User reviews

When I reviewed Lightyear, I found it to be bland and recommended the TV show, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Lo and behold, that film was not the first attempt to make a movie, as this movie exists.

Basically, this film can be considered a special edition of the first three episodes of the series, as this was actually released before the whole thing premiered. After a mission ends with the loss of his partner, Warp Darkmatter, Buzz swears to work alone, even going as far as to reject Commander Nebula, who makes Mira Nova, a space ranger from the planet Tangea, and even XR, a robot who can be reassembled, but when the LGM's Unimind is stolen, the robot is made silly and useless. However, he must team up with those three, as well as Booster, an alien who works as janitor for Star Command, to stop him from using it to control everyone and everything in the universe.

As a movie, this has a lot of things that would be removed for the show. For starters, Tim Allen voices Buzz in this version, while the show would replace his voicework with Patrick Warburton, who voices Buzz for the show, and the start has a special intro in the world of Toy Story. While it has some flaws (some characters are meh, while Buzz falls victim to spewing one-liners like good always winning), the story and action is perfect, and the voice actors all do a good job. This is a movie I would recommend more than the new Lightyear movie, as this does a lot of stuff better.

If you ever want a bit of a laugh while babysitting, this might be a good film to have with you. Kids will love it simply because it's got Buzz Lightyear, an amusing villain, and loads of aliens. Maybe it's just a sign of my immaturity, but I found quite a lot of the jokes in this movie very funny (and even the parts that aren't funny can be vaguely amusing in their corniness). The characters do a lot for the movie - Lightyear's unlikely friend and partner Warp Darkmatter has several funny lines, and XR's personality changes and sarcasm make him quite endearing. Even the villain, the Evil Emperor Zurg, has his likable moments.

While you won't miss any life-changing moments if you don't see this movie (and really, it pales in comparison to the Toy Story movies), it's a good choice if you've seen every other kids' movie too many times and want to watch something that'll amuse you too.

You can probably guess that I loved the two Pixar films, they were sophisticated, funny and imaginative. This is a decent feature length pilot to the equally decent TV series. Of course some of it is corny, with one or two lacklustre plot points and a rather scant length. But the animation is good, more the galactic backgrounds rather than the character animation. Also there is some good music with William Shatner providing the biggest surprise singing over the end credits, and an excellent voice cast especially Wayne Knight as Zurg. A vast majority of the jokes are hits than misses, the best coming from Booster and Warp, and the dialogue has its moments. The characters have nice personalities, Mira is lovely, while Buzz is a good hero and Zurg an amusing villain. Overall, uneven but a decent pilot to a decent series. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Amusing spin-of from the Toy Story movies. The film looks more like a pilot for a new TV-series with Buzz as the hero. Here in an animated (not 3-d animated) full length movie. The most surprising with this film is that William Shatner sings the end title song and the fact that it is Tom Hanks little brother Jim that is the voice of Woody not Tom himself...

In "Toy Story 2," Woody finds out that he came from the TV show "Woody's Roundup"; Buzz Lightyear did it the other way around and for real. The trouble is that "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" never really worked as a series, and this video feature doesn't really cut it - and that's without taking either of its truly great predecessors into consideration. If you do...

Essentially a feature-length pilot for the TV series*, "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins" opens with a Pixar-animated prologue wherein Andy's toys get ready to watch the very movie we're about to (the subsequent series also begins with Buzz, Woody, Slinky etc congregating in front of the TV); the point of this is never clear, especially since Woody's reference to how Buzz is drawn underlines how different the two ventures are. The story has Buzz and his partner Warp Darkmatter rescuing three Little Green Men from Emperor Zurg, but when Warp is killed in the fighting our hero swears he won't have any partners anymore; as fans of the show know he wound up with three of them anyway, and this relates how he got together with Mira, Booster and XR.

The movie's got its moments (like the throwaway gag where XR reads a Victoria's Circuit catalogue) and it's hardly boring, but I can't imagine many viewers who've seen more than, oh, five movies being surprised at the movie's biggest plot twist; and the wit and depth of the previous movies is sucked out, leaving little more than a standard comedy-action cartoon. True, it makes sense that a toy like Buzz would inspire a cash-in TV series in the world according to "Toy Story," but do we actually have to see it? Watchable but bland; however, you can't deny that "He-Man" et al never had end credit songs from William Shatner(!).

