Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Benji: Off the Leash! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 19, 2018

Few filmmakers are as closely associated with touching the human heart as Joe Camp, a particularly impressive feat for a director who has made a career making movies about dogs. The creator of the Benji franchise, which dates back to 1974, has touched audiences for decades through honest, pure, family friendly entertainment that is not just about a cute dog and its various adventures but also the heartfelt tenderness that defines the bond between man and animal. Camp's original of course remains the standard-bearer for the series while the sequels find that same tender soul within. In 2004, 30 years removed from the original, Camp revisited the franchise and made Benji: Off the Leash!, a somewhat stylistically different take on the series that cannot quite muster the same magic as the first couple of films but that does embrace that trademark heart and warmth and positive messaging that have made the franchise one of the more popular in movie history.

Colby (Nick Whitaker) loves animals. His father Terrance (Chris Kendrick) does not. Terence breeds dogs carefully and selectively and sells the offspring for a pretty penny; it's how he puts food on the table. But he mistreats the animals and his family. The man has anger issues and is abusive towards his son, his wife Claire (Christy Summerhays), and his dogs. One particular dog, his prize breeder, has been overbred and fallen ill. When she gives birth to a mongrel pup, an infuriated Terrance threatens to kill the animal. Colby secretly cares for it, raising it into a healthy dog. Local authorities, including a pair of bumbling animal control workers (Randall Newsome and Randall Newsome), the animal control facility director (Melinda Haynes), and the town sheriff (Nate Bynum) all attempt to intervene, but to no avail. As Terrance becomes ever more abusive, his prize dog grows increasingly ill and the local authorities search for a way to save the dogs and save Colby and Claire from an abusive household.

Camp is a master of emotion, and he proves it again in Off the Leash!. In this film, as in his others, he finds the souls of the animals in his films within a larger story defined by both playful fun and serious drama. But whether in happy high points or languishing lows, Camp always gets to the hearts of the matter, the hearts under the fur and the hearts beating in the chests of his human characters. As with the other Benji films, there is conflict in this one, driven here by a cold-hearted man who fails to see the animals as living beings rather than simply a means to an end. Of course, he does not really see his family any differently, either. He chastises his wife for serving him cold food (which is meant to be served cold) on a hot summer’s day and disparages his son for showing his heart and trying his best to shelter and feed innocent animals.

Unfortunately, Off the Leash! is not Camp’s best effort, even if the central idea is fine and there are plenty of oohs-and-aahs moments when adorable animals capture the heart. The film is repetitive, following a never-ending battle between father and son. Camp refuses to stop making the point that Terrance is a bad, hateful man, a soulless villain who lives his life in a perpetual boil. Terrance is essentially the anti-Benji, a heartless, soulless individual whose only concern is for himself. One of the film’s few narrative draws is to find out if he will have a change of heart and soften his approach to animals and his family or if his abusive and hard-headed ways are too ingrained for him to escape. Camp effectively paints him as so hateful and unlikeable it’s seriously in question throughout the film, and to his credit Camp does not take the easy way out with the character. The film additionally spends too much time on repetitive banter and antics between the pair of semi-bumbling animal control agents. All that said, there’s an underlying charm to the movie, particularly as it explores the the more sincere, heartfelt bonds between the animals and the good humans who interact with them and seek to help them as best they can, including a subplot about an elderly man (Neal Barth) who takes to feeding one of the dogs and protecting it from animal control.

Benji: Off the Leash! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Benji films have been amongst the best-looking Blu-ray releases from the Mill Creek catalogue. Benji , For the Love of Benji, and Benji's Very Own Christmas Story were shot on film, carefully restored, and lovingly transferred to Blu-ray. Benji: Off the Leash! was instead shot digitally, and fairly early on in digital's lifetime, and subsequently transferred to film. The result is a picture that is inherently not as impressive as the filmed counterparts, lacking the texture and character film provides. This image is relentlessly noisy, prominently at night and in low-light shots but obvious, and penetratingly thick, in many places throughout. Picture quality ranges from fair to good otherwise. Details often impress. Close-ups of various animals enjoy proper definition of fur and noses. Human faces and clothes are adequately revealing but lack the tack sharpness and firmness of newer, better digitally sourced pictures. Textures around the boy's fort, inside the house, the backyard kennels, or trash cans out back of a market all reveal finer details in woods and bricks. There are some smeary shots, too, with some modestly defined leaves and grasses and such in medium distance shots. Colors are generally healthy. Natural greens and the blue animal control shirts are amongst the most prominent shades in the movie, and they enjoy good, basic saturation and vibrancy. Black levels aren't raised or crushed and skin tones appear fairly healthy. The presentation's primary drawbacks seem to track back to the source rather than Mill Creek's transfer. This is the least visually pleasing of the four Benji films Mill Creek has released, but it seems fairly accurate to the source photography.

Benji: Off the Leash! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Benji: Off the Leash! features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track is predominately the property of the front three channels. The rears rarely chime in with any meaningful pronouncement, and the subwoofer is likewise left largely unused (though the movie's sound design offers it no real opportunity to stretch its legs, anyway). The track lacks range and clarity, sounding a little muddled and poorly defined, particularly in music. Front end spacing is fairly good, with musical stretch that takes advantage of the width afforded to it. The track folds in a few front-end atmospherics, like chirping birds, light breezes, and rustling leaves that create a pleasing environmental structure that is unfortunately limited primarily to the front channels. Barks and yaps are well defined and human dialogue is clear and well prioritized with firm front-center channel placement.

Benji: Off the Leash! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Benji: Off the Leash! contains extras on both the Blu-ray and DVD discs. Both contain a commentary and trailer but only the DVD includes the Behind the Scenes featurette. A Mill Creek digital copy code is included with purchase. The release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

Blu-ray:

• Audio Commentary: Director Joe Camp, Producer Margaret Loesch, Composer Anthony Di Lorenzo, and Editor Dava Whisenant deliver a well rounded and multi-tentacled track. The diverse collection of talent ensures a wide-ranging assortment of coverage, all of which is fairly basic (shooting details, locations, music, edits, story, cast and performances, and so on).
• Trailer (1080p, 2:00).

DVD:

• Behind the Scenes (480i, 3:28): A discussion of the technical challenges of working with Benji, crafting a few scenes, and the film's values.

Benji: Off the Leash! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Benji: Off the Leash! captures the series' trademark heart and spirit. It's also a bit overlong, repetitive, and the story lacks creativity. It's a charming, fair entry into the series but is overshadowed by the better, earlier efforts. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is good, not great. Video is shaky but the main problems seem to trace back to the source. Audio delivery is fair. A few extras are included. Recommended.