I REALLY want you to see this film…
I was just staring at my dope-ass backpack (pictured below), as I often do on a Sunday afternoon, when I remembered how amazing Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is.
The 2000 made-for-video Toy Story spin-off is a traditional animation, set in a universe where Buzz Lightyear is a real space ranger (a sort of space policeman).
You might assume it’s just some dumb, cheap rubbish produced purely to cash in on Toy Story mania, which was at an all time high following the release of Toy Story 2 in 1999. But the fact that Buzz Lightyear of Star Command didn’t get a theatrical release is a crime. This movie is fantastic, and the best depiction of Buzz Lightyear you’ll ever see.
The plot
Buzz – voiced by Tim Allen in this movie – is on a mission with his friend and partner, Warp Darkmatter, searching for three missing LGMs (Little Green Men – the green aliens from the Toy Story movies).
They discover the LGMs have been captured by Evil Emperor Zurg, who is trying to force the location of the Unimind – a cloud storage device for their brains – out of them using his cranial dissector bot (which, when googled, returns a song named in its honour). Buzz and Warp rescue the LGMs, but as the base self-destructs, Warp is caught in the explosion.
Some time later, Buzz still blames himself for Warp’s death. Star Command leader, Captain Nebula, demands Buzz takes on a new partner but he can’t. Warp’s memory haunts him. From now on, he works alone.
Except he doesn’t as Mira Nova – a plucky, badass, space-princess, inspired to join Star Command after Buzz saved her home planet – just sort of walks into Buzz’s mission. As do rejected robotic operative, XR, and janitor, Booster.
Buzz’s mission to save the LGM’s Unimind from Zurg and his infamous enforcer, Agent Z, takes him on a journey of self-discovery, making some new friends on the way – with twists and turns abandon.
The review
The above might sound a little generic, and the actual plot kinda is, but this is a really good film. The point of this movie was to set up regular series as part of Disney’s kids TV programming block. But what they created in the process is actually a very funny sci-fi parody, and an awesome incarnation of a beloved character.
I don’t want to include any spoilers, because if you’re a Toy Story or Disney fan and you haven’t seen it yet, I would really like you to – you can borrow my DVD.
So without giving anything away, prepare for a LOT of Star Wars and Star Trek references, along with every possible sci-fi trope you could imagine. The plot really is just an amalgamation of popular sci-fi, which – if you’re into that stuff – is actually quite cool. It takes beloved stories and applies them, surprisingly convincingly, to a beloved character.
So while the plot is relatively unoriginal, the voice acting coupled with clever animation make this film.
Tim Allen voices Buzz Lightyear, as he did in the Toy Story films, but this version of Buzz is different. He avoids just doing pre-realising he’s a toy Buzz from Toy Story, and makes him a little more human. He’s still as sanctimonious and dramatic as you’d expect, but now he’s got quite a dry sense of humour – and a confidence in his bad-assness, which he enjoys demonstrating.
Though the star of the show is arguably Evil Emperor Zurg, voiced by Wayne Knight (of Jurassic Park fame). He is a quote machine in this movie, with almost everything he says being hilarious but also genuinely quite menacing. I remember thinking of him like one of those teachers you had in school where they could be all laughs and jokes one second, then just snap and be super-strict, authoritarian the next. He’s funny, but – as I child – he really did make me uneasy.
In researching (a quick flick through Wikipedia) this post, I discovered that it was Diedrich Bader who voiced the evil Agent Z. Now I first encountered Bader as a morally corrupt PR man in Veep, who achieved the impossible by being notably unlikeable in a show of entirely unsympathetic characters. Then he came onto my screen again as the adorable husband in American Housewife. I tried to resist his charms, though I quickly succumbed. But now this? I could get over his loathsome Veep character, but not this. This is too big. I’m sorry, Diedrich – you are a bad man.
P.S. I tweeted words to that effect (which Diedrich liked – just saying) but don’t look it up because the way I stupidly worded it is a plot spoiler. You have been warned (and I’m sorry).
So…
There’s loads more I could say about this film – and I’m sure I will at some point. But for now, I really think you should go and watch it, because I feel like you haven’t. I can’t say anything for the TV series, because I haven’t seen it (yet) – but this is a great movie.
I remember buying the VHS (it came in a white box which was exciting) from Sainsburys with my own saved up money when it first came out. I remember buying the DVD on Amazon with my mum’s credit card without asking five years ago. Each time I was super-excited about owning this film, and I want to share that feeling with you guys.
If you love Toy Story, if you love seeing people being bad-asses, if you love sci-fi, or if you just want to spend 71 minutes in 2000s straight-to-video Disney goodness, then this is a film for you.