*Like several other Disney TV cartoons ("TaleSpin," "Chip'N'Dale Rescue Rangers"), the pilot was later edited down and shown on the series in several parts, in this case three. In that version (those versions?), Shatner's song and the prologue with the video are absent, and Tim Allen's voice is replaced by Patrick Warburton, who provided Buzz's voice on the series.

Everyone knows Buzz Lightyear, an action figure with it's own merchandise.

Till Buzz gets his own Cartoon series. In the beginning you get to see the Toys from Toy Story watching the new video of the Buzz Lightyear movie.

The movie is featured in 2-D animation. While the toys were in 3-D animation like in Toy Story. The movie has not the action figure Buzz but a Buzz Lightyear who is Human and part of star Command.

He is on a mission to prevent Emperor Zurg(from Toy Story 2) from using the powers of this core thing from the LGM(Little Green Men) planet.

He teams up with 3 different characters who wanted to be his partner.

The animation is very well done, and the story is original with some jokes and action.

If you're obsess with Buzz Lightyear then you might like this movie.

i wasn't too impressed with this animated spin off of the Toy Story films.i just expected better.the story was pretty weak,but at least there were a few amusing moments.i found it too preachy myself.i like the message it has,about friendship and teamwork,but i just thought it was a bit too unsubtle.kids might like it,considering there was a fair amount of action.there's nothing inappropriate that i saw,so it's probably suitable for most ages.in fact,the movie is pretty tame,with pretty much no violence.anyway,this isn't horrible by any means,it just isn't anything special.for me,Buzz Lightyear of Star Command:The Adventure Begins is a 2/5

I have to say I was delightfully surprised with the new Buzz Lightyear video. Not only is there enough action and quirky stunts to keep the kids entertained, but the writers took pity on parents as well by throwing in a LOT of inside jokes and great taglines for us to enjoy as well! The new characters are fun (Larry Miller as XR is just a riot) and we get to see a terrific cast of gifted voice talent having a blast with their characters.

The violence factor is minimal cartoon violence - more campy than anything else. One of the biggest surprises is to hear Patrick Warburton doing the voice of the Little Green Men - as well as the hilarious cameo by William Shatner "singing" the Space Ranger anthem!! That in itself is worth a viewing. Overall, I have to say this is well worth at LEAST a rental, if not a purchase, particularly if you have young ones in the house who love Buzz to infinity and beyond!

It's almost a shame that Pixar have decided to retcon their own output through 'Lightyear' because actually this was pretty good, and could very well have been the film that made Andy want the toy in the first place.

Very tongue in cheek, and perhaps aimed at younger kids it may be, but I enjoyed this, I thought it was fun entertainment.

It begins with a standard S&R mission and in the end Buzz is involved in an adventure, where the whole galaxy is at stake, with him and his friends being the only ones left to stop evil emperor Zurg, who is the excellent villain here. At no time is the movie ever boring, the story is never hold up at any point for too long and while the overall plot is predictable (Buzz will defeat Zurg and save the galaxy), in between it often takes unexpected turns. The robot and Zurgs men add a great deal of comedy and the attentive viewer will notice some wonderfull allusions "That's not a spacecraft - it's obviously a weatherballoon"

... but then, he's a big Toy Story fanatic anyway. Yes, this is essentially the pilot for a Disney "One Saturday Morning" cartoon offering, but it does help provide a bit more background as to the legend of Buzz Lightyear. If you're buying or renting a movie for a Toy Story fan, this will do just fine. I love Diedrich Bader as the voice of "Agent Z".

In a web interview a few years ago, one of the head honchos at Pixar was asked the secret to making a successful kids' movie and he said it was to make something that adults will enjoy. Kids, he said, have terrible taste; they'll will watch anything. A kids' movie that is too dumb for the grown-ups is going to languish at the box office. But if you make a movie with some clever dialogue and engaging plot, plus some elementary "teaching moments" that mainstream parents can discuss with their kids, then you will enjoy robust ticket and video sales.

Pixar put that formula to good use with their successful run of computer-animated films, but I am hesitant to watch anything released direct to video. But I was pleasantly surprised with Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins.

There's more "kids' stuff" here than in Toy Story and its progeny, but there's still plenty for adults to love. The voice talents are top-flight, especially Wayne Knight as Zurg. (Kudos also go to Stephen Furst, Adam Corolla and Larry Miller, all of whom seemed to be enjoying themselves and working their roles well.) Besides the voices, the film also offers some clever dialogue and good visual humor (picture a lazy robot reading a catalogue called "Victoria's Circuits"). The plot is competent. Good themes (like valuing teamwork and obeying the rules even when you don't like it) give the kids something to think about.

Finally, William Shatner shows up in the end credits with a laugh-out-loud spoken rendition of the Buzz Lightyear theme song: "To Infinity and Beyond." I had a good time explaining to my nephews and my son about Shatner's infamous "Lucy In the Sky (With Diamonds)" recording.

I'd like to see Pixar make more stuff like this.

I love this movie so much!!!!!!!! Barely anyone has heard if it, which makes it even better.

This movie may not be a classic Disney masterpiece but the characters and story is just as good. It shows Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story in his own film. There is a completely new cast to add to this movie which is 2D unlike Toy Story's 3D. We are introduced to Mira Nova a Tangean space ranger who has the ability to "ghost" through solid objects, XR a robot ranger or experimental ranger and is the humor of the film, Booster a Custodian janitor who dreams come true by becoming a space ranger and Warp Darkmtter a villain who changed sides to bad. Buzz is the star of this film and show his adventure at star command in outer space. He has to battle Zurg and needs the help of his 3 new friends Mira, XR and Booster to win.

This movie is actually really good! I enjoyed it immensely. I loved the animation style chosen for this specific movie. It's funny and amusing. It's probably like a 7 but I'm giving it a ten to help it out a little bit. I think this is a great movie to watch. When I was a kid I literally carried around the DVD everywhere so often that it was eventually ruined with spaghetti sauce. If you like Toy Story and if you like Buzz Lightyear I'm telling you you're going to love this movie! I advise you please don't miss out on this movie. I'm really wishing they would put this movie on Disney+ eventually.

Disney has had a win some/lose some track record with its' direct to video animated features. From the triumphant Lion King 2, to the abyssmal Pocahontas 2. Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is another winner. The movie begins with a computer animated segment featuring Buzz, Woody, and all the other toys of Andy's room, preparing to sit down to watch the new Buzz Lightyear movie. It's a really cute intro featuring Tim Allen as Buzz, and Jim Hanks (doing his best impersonation of his brother Tom) as Woody. Wallace Shawn is hilarious, once again, as Rex the dinosaur, who can't contain his excitement over the new Buzz video. As the toys sit down in front of the tv to watch the movie, we zoom into the tv and the feature begins proper. While it might disappoint some that the rest of the movie is done with traditional animation, to me it seems only fitting. After all, the computer animated Toy Story world is all about toys. This movie is about the adventures of Buzz Lightyear, the character that the toy in Toy Story is based on. This movie is supposed to be the same thing the kids in the Toy Story world watch. The film is about Buzz trying to stop the Evil Emperor Zurg from destroying the universe. Zurg steals the LGM's (Little Green Men) Uni-Mind, the device that keeps them mentally linked as one. Zurg intends to use it to spread his evil all over the universe. When Buzz's partner is killed by Zurg, Buzz vows to work alone. But Star Command has other ideas. Through the course of the story, Buzz actually ends up with 3 new partners. Princess Mira Nova, a janitor with dreams of being a Space Ranger named Booster, and a robot called XR (experimental ranger). Booster and XR are a classic comic relief team in the spirit of Timon and Puumba from Lion King. It's an exciting story filled with action, betrayl, heroic rescues, humor, and Tim Allen at his scene chewing best. It's perfect for all families, and trust me, kids will LOVE it! I bought the movie for my 3 year old son, and 1 year old daughter. They were mezmerized. For that matter, so was I. 9 out of 10!!!!!

This movie started as a "watch while I do laundry" title, and quickly spawned into one of my favorites all throughout middle school and beyond. It's become a cult classic among my family, and the lines are quoted extensively around my house.

The animation isn't too special on its own, but the story, characters, and hilarious dialogue makes this movie an easy 10/10 for such glorious lines as:

"If it means less paperwork, I'll take chaos."

"We are one. We are united. We are powerful. We. Are. AFRAID"

"That? That's not a spacecraft! It's obviously a weather balloon!"

"Status Report" "Not Good." Excellent! Let's roll!"

Honestly, give this movie a shot. Your kids will love it. You'll love it. It's Brilliant.

Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command The Adventures Begins is also based on Toy Story and the show Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command from the Toon Disney show since (2000-2001) and it even features Emperor Zurg even though he made an appearance in Toy Story 2 and Lightyear despite getting bombed at the box office but i think is also a great way to continue the franchise.

This is, of course, the big prequel direct-to-dvd movie setting up for the show. Often these projects can go awry and end up flat and lame, like with Return of Jafar or the failed Beauty and the Beast or Atlantis pilot movies.

However, in this case, Pixar and Disney managed to pull it off shockingly, spectacularly well. The animation is well above your typical 90s-era Saturday Morning TV budget look, with great dynamic, fluid movements for all the characters, wonderful expressions and surprisingly great action sequences.

The characters are pretty broad; the bold hero Buzz, the strong female lead Princess Mira Nova, the comic relief 'funny guy' XR, and the bumbling but well-meaning Booster, etc.

What sets them apart is the voice actors. Of course, Tim Allen was brought in to dub over Patrick Warburton's unique line reads, and he did it magnificently. If anything, I much prefer Allen's takes than Warburton's in this case. We've also got stellar talents like Larry Miller, Steven Furst, Nicole Sullivan and the crown jewel of the whole cast, Wayne Knight as Zurg.

Combine that with fun dialogue, a silly but simple and easy-to-follow plot, and some hilarious exchanges between the characters, and you've got a really fun movie for kids of any age, 3-99yrs.

8 stars, one of my childhood favourites I still revisit.

After the success of Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), Disney and Pixar studios thought it would be profitable for them to make a spin-off of one of the main characters, specifically Buzz Lightyear. Yes, having a Woody spin-off would have been interesting but honestly, I'm not quite sure any child would be interested a "western setting" TV show. Science fiction and futuristic worlds is what the majority people love now because it's a boundless area for exploration.

The story of this movie is about Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen (from the Toy Story franchise), which enters the screen like any other space ranger would; confronting evil. There's really no need to go into plot for this review because it is very simplistic and understandable. And although this video is made mainly for the kids, young to old adults should be able to enjoy this film as well without having to shake their heads all that much.

Along with Tim Allen is Nicole Sullivan (Mira Nova), Larry Miller (XR), Stephen Furst (Booster) and Wayne Knight as the Evil Emperor Zurg. All of these actors give commendable performances as their characters. My two favorite characters were XR and Emperor Zurg. Larry Miller gives XR a great sense of humor and a lot of sarcasm to the table. As for Zurg, Wayne Knight just knows how to make Zurg sound evil but only on the surface and not too dark. Even Zurg has some comedic moments that are fun to watch. "Nanna Zurg"? Cute Zurg, real cute.

The animation, although I would not say totally looks professional, it at least looks good on the TV screen. From what I saw, there were only a few real visible continuity issues but overall the film was fairly persistent on sticking to what it output. There were even a couple of Easter eggs, for example, a small time on screen the viewer may see a magic lamp...cough cough Aladdin (1992) or...a giant three pronged claw that latches onto a mystical orb that belongs to the little green men...cough cough Toy Story (1995). It's all in there, it just needs to be looked at with a keen eye.

Action sequences are well animated too. The colors mesh well with the surroundings that they belong to and what they represent. Adam Berry is the composer to this film and I must say that he did a great job creating a main theme for our beloved Pixar character. The tune is catchy and also entertaining. I am still disappointed that the studio didn't make a Woody spin-off. I still think that would've been cool. Oh well. This film led up to a great TV series so that's a plus.

Having a spin-off of one of Pixar's most memorable characters was an excellent decision on Disney's part. The whole video is a blast.

A true original. Beautifully done. Through the guise of poor animation, this low rent spinoff of the Toy Story legacy has secured it's own place of greatness. Great story line. Perfectly placed jokes. I don't know if the kids will get it, but I sure did!

I first watched this movie when I was in the age demographic to whom it was advertised but it holds up well even now, especially given the existence of the CGI remake. For context, I grew up with the Toy Story franchise. The first movie came out a few years before I was born and the second came out when I was one year old (I saw it on VCR) while Toy Story 3 came out when I was 12 (though I first watched it on DVD and later on Disney Plus). I watched the admittedly disappointing Toy Story 4 on Disney Plus and the Buzz Lightyear remake in theatres and the last of those rekindled my interest in this. It very much holds up.

Evil Emperor Zurg is an excellent villain who is an example of hilarious comic relief and never ceases to be a threat. Buzz has a well-executed character arc and I love his supporting cast. William Shatner singing "To Infinity and Beyond" at the end is great. It works as an amazing affectionate parody of merchandise driven action cartoons. Watching it while not being a child the plot twist now seems obvious but even so it's an enjoyable facet of the film. And I honestly appreciate the drama of the climax wherein Zurg has the advantage and Buzz tells him "evil never wins". And I also like how it was used as a pilot film for the show. This was great.