C.H.O.M.P.S. aka CHOMPS (1979) from Code Red

[The Great Owl]

C.H.O.M.P.S. (Canine Home Protection System) looks just like an ordinary dog, but it is actually a robot with super strength, X-ray vision, and incredible crime-detection abilities. Its creator, Brian, a young software genius played by Wesley Eure, hopes that the invention will put him in the good graces with his home security company boss, played by Conrad Bain, and his boss's daughter, played by Valerie Bertinelli, but a group of bumbling criminals is out to steal the electronic watchdog during a company demonstration. Unfortunately for the bad guys, nothing in the world can stand up to a robot dog that can jump through brick walls.

Upon its release in 1979, my seven year-old self was obsessed with the television trailers for the Hanna-Barbera live-action sci-fi comedy film, C.H.O.M.P.S., directed by Don Chaffey. I even owned a novelization based on the movie. After the groundbreaking success of both Benji (1974) and Star Wars (1977), the obvious next logical step was to combine the story concepts. Much to my surprise at the time, C.H.O.M.P.S. did not exactly set box offices on fire, and it vanished from the face of the Earth as quickly as it arrived. Now that this film has been resurrected on Blu-ray, however, it will undoubtedly earn the prestige that it has always deserved as a forerunner in the robot watchdog genre.

The mixed breed dog who portrays C.H.O.M.P.S. handles the challenge with ease, convincing us that he really is a formidable robot with a computer canine nervous system. On the human front, Eure and Bertinelli are wonderfully likable leads.

In order to lure mainstream audiences into the fold by way of a PG rating, the filmmakers inserted a curse word that is uttered in voiceover by a dog who lives across the street from the titular robot and its inventor. After seeing the movie, my younger self was convinced that real dogs curse frequently. I still believe that.


This Code Red Blu-ray looks great.