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Air Bud: Golden Receiver

Play trailer Poster for Air Bud: Golden Receiver G Released Aug 14, 1998 1h 30m Kids & Family Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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21% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Teenager Josh (Kevin Zegers) just became the legal owner of his basketball-playing dog, Buddy. But now Buddy is playing football, too, thanks to veterinarian Patrick Sullivan (Gregory Harrison), who happens to be the new boyfriend of Josh's mom. Unfortunately, Josh and Patrick don't get along too well. But, when a couple of Russians (Nora Dunn, Perry Anzilotti) see Buddy playing on TV and decide to kidnap him for their circus, the two must band together to find the dog and save him.
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Air Bud: Golden Receiver

Critics Reviews

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John Hartl Seattle Times The original film's director, Charles Martin Smith... has been replaced by Richard Martin, who brings a family-hour blandness to every scene. Rated: 2/4 May 29, 2013 Full Review Monica Eng Chicago Tribune [The film is] marked by dumbfoundingly bad dialogue, cliche-driven plotting and groan-worthy predictability. Rated: 1/4 May 29, 2013 Full Review Leonard Klady Variety As sequels go, Air Bud: Golden Receiver is barking up the wrong tree. Dec 4, 2008 Full Review Kevin Carr 7M Pictures This sequel doesn't quite have the heart of the first Air Bud. Rated: 2.5/5 Feb 3, 2015 Full Review Terence Henderson Philadelphia Daily News Although Air Bud: Golden Receiver is bit unrealistic (I know you're shocked), it does accomplish its purpose, which is to provide great fun for children. Rated: B May 29, 2013 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Aug 15, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Birithivy Y Air Bud: Golden Receiver - 5/10. Oh boy is this dog talented. Maybe this is the Mandela effect, but I swear there was a movie where the dog played hockey. I literally forgot about this movie existing until I had to search up movies I can show my niece in the future once she is able to watch and understand movies. I rated the original a 6/10 cause of nostalgia, and this one is nostalgic too. It was one of those free movies that used to come in those popcorn/cereal boxes. I think that's how I started to collect films over the years too! I remember seeing it as a kid and loving the fall setting (or am I misremembering that one with the original, who knows?). Either way, these kids films were hilariously over the top in terms of inevitability. I actually thought as a kid that a dog can make it as a pro athlete (I still am holding hope for this to hilariously happen in the future). But I miss silly movies like this where the concept is so outrageous that it makes it more entertaining than it should. Is this an objectively good movie? No, but honestly, who cares? These movies were made because they just thought of random sports for this adorable dog to play. They were movies that made me fall in love with sports even more. And these were the movies that made me love dogs in the first place. Ironically, I wanted to call my first dog either Bud or Pal from Arthur. But yeah, this movie isn't excellent, but I have fond memories of it. Its also of an example of family friendly movies that will never be made ever again in Hollywood. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/22/24 Full Review Michael W This second Air Bud movie was pretty good. Kevin Zegers, Cynthia Stevenson, Gregory Harrison, Robert Costanzo, Nora Dunn, and the rest of the cast did a pretty good job in this movie. The story of the movie was kind of entertaining and humorous. It wasn't as great as the first movie. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you might enjoy it. Like I said, it's not very good, but it's not too bad either. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/07/23 Full Review It is a very energetic sports and animal film. I just don't feel the passion of the main character for American football, all I see is a dog running around. Basketball is better. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/20/22 Full Review Rosana B Já começa tão bobinho, perde a essência draminha infantil, para se tornar uma comédia bobinha, mas não vamos desistir fácil assim, a franquia é longa, hehehe… Altamente inferior ao primeiro, provavelmente superior aos próximos 5, e ainda não compreendo para que tantas produções, pobre Bud... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/06/22 Full Review Audience Member About as good as the first one and the first one wasn't that good. This movie will be forever frozen in the 90s. It's sad but Air Bud doesn't work that well for kids now days. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member For me, this rugby-based sequel is a bit of an improvement over the first film, if just more okay than the first film. The jokes are alright, the titular Golden Retriever is adorable (though the movie becomes a bit depressing to watch when you remember that Buddy actually died a few months before this movie came out) and I actually found the drama to not be that bad. Yet the villains are incredibly cartoonish to the point that they're just there to pad out the runtime, the sports sequences aren't that exciting and I felt that the main actor's performance was mediocre, though he does have his better moments and it could get rather boring. Air Bud 2 is not bad but it's not good either, though I was more entertained by it than the first film. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Air Bud: Golden Receiver

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Movie Info

Synopsis Teenager Josh (Kevin Zegers) just became the legal owner of his basketball-playing dog, Buddy. But now Buddy is playing football, too, thanks to veterinarian Patrick Sullivan (Gregory Harrison), who happens to be the new boyfriend of Josh's mom. Unfortunately, Josh and Patrick don't get along too well. But, when a couple of Russians (Nora Dunn, Perry Anzilotti) see Buddy playing on TV and decide to kidnap him for their circus, the two must band together to find the dog and save him.
Director
Richard Martin
Producer
Robert Vince
Screenwriter
Kevin DiCicco, Aaron Mendelsohn, Paul Tamasy
Distributor
Walt Disney Pictures, Miramax Films
Production Co
Keystone Pictures, Dimension Films, Golden Receiver, Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Government
Rating
G
Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 14, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.2M
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, Surround
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.85:1)
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