Josh Kirby: Time Warrior! Chap. 1: Planet of the Dino-Knights

I remember watching the Josh Kirby series one Chrismas. Each morning, one of the films was unceremoniously slipped into the early morning schedule, and so it was that every morning for one week of the Christmas period, before I got dressed and went downstairs to eat the food, and play with my new toys, I would be transported to god knows where by one of these awesome adventures. Unfortunately I haven't managed to find a copy since, so I can't vouch for how well they stand up if you watch them a decade later, but for what its worth, my memories of this series are very fond indeed. Believing that I was the only kid in the world who caught the films as they were shown, I was never able to talk about it with my friends... until a few years afterwards, a mate of mine casually asked if I remembered a program called 'Josh Kirby'. To which I was obviously very delighted! I must find a copy again to re-watch, as I think it must be quite special if I remember it so well. I think it was a great blend of comedy, sci-fi, and adventure - in much the same way that the 'Back to the Future' films were... only slightly more fantastical! So, if the opinion of me and my friend Michael is anything to go on, I would suggest this series for any children who are looking to be transported to interesting places for a few hours of each day, preferably if its the Christmas holidays!

I know I may be alone in saying this but I have to say that Josh Kirby...Time Warrior is one of the greatest film series ever created. Sure it may not have the best effects and the highest budget. And yeah people might find it a little childish but that's because most people only like high budget big effects movies. No one sees the true quality and work that people put into these "low budget" films. The story line to this series is brilliant. I don't watch movies to see nice cars and computer generated people. I watch movies for the storyline, the ideas, and the excitement. Now I'm getting off topic.

Josh Kirby is the story of a boy who comes in contact with a piece of an alien defies capable of destroying the Universe. He soon finds him self racing across the time stream in a Time Pod built by Erwin 1138 from the future. Erwin has scattered pieces of the defies throughout the time stream to hide them from the evil Dr. Zoetrobe but Zoetrobe has found out where the pieces are and now it's a race against the clock to find all the pieces before Zoetrobe does.

In this chapter you see how the whole story begins. After leaving 1994 Josh and Erwin find them selves in med evil England where dinosaurs are considered dragons and as Josh and Erwin search for a piece of the nolifier, the alien defies, they are caught in a med evil war between two brothers.

Be prepared for cliff hangers.

My youngest kid got all of these Josh Kirby titles and this review is based on all 6.

Storyline is definitely for juveniles: Josh encounters time traveling pod and its occupants (Irwin, Azebeth & Prism) and is pursued by Dr. Zoetrope who is trying to obtain the crystal pieces of a time nullifier device. At least the ending (in episode 6) has a twist. Azabeth is a headstrong girl who eventually likes Josh. Prism is a cute little alien who reminds me of a cross between gremlins & yoda. Irwin is the professor running the time pod trying to get the nullifier pieces before Zoetrope can. Each episode leads into the next just like old time serials did.

Zoetrope!...At least let's be original here. Effects are what you'd expect if you did this on your PC (except the costumes---they weren't all that bad). Acting...well they train dogs too.

Make no mistake; these are good movies for kids (younger kids of maybe 6 to 12). But if you're going to watch them with your kid you may want to catch a nap instead.

I gave these movies as a whole an 8 out of 10 because they are totally suitable for the audience they were intended to entertain. Kids will like them. My kid has watched them several times. If your kids like "The Clockmaker", "The Shrunken City", "The Borrowers" and similar titles, they will like the Josh Kirby series.

This film surprised me. The cheezy plotline and the really corny dialogue fit right in because the lines were pretty much out of a "how to write bad sci-fi" book. But since the lines were delivered in a very tongue-in-cheek style, it's clear it's a spoof on bad sci-fi. Weird storyline and the special effects are nothing to write home about, but it fits. I enjoyed it, but others might not. Still...it's fun, but you do have to watch all 6 or else it's no good because you don't get the full story.

If you want to give kids a taste of Sci-Fi, try this series. I found these videos at Blockbuster years ago and my mom rented them for me. At 9 years old, I thought these were the best movies ever. I would want to watch it again if given the chance, but I can't find it anywhere. But from what I could recall, this series was fun. I thought Azabeth was awesome. I never realized the lack of quality in this Sci-Fi series in regards to the special effects or acting. It is time-travel. This series is what sparked my interest in Sci-Fi. Nowadays, my favorite movies are Back to the Future - 1,2,and 3. My favorite TV Show is Stargate SG-1. Josh Kirby... Time Warrior! From a child-like memory, I'd give it a 9 out of 10.