, short passes…he can do it.
As Josh goes to meet with his coach, he hears the principal and coach talk about the future of the team. Because the team has had a decade of losing seasons, the board wants to see an improvement of the team and if it doesn’t happen, the coach will lose his job. While at his first game, the star quarterback for the Timberwolves goes down with an injury and now Josh must become the team’s quarterback.
With him worry about his mother dating a new man, his coach’s future depends on the team winning and now having to be the quarterback of the football team, it may be a bit too much for Josh. But when Bud joins the football team and leads them to a win, perhaps Josh and Bud can inspire the team to play better football and become champions.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Air Bud: Golden Receiver – Special Edition” is featured in widescreen (1:85:1) – enhanced for 16×9 televisions. For a 1998 film, the picture quality is pretty good. I don’t recall seeing any aging, excessive grain or any video fragmenting. Overall, for a film that is 12-years-old, picture quality still remains pretty good for DVD.
As for audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound with a Spanish language track. For the most part, “Air Bud: Golden Receiver” is a center and front channel driven film. Dialogue is clear and understandable as well as the film’s music soundtrack.
Subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The main special feature on the DVD is “The Buddie’s Sports Channel” (6:05) featuring the puppies in the recent Buddies films featuring Bud-dha B-Dawg, Mudbud, Budderball and Rosebud as they give a play-by-play commentary of their father, Bud’s football scenes.
Also, included with this DVD is an “Air Bud: Golden Receiver” whistle and necklace. The whistle is pretty cool looking as the metal cylindrical whistle matches the metallic bronze slipcase that the DVD comes with.
With the popularity of the buddies films and the ten year anniversary of “Air Bud: Golden Receiver”, it’s great to see a special edition of the DVD come out especially before the upcoming Super Bowl.  Where the first film focuses on a child who lost his father and bonds with his new dog, this second film focuses on Josh getting used to his mother who has now moved forward in dating other people and Josh having to get used to it. So, you still have the emotional bond between mother and son and most importantly, Josh and his dog Buddy.
If you watched “Air Bud”, you know what to expect from “Air Bud: Golden Receiver” but this time the sport is football. The DVD comes with the buddies special feature which is nothing much but just an added feature for your children who love the buddies. And as mentioned, the special edition comes with a whistle, which is very loud. So, parents…a little precaution if your child plans to go crazy with it.
Overall, “AIR BUD” is a fun film for the whole family. Parents do not have to worry about their children being scared. This sequel focuses more on Josh and his relationship with his family and playing football and less on the thieves going after Bud (unlike the first film which featured the original owner wanting his dog back).  I watched “Air Bud: Golden Receiver” along with my six-year-old and he enjoyed it.
So, if your child/children has enjoyed the last “Air Bud” film or enjoys any of the “Buddies” films, definitely pick up “Air Bud: Golden Receiver – Special Edition”.