Benji - Off the Leash | 
 enlarge | Director: Joe Camp
Actors: Neal Barth, Benji, Carlton Bluford, Nate Bynum, Joe Camp
Studio: Good Times Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $1.99
You Save: $7.99 (80%)
New (50) Used (34) Collectible (2) from $0.71
Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 19101
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: GTED81863D
UPC: 018713818638
EAN: 0018713818638
ASIN: B0002IQEDM
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: December 28, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Mr hatchett is furious when his best breeder gets free & mates with a mongrel but his son colby befriends the cutest of the mixed-breed pups. To save a fellow loner colby hides the puppy in his homemade fort where benji soon becomes full-grown & frees his sick mother from the illegal breeding factory. Studio: Gaiam Americas Release Date: 10/04/2005 Run time: 99 minutes Rating: Pg
Amazon.com
Benji: Off the Leash features dozens of close-ups of adorable mutts, guaranteed to make any dog-lover's heart melt. Colby (Nick Whitaker), a clever young boy, rescues a scrappy pup from his cruel father (Chris Kendrick), who breeds purebreds with an eye towards profit but not the animals' well-being. The puppy grows into a scruffy but smart dog who, with the aid of another plucky stray, helps Colby and his mother improve their lives, and the life of a lonely elderly neighbor as well. Along for the ride are two bumbling, slapstick dogcatchers and a wisecracking parrot. Benji: Off the Leash bubbles over with sentimentality that some viewers will find heartening and others will find unbearable. But though the story meanders, the movie is never cynical--writer/director Joe Camp sincerely believes that if people were more like dogs, the world would be a better place. --Bret Fetzer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 This is a "PG" rated movie, people. August 5, 2008
Jaynee (South Carolina)
I don't get these people who are complaining that this movie is not for kids. It's almost like they forget that the movie is rated "PG" - not "G." It gets the PG rating for a reason - as stated in the other reviews. This is not the light fluffy Benji from your childhood, it's an updated version that addresses puppy mills. Not exactly a "G" movie topic.
Was the movie great? Well, the script was lacking, the characters were VERY broadly portrayed, and there were a couple scenes not for young sensitive children (read: kids under five years old). So for all intents and purposes, no, the movie wasn't great.
But I loved it anyway. For all its flaws, it had me at hello and I loved it. So did my daughter, who asked to watch it again as soon as the closing credits began to play.
To those who claim it's not a family movie - they are wrong. This is an EXCELLENT movie for families to watch together and gives the opportunity to parents explain to children why puppy mills are bad and why ASPCA is beneficial for your local community. It's an excellent tool to educate children about those issues.
 Benji takes a stand against animal abuse! April 7, 2008
Debora Lynn (Athens, Ohio USA)
I thought this movie was excellent. The subject of animal abuse is heart wrenching for anyone with a ounce of compassion, but the whole world needs to know what sort of conditions that the parents of that cute little purebred puppy may be enduring. Many puppy mills are far more horrendous than the one seen in this film. [...]
Please note, this movie does have humor and warm fuzzy moments. I loved it! The best Benji movie ever!
 TERRIBLE MOVIE --- NOT FOR KIDS! December 29, 2007
Elizabeth (Denver, CO USA)
I bought two copies of this DVD, assuming that it would be a cute dog movie to give to my four year old son and his friend for Christmas. I couldn't have been more wrong. First of all, the father in the movie is a dog breeder who is not only abusive to his dogs, but his wife and son as well. In one scene in the movie, the father, mother and son are at the police station. While they are there, the police officer pushes back the mother's hair, exposing a bruise on her forehead. While abuse is certainly a disturbing reality for some families today, the topic does not belong in a family movie that is likely to be viewed by young children. Beyond the topic of abuse, the rest of the storyline has little/no redeeming value. I am shocked that Reader's Digest gave this movie their Seal of Approval. I do not recommend this movie for children or adults of any age.
Disturbing, Awful Story - NOT for Young or Sensitive Viewers April 28, 2007
M. Sisco (TX United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was horrified by this movie. My 5-year-old daughter and I watched this together hoping for a normal, uplifting, cute animal movie. The pointless, meandering, nonexistent storyline was the least offensive thing about it. Not much "FUN AND HILARITY" ensues in this disgusting downer. The 'movie' includes a psychopathic father who abuses and neglects his breeding dogs AND his son & wife (why doesn't the wife DO something?!), two idiotic dog catchers, some peripheral characters who show up in the last 10 minutes to 'save the day' (too little too late). Among the horrid scenes are a small puppy being throw across a room; a depressing backyard filled with 'breeder' dogs shoved in cramped, dirty cages; the implication that the psycho dad throws a bag with a runt puppy off a cliff into a river; a sick and dying female dog who has been overused for breeding; psycho dad verbally abusing his son; the implication that the wife is being hit; NO ONE doing or reporting any of the abuses (until the end - when the psycho is finally hauled off to jail). Truly one of the worst, most sickening movies I've ever seen. The issue of animal (and kid/wife) abuse is a topic of social importance that should be addressed, but NOT in a movie advertised as a rolicking, heartwarming kids' movie. This is NOT FOR KIDS. Not for anyone, really.
 Stick to the Original Benji; This May Not Exactly Be a Family Film November 11, 2006
Tsuyoshi
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you're looking for family picture, something cheerful and joyful that would make you smile and laugh, you should see some other Benji films, but not this one. Sure, the dogs are cute. But I think probably most dogs on this planet are cute, and that alone does not make a good family picture. You may think `Benji: Off the Leash!' is a film about Benji. Yes, it is, but it also includes several things that almost made me stop watching it.
A kind boy named Colby (Nick Whitaker) secretly keeps an abandoned dog who tries to rescue his ailing mother ill-treated by her cruel owner. If you think this is a good story (and it is, I agree), wait a minute. The dog is abandoned by Colby's own abusive and malicious father who tosses away the puppy in the opening. The same cold-blooded daddy treats badly Benji's mother too in order to get more puppies! (Oh, I forgot to say he is a dog breeder, and he needs money!) And beating someone is also suggested....
OK, I admit this film is made with good intention. It makes a good point about our society, where animal abuse is often deeply related to another type of abuse. But I thought this is a film about dogs, or adventures of these lovely dogs running around, and the film's DVD cover strongly suggests that kind of content. Of course, these serious issues could be in films made for kids, but here's another problem.
That is, the film's terrible script that is confusing and often pointless. There is another dog abandoned by an unknown driver. The film could have explored the friendship between them, but before it does, it strays into several silly slapsticks by two Animal Control officers (with such old gags as falling in the mud). The rambling story goes nowhere, and the social issues like animal abuse is clumsily treated. The lazy pace of the film with this kind of unnecessary comedies by stupid characters not only kills everything that could have been much better lessons for kid, but also conceals the real merits of watching this film, that is, watching cute dogs.
In short, we don't need this entry while we have the original Benji, and many other films from Disney, Pixar, and other studios, which the kids probably would find funnier and more educational.
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