Treasure Buddies (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette Music Video
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	89:04
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (60:31)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Robert Vince
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Tucker Albrizzi Adam Alexi-Malle Tim Conway Mason Cook Arthur Corber Nikki Emamialagha Einaz Farahmand Mo Gallini
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Brahm Wenger

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired French Dutch	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

How good could the twelfth film of a series which started with a run of the mill children's film be? Did I mention this is a straight-to-DVD release? Well if you keep your expectations in line with those questions, this film is actually not too bad. Don't get me wrong, it should be a direct-to-DVD release but it is quite a passable children's film and both my pre-teen sons enjoyed it.

     This film can probably be best described as a children's version of Indiana Jones combined with The Mummy starring Labrador puppies. For those who don't know (or care I suppose) the buddies are a group of five Labrador puppies who go on adventures, having previously been to space and the snow. In this film, their master's grandfather, Thomas Howard is an archaeologist who has been searching for the lost necklace of Cleocatra (no, not a typo). The baddie, Dr Phillip Wellington (Edward Herrmann) turns up to offer Grandpa a clue to find the necklace and takes Grandpa and his grandson off to Egypt to search for the necklace. Of course, the puppies tag along and lead the chase for the necklace. There is also an evil cat, owned by the baddie, who plans to take over the world. The story is mostly told in flashback by a monkey called Uncle Babi to his nephew Babu. Along the way they meet new friends and have various adventures quite reminiscent of the movies mentioned above.

     This movie is competently made and tells its slight story quite well, adding humour and mild thrills to the mix. I could go on about the sometimes annoying voices or the lame jokes but that is to be expected in this type of film. If your kids enjoy films with talking animals or have enjoyed previous films in this series, this will certainly entertain them.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was clear and sharp throughout, affected a little by blur during motion but no worse than normal for DVD.

     The colour was generally excellent for DVD, bright and cheery as would be expected.

     There were no obvious artefacts.

     There are subtitles available in English which are clear and easy to read. There are also tracks in English for the hearing impaired, French & Dutch.

     There is a layer break at 60:31 which was not noticeable during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is very good.

     This disc contains a English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus other Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in French & Dutch.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand throughout.

    The music is cheesy.

     The surround speakers were well used in action scenes without setting the world on fire.

     The subwoofer was also used quite well for action scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

     The menu is straight forward but does its job well. Fast Play is available as an option.

DIGS - B-Dawg Edition (4:24)

     Tour of one of the puppies’ houses hosted by a young girl. The kids liked it but adults should avoid.

'Roam' Music Video (2:58)

     Video of remake of B-52s song by Caroline Sunshine.

    This DVD seems to be very similar globally.

     A minor but entertaining entry into the long running 'Bud' series.

     The video quality is very good.

     The audio quality is very good.

     There are two minor extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall