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

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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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.

C.H.O.M.P.S. isn't the greatest kid-geared film made, but it is a lot of fun to watch. It's especially fun if you're a dog lover. The idea of a robotic home-security dog that follows number-based commands may have been a bit far-fetched in 1979, but it could be an actuality in the near future. Aside from one serious curse word ("s***", which is why it's rated PG) spoken in the mind of a neighboring dog, C.H.O.M.P.S. is harmless, less violent, & more imaginative than most "children" films nowadays. Yes, it is dopey, but what the heck - it's a cute film for kids & doesn't try to be anything else. Simple, innocent entertainment. The dog is cuddly, the acting is mediocre (several then TV stars are in it - Jim Backus, Conrad Bains, the guy from Land of the Lost, Valerie Bertinelli, Red Buttons, etc.), but it's an enjoyable film if your expectations aren't too high. Give it a chance.

C.H.O.M.P.S which starred Wesley Eure and Valerie Bertinelli has Eure as a young inventor working for Bertinelli's father Conrad Bain at a security firm. After the latest of Eure's systems fails, Eure loses his job, but Valerie has faith in him.

And its more than justified when Eure comes up with a computer driven super dog named C.H.O.M.P.S. which has far more powers than your average pooch. With a set of number commands the dog which is modeled on Eure's real life terrier can do all kinds of things in keeping a given area safe and apprehending those who break in. I'll let you see the film to see what C.H.O.M.P.S can do.

But there's also Larry Bishop who is both putting the moves on Bertinelli and secretly working for Bain's rival Jim Backus. And Backus and Bishop also have a pair of inept crooks played by Red Buttons and Chuck McCann in roles that must have originally been meant for Tim Conway and Don Knotts.

This is a light and amusing family entertainment film that still holds up well for today. Nice and unpretentious, I recommend it highly for juvenile audiences.

I've seen this movie several times, when it comes out on DVD it'll be added to my collection.

The story is great, there's no bad language and there's just enough comic relief to keep it all light--like a good Disney movie should be. The acting is typical Disney and you see a lot of the same faces as in other Disney movies. The plot revolves around an inventor that develops a robotic dog "security system" who looks just like his real small dog. A lot of the comedy comes from watching this tiny little dog beat up the bad guys, bust through brick walls and otherwise perform amazing stunts--really well done. This is a movie for the whole family although the kids will probably cry just like I did in the one really sad part of the movie (and no, I won't blow it for you). This is another Disney classic along the lines of "The computer that wore tennis shoes" and "Flight of the Navigator." For it's time, this movie was way ahead and is also just plain good sci fi. Loved it.