Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

With her older brother, Josh (Kevin Zegers), off at college, and her yuppie parents (Richard Karn and Cynthia Stevenson) obsessed with the new baby, young Andrea Framm (Caitlin Wachs) joins the junior high baseball team to escape the tedium of her home life. She's not very good, but luckily her sports-inclined golden retriever, Buddy, is a natural. Buddy also makes the team and becomes the star player. When the team gets into the championship game, a pair of zany scientists traveling in a laboratory inside a mobile home kidnap the pooch and his offspring in the interest of their experiments to clone sports-prone animals. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Pan and Scan
• Features:
  • • cc "Air Bud Batter Up!" set-top game
    • "Behind the Bases" behind-the-scenes featurette
    • Gag reel
    • Singalong song "Take Me out to the Ball Game"
    • Spanish-language track
    • French-language track
    • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
    • Full-frame (1.33:1)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Robert Vince

• Producer:

  Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts

• Screen Story:

  Robert Vince

• Screenwriter:

  Anne Vince, Anna McRoberts, Stephanie Isherwood, Sara Sutton

• Cinematographer:

  Glen Winter

• Composer (Music Score):

  Brahm Wenger

• Editor:

  Kelly Herron, Jason Pielak

• Production Designer:

  Peter Andringa

• Executive Producer:

  Michael Strange, Anne Vince, Kevin Kasha

• Casting:

  Lorna Johnson

REVIEW:

• The fourth of the family-friendly Air Bud franchise, each produced or executive produced by director Robert Vince, finds the canines and humans in capable hands in this live-action, broadly played, low-key adventure. Easily understood characters, colorful sets and costumes, a plot with very few complications, and, happily, no gross-out humor make for a lively outing. There are nice moments, and the finale will thrill the target audience of elementary school children. The baseball aspect of the plot doesn't materialize until the midway into the film, so youngsters expecting catching-and-fetching early on may squirm in their seats waiting for the setup. The original basketball-oriented Air Bud still rules, but this easily likeable puppy clearly shows its pedigree. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi