C.H.O.M.P.S.

I happened to stumble upon the 1979 family movie "C. H. O. M. P. S." by random luck in 2022. And with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to sit down to watch it.

Actually, I sat down to watch "C. H. O. M. P. S." with my 12 year old son, and he enjoyed the movie quite a lot. I did find the movie to be good as well, so this movie from writers Dick Robbins, Duane Poole and Joseph Barbera was a nice surprise.

The storyline told in the movie was good, fun and interesting, and it definitely offered something for the entire family. And that was a good thing, because director Don Chaffey managed to ensure that all members of the family would and could thoroughly enjoy the movie.

The acting performances in the movie were good, though the only one on the cast list that I was familiar with here was actor Chuck McCann.

And for a movie from 1979, then I will say that the movie has aged gracefully and is still rather enjoyable and watchable 43 years later. So if you haven't already seen "C. H. O. M. P. S.", then you should definitely do so if you get the opportunity to watch it.

All in all, then "C. H. O. M. P. S." is a movie well-worth the time and effort. My rating of "C. H. O. M. P. S." lands on a six out of ten stars.

In this spoof of crime fighting gadgetry and corrupt business execs.Wesley Euire(Best rememebed as "Will Marshall"on the 1970's version of The Kroft Bros.and NBC TV's"Land Of The Lost Show!")creates a bioonic dog.Which he programs to protect property and people from intruders.A large crime wave hits the city and Euire tries to impress his not too understanding boss:"Mr.Norton"(played by former "Maude"and "Different Strokes"actor:Conraid Bain)with his new invention.His efforts are not too well received by "Mr.Norton"(Mr.Bain).But it takes some crooked doings by Bain's competitor(played delightfully by the late Mr.Jim Backus)and his two bumbling hencemen(played by the equally delightful Chuck McCann and Red Buttons)and alot of persuation from Bain's Daughter"Casey"(Valerie Bertinelli)to get Bain to ultilize Mr.Euire's crime fighting dog device.Bertinelli's performances are sadly limited to a few scenes .Where she fights with her onscreen father(Mr.Bain)to get him to use "Chomps"and she bills and coos with Mr.Euire.Other than these minors sequences.The rest of the film centers on Euire's attemps to get his device to work right.And the bumbling capers of Messers:McCann,Backus and Buttons are the real stars of this minor film comedy from Cartoon producers:The Late Mr.William Hanna and Mr.Joesph Barbera.

Brian (Wesley Eure) works for a security firm owned by Mr. Norton (Conrad Bain). The Norton firm is in financial trouble for, unknown to the owner, he has an employee who is selling secrets to a rival firm's owner (Jim Bacchus). It's not Brian, as he is a loyal and faithful employee and a good inventor. But, Mr. Norton has no patience with Brian, in part because Norton's beautiful daughter, Casey (Valerie Bertinelli) has a thing for Brian and Norton questions Brian's motives for wooing her. However, Brian does come up with a great security device. It's called CHOMPS, which stands for canine home security system. The device, which looks like a dog, is actually a computer controlled animal with the ability to knock down walls and emit siren sounds to capture burglars. The rival owner sends two bungling spies (one is Red Buttons) to learn the details of the new invention. Will CHOMPS save Norton security? This is a fun family flick from the old school of good, clean entertainment. CHOMPS is, of course, a real dog, played by the adorable and talented Benji. In fact, Benji has a duel role, as Brian has a "real" dog named Rascal, too. Just watching this little dog in action is pure joy, as he is able to scale walls, "pull" trucks, and operate machine buttons to capture the bad guys. The human cast is also quite nice, with everyone giving upbeat performances that are infectious. Costumes, scenery, and production values are good, too. Although you may have trouble locating the film, it would be well worth the effort to secure a view for your closest loved ones. CHOMPS is a wonderful, wholesome diversion from the world's woes.

C.H.O.M.P.S. is very much like any number of cheesy late 70s Disney family comedys-The Cat from Outer Space or Unidentified Flying Oddball, for instance. Utterly devoid of anything creative, beating the same cliches to death, yet vaguely entertaining in a mindless sort of way. The actors won't win any awards, nor will the director, writer, or FX crew, but in its inoffensive ness and bland predicatability there is some vague entertainment to be had. The idea of the robot dog as security system is so full of holes you could use it as a colander. The incredibly repetative disco soundtrack will stick in your head, so beware.

C.H.O.M.P.S.

If you expect a robotic dog to protect your home while you are away be sure to turn off its sleep mode.

Luckily, the computerized K-9 in this family movie has crime detection capabilities to alert him of intruders.

When a young genius, Brian (Wesley Eure), creates a mechanical mutt named C.H.O.M.P.S - Canine Home Protection System - to safeguard his home from thieves, it attracts the attention of Mr. Gibbs (Jim Backus), owner of unscrupulous home security company, who hires two bumbling crooks (Red Buttons, Chuck McCann) to kidnap C.H.O.M.P.S. Meanwhile, Brian begins bonding with his tyrannical boss' (Conrad Bain) daughter (Valerie Bertinelli).

While it does feature some great character actors, a lovable pup and a few flashes of comedy brilliance, animation giant Hanna-Barbera failed to conceive of a feature-length script that surpassed their Saturday morning cartoon output.

Ironically, most robo-dogs are stolen when Amazon leaves them on your porch. Yellow Light

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