Written by
September 29, 2009
Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Star Wreck is a three episode disc containing the cartoons “Star Wreck,” “Elementary, My Dear Simon,” and “Chip Tracy.” This marks yet another Summer blockbuster movie cash-in (previous entries included the Chipmunks DVD releases “Daytona Jones” and “Batmunk”).
The first episode on the disc is the titular “Star Wreck: The Absolutely Final Frontier,” a parody of the original Star Trek TV series. Alvin plays Captain James T. Dirk (with a hilarious imitation of William Shatner's horrible phrasing), Simon is Mr. Spek, Theodore plays Dr. Moamz McRoy, Eleanor appears as Mrs. Supra, and Jeanette is Lt. Uhaha. The gang travels along in the USS Boobyprize, where they encounter a race of aliens who want everything to be the same. The episode is entertaining, and Star Trek buffs should really enjoy how well they portrayed the original series.
Song: “Bad Moon Rising”
The second episode is “Elementary, My Dear Simon.” Simon plays the lead role here, with Theodore as his Watson. Alvin plays Moriarty, the villain. This episode is slightly more clever than the others on the disc.
Song: "Homeskittlydoobie"
The final episode on the disc is “Chip Tracy,” a parody of the film Dick Tracy. Alvin portrays the detective Chip Tracy. As with Star Wreck, the writers did an excellent job here of poking fun at their source material, but also seemed to go the extra mile (where Wreck was more of a tribute by caricaturization, Tracy is a flat-out mockery ). This targets the Warren Beatty movie more than the old comics.
Songs: “The Real Wild Child” and “It's Clothes that Make the Man”
The presentation of this collection is now standard for Chipmunks DVD releases. The video quality is nothing special, with no clean-ups or digital enhancements made for this release. There is obvious flickering throughout, but it seems no worse than the original television broadcasts. The audio is also standard, Dolby Digital 2-channel stereo. Once again, the lack of special features is a disappointment, and the DVD packaging itself comes with nothing more than a single insert inside the case advertising the Chipmunks' website.
Overall, as with previous Chipmunks DVDs, it has a feel of something that was quickly thrown together; the target audience being children who won't be looking for anything more than a few good cartoons that remind them of the movies their parents watched over the summer. For adult fans, the movie parodies offer several laughs, but the collector won't find anything special here.
