- Release Date: September 8, 2009
- Publisher: Paramount
- Price: $10.99 on Amazon.com
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 66 minutes
- Special Features: None
- Genre: Animation, Family
I’ve reviewed a bunch of these “Alvin and the Chipmunk” DVD releases in the past year and most of the time, I gave them average to slightly above average ratings. “Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Star Wreck” is probably one of the better DVDs in the series but I’d still say it’s only a little better than average.
If you can’t tell by the cover art, “Star Wreck’s” featured episode is a parody of “Star Trek.” The DVD also has “Dick Tracy” (”Chip Tracy”) and “Sherlock Holmes” (”Elementary, My Dear Simon”) spoofs. “Star Wreck: The Absolutely Final Frontier” and “Chip Tracy” both come from the final season of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” while “Elementary, My Dear Simon” comes from season six. Since I became a “Star Trek” fan after the great new movie this summer, “Star Wreck” was obviously my favorite of the three. It’s a pretty accurate representation of “Star Trek” and is quite funny at times. Alvin plays Captain James T. Dirk (Kirk), Simon is Mr. Speck (Spock), and Theodore is Dr. Moamz McRoy (Bones). When Moamz is taken captive by an alien family that believes anything different should be sucked up with a vacuum cleaner, Dirk and Speck have to show them that everybody is different.
“Chip Tracy” finds Alvin/Chip trying to take down the mysterious The Glove by targeting his goons Grumbles, Flatfoot, and Prune Whip. Simon plays the lead role in “Elementary, My Dear Simon.” Assisted by Dr. Watson (Theodore), he must try to figure out who is behind a series of small robberies. I enjoyed these two episodes less than “Star Wreck” but both are still pretty good and fair representations of their source materials.
One thing I don’t like about these “Alvin and the Chipmunks” DVD releases is that the video quality is almost always below average. I understand that these cartoons are getting a bit old (two were made in 1990 and the other in 1988) but I think Paramount could have put a little more effort into restoring them. The picture isn’t really sharp or clean but this is probably the best we’ll ever get. The audio is slightly better but the volume varies at times. Like the other “Alvin and the Chipmunks” DVDs, no extras are included.
Even though the video quality on this release is very disappointing, I would still recommend “Alvin and the Chipmunks Go the Movies: Star Wreck” for fans of the series and probably for “Star Trek” fans as well. “Star Wreck” is the best of the three episodes but the other two are worth watching as well.
