( 4 reviews )
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 26 2006
Before I sat down to watch this film I had my doubts about enjoying it as I'm not really much of a soccer ball fan but by the end of the film I was completely turned around. Soccer Dog: European Cup is one of the best films I have ever seen. What's so good about it? For a start, there's a dog in it. However, this is no ordinary dog, this dog plays soccer ball. Soccer Dog: European Cup is a action packed from start to finish and Scoccer Dog scores many fantastic goals which puts George Best's goal scoring skills to shame. Not only does this film have action, Soccer Dog: European Cup also has it's emotional moments such as the scene when Soccer Dog kicked the ball in to the well and couldn't get it back, Soccer Dog's helps and barks of sadness truly tugged at my heartstrings, the moment when he manages to retrieve his ball from the well is a joyous moment. Soccer Dog: European Cup has some of the finest young actors I have ever seen, they have mastered the Scottish accent to a 'T', every time they spoke,I could close my eyes and it would feel like I was in the glens of Achtermuchty. Not only were their accents and acting first class so were their soccer ball skills Soccer Dog: European Cup has changed my life, I never used to be too keen on soccer but now I absolutely love the game. I watch Soccer Dog: European Cup at least three times a weeks and every Sunday. Soccer Dog managed to tackle his way in to my heart and scored first time, you should watch ths film, who know? this film could change your life the same way as it has changed mine. I award Soccer Dog: European Cup 5 stars and a WG Sinclair double thumbs up.
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( 6 of 8 found this review helpful ) Posted: Apr 16 2005
So earlier this week, I was dying to get Soccer Dog: THE MOVIE, as it has "THE MOVIE" in the title to remind you of what it is. It also has this in the title, as to not confuse you with the non-existant show of the same name. But, I got the wrong one thanks to it being misplaced, and instead, had to suffer through the atrocity that is Soccer Dog- European Cup. As an overall movie, and a movie for kids, this is one of the worst things I've ever had to sit through. What kind of kids were in mind while they were making this? Ones in comas no doubt. The movie starts out in a lab, where what should be our main character- the dog, is being held. The wacko Dr. Oddlike, is discussing how the dog is smarter than the average human, and can learn any skill in seconds to a bunch of business men. But, the dog escapes, and heads for a soccer field in Scotland. Here, a bunch of soccer rejects are trying to play a game, but are just an embarassment to the sport. You have these 3 brothers that all look like a certain hockey-playing trio, a guy meditating in the middle of the field, the "independent" guy with the mohawk, a goalie that watched Braveheart one too many times, and their captain, who's the only one with any idea of how to do anything, Nick. Just then, Zach (played by the kid that doesn't look like a kid- Jake Thomas) and his demi-lawyer Veronica show up. It turns out that Zach is Nick's son, and he's going to live here from now on, as long as everything goes alright under her supervision. Yeah, see how much the dog's come into play so far? And this is in the first half hour. Eventually, the dog shows up, schools everyone in soccer by scoring goals with a CG ball, and joins the team without ever really joining. Zach adopts the dog, and it lives with him and Nick. Nick's a good guy during the whole incident, not being too harsh on Zach or anything of the sort, but Zach is a little jerk about everything, and doesn't give Nick a chance. Blah blah blah, Nick tries to win Zach over, and lead his team to an actual victory. But at the same time, his former best friend and team mate, Alex, is coming back to Scotland. When he does, he's a nice guy, but in the next scenes, he turns into a snob for some reason. It all comes down to a game between Nick's team and Alex's. The trick is, it's not even for a real trophy or anything. If it's supposed to be part of a tournament, how did Nick's team even make it past the qualification rounds? And why is Alex's team, who's one of the best out there, wasting their time with those losers? Either way, you can figure out who wins thanks to a certain under-used dog, and the power of believing in yourself. While this is a kid's movie, there are too many problems going on for it to be enjoyed by anyone. First is the lack of using the dog. The movie is called "Soccer Dog- European Cup". It's like they just kept the European part, and forgot about the dog aspect. Really, the only scenes with it are when it's kicking around a CG soccer ball, and walking around town. And it's a cute dog too, so I'm not sure why they didn't give it more screen time. It's probably to try and make a "realistic" story between Nick and Zach. In fact, if you removed the scenes with the dog, you'd be missing many 10 minutes of movie time, because every other scene has these two bickering. I loved it when Zach screams "YOU NEVER TRIED TO CALL US", AFTER Nick says that he never knew he had a kid. Way to listen there deafy. All those Lizzie McGuire episodes must've done 'em in. Something else I should note are the little "labratory" scenes. Like I mentioned, the movie opens with us learning that the dog's from a lab, and escapes. They forget about this until about 2/3 into the movie, where the nutso doctor and his henchman spend two quick scenes trying to catch the dog. That's all. Again, remove these scenes, and you're missing many 3 minutes of movie time. I don't think any kids watching would even remember the doctor with how long it takes him to show up again. Also, the actors talk with very thick accents, and it may be hard for the young'uns to understand most of what's being said. Finally is the bad use of CG. Obviously, the dog isn't doing any tricks. There's no way a dog that size could kick a ball into the goal net all the way from the other side of the field. And bumping the ball on its head from the speed it was traveling would do some serious damage to the poor thing. Get this though- some scenes have CG backgrounds. Check it out where Zach's walking through town, a real set, but when it goes to a close up of his face, it's blatantly CG. Weak. The picture and audio quality are about the same as a vhs tape. There's a lot of fuzz and grain from time to time, and the voices get a little too quiet here and there. Definately turn the captions/subtitles on for this one. Special features consist of 3 short things: Meet The Cast, Bloopers and Deleted Scenes. Meet The Cast runs under 3 minutes, and just has the main actors talking about how great the movie is. No real bits of info about what else they've done or anything. The Bloopers are mostly Jake Thomas being stupid as usual, and screwing up soccer tricks. Then there are about 9 minutes of deleted scenes, most of which don't make any sense and drag on. Though there's one slightly funny one of the goalie going "I, AM WILLIAM WALLACE". I'll admit that I laughed a little at that, if only because screaming that in a kid's movie, regardless of who says it, is funny. That one should've stayed. Other than that, there's nothing else here aside from the usual trailer and previews for other equally bad movies. You want dogs playing sports? Stick to Air Bud, or track down some old WishBone tapes where he does backflips. Soccer Dog- European Cup isn't going to keep anyone's attention for long. And if it does, there's a problem with that viewer. 'probably one of those coma kids I mentioned earlier.
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( 2 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 2 2005
Quite honestly one of the worst films i have ever seen Dont know if its a comedy the only funny thing is that its set in 'Scotland'
