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9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Cliffhangers for kids!, 27 July 2001
Author: bigdinosaur from Wyoming

My youngest kid got all of these Josh Kirby titles and this review is based on all 6.

Storyline is definitely for juveniles: Josh encounters time traveling pod and its occupants (Irwin, Azebeth & Prism) and is pursued by Dr. Zoetrope who is trying to obtain the crystal pieces of a time nullifier device. At least the ending (in episode 6) has a twist. Azabeth is a headstrong girl who eventually likes Josh. Prism is a cute little alien who reminds me of a cross between gremlins & yoda. Irwin is the professor running the time pod trying to get the nullifier pieces before Zoetrope can. Each episode leads into the next just like old time serials did.

Zoetrope!...At least let's be original here. Effects are what you'd expect if you did this on your PC (except the costumes---they weren't all that bad). Acting...well they train dogs too.

Make no mistake; these are good movies for kids (younger kids of maybe 6 to 12). But if you're going to watch them with your kid you may want to catch a nap instead.

I gave these movies as a whole an 8 out of 10 because they are totally suitable for the audience they were intended to entertain. Kids will like them. My kid has watched them several times. If your kids like "The Clockmaker", "The Shrunken City", "The Borrowers" and similar titles, they will like the Josh Kirby series.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Soon to be a cult classic, 13 April 1999
Author: anonymous

This film surprised me. The cheezy plotline and the really corny dialogue fit right in because the lines were pretty much out of a "how to write bad sci-fi" book. But since the lines were delivered in a very tongue-in-cheek style, it's clear it's a spoof on bad sci-fi. Weird storyline and the special effects are nothing to write home about, but it fits. I enjoyed it, but others might not. Still...it's fun, but you do have to watch all 6 or else it's no good because you don't get the full story.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Sci-Fi for kids..., 11 August 2006
9/10
Author: JoLeigh f from United States

If you want to give kids a taste of Sci-Fi, try this series. I found these videos at Blockbuster years ago and my mom rented them for me. At 9 years old, I thought these were the best movies ever. I would want to watch it again if given the chance, but I can't find it anywhere. But from what I could recall, this series was fun. I thought Azabeth was awesome. I never realized the lack of quality in this Sci-Fi series in regards to the special effects or acting. It is time-travel. This series is what sparked my interest in Sci-Fi. Nowadays, my favorite movies are Back to the Future - 1,2,and 3. My favorite TV Show is Stargate SG-1. Josh Kirby... Time Warrior! From a child-like memory, I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Surprised to see stop-motion in this one., 10 January 2002
Author: Chris Gaskin from Derby, England

I watched this and was surprised to see the dinosaurs in it were stop-motion models, 70 years after the first major feature film used this method, The Lost World (1925). They look impressive, however.

I quite enjoyed this movie and rate it 3 and a half stars out of five.

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Fun, 14 June 2002
Author: Jusenkyo_no_Pikachu from Cyberspace

I have seen all 6 episodes of the series, and while it is childish and rather cheesy (look at the special effects for Zoetrope 366's suit in the hypertime scenes) it still managed to offer a bit of fun.

The story for this episode is that 25th-century scientist Irwin 1138 has invented the Nullifier, a machine capable of...well, something large scale. If it wasn't large-scale, he wouldn't bother scattering it all over time and space. Anyhow, this rival scientist called Zoetrope 366 (apparently a reference to George Lucas, just like Irwin 1138/THX 1138) steals the coordinates and Irwin is forced to pursue him through to 1994, where the first piece is kept.

Here, young Josh Kirby enters the story. Until now, his only excitement has been racing his bicycle to school. But when he finds a glass bone in his dog's kennel, he suddenly ends up joining Irwin and magical creature Prism on a journey to ancient England, where he has to get the second Nullifier piece. Unfortunately, some weird disturbance has dinosaurs in England...

Not TOO bad. This is probably the best one of the lot.

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10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
better then you think, 9 June 2004
Author: Sleepless_128

I know I may be alone in saying this but I have to say that Josh Kirby...Time Warrior is one of the greatest film series ever created. Sure it may not have the best effects and the highest budget. And yeah people might find it a little childish but that's because most people only like high budget big effects movies. No one sees the true quality and work that people put into these "low budget" films. The story line to this series is brilliant. I don't watch movies to see nice cars and computer generated people. I watch movies for the storyline, the ideas, and the excitement. Now I'm getting off topic.

Josh Kirby is the story of a boy who comes in contact with a piece of an alien defies capable of destroying the Universe. He soon finds him self racing across the time stream in a Time Pod built by Erwin 1138 from the future. Erwin has scattered pieces of the defies throughout the time stream to hide them from the evil Dr. Zoetrobe but Zoetrobe has found out where the pieces are and now it's a race against the clock to find all the pieces before Zoetrobe does.

In this chapter you see how the whole story begins. After leaving 1994 Josh and Erwin find them selves in med evil England where dinosaurs are considered dragons and as Josh and Erwin search for a piece of the nolifier, the alien defies, they are caught in a med evil war between two brothers.

Be prepared for cliff hangers.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Cult Classic - If you can get a hold of it., 15 November 2006
8/10
Author: joe_briscoe

I remember watching the Josh Kirby series one Chrismas. Each morning, one of the films was unceremoniously slipped into the early morning schedule, and so it was that every morning for one week of the Christmas period, before I got dressed and went downstairs to eat the food, and play with my new toys, I would be transported to god knows where by one of these awesome adventures. Unfortunately I haven't managed to find a copy since, so I can't vouch for how well they stand up if you watch them a decade later, but for what its worth, my memories of this series are very fond indeed. Believing that I was the only kid in the world who caught the films as they were shown, I was never able to talk about it with my friends... until a few years afterwards, a mate of mine casually asked if I remembered a program called 'Josh Kirby'. To which I was obviously very delighted! I must find a copy again to re-watch, as I think it must be quite special if I remember it so well. I think it was a great blend of comedy, sci-fi, and adventure - in much the same way that the 'Back to the Future' films were... only slightly more fantastical! So, if the opinion of me and my friend Michael is anything to go on, I would suggest this series for any children who are looking to be transported to interesting places for a few hours of each day, preferably if its the Christmas holidays!

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
i saw it ten years ago and loved it, 5 November 2006
5/10
Author: lovableannie from United States

This movie was very enjoyable for me to watch as a six year old i first saw it when it came out and i really loved them, i rented every single one of the six part movies. its really an awesome movie for kids that is. It is sad how they were discontinued they were not meant for adults and the budget was low and the acting was not top notch but still when you are young you do not realize these things. I honestly enjoyed it ten years ago and i saw it today after many years and still enjoyed it although not as much. But come on people let the kids see it, its sad how they were discontinued these movies. If you do get a chance to see this movie i am certain you will want to see the other five. I was very lucky to find part three trapped in toy world at Big Lots the other day although it is not as good as the first one.

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3 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Plenty of HAM, a lot of CHEESE & way CORNY., 14 June 2006
3/10
Author: Travis_Moran from Canada

Although not total garbage, it's pretty crappy.

The dino stop-motion is worse than the old 1933 version of King Kong, and the dinos look like rubber. The effects are like something from a Nintendo game. The Prism creature looks like a troll doll. Everything in this looks as phony as a nine-pound note.

Acting is awful...like something you'd expect from a primary school play. And that horrible piece of crap bike that kid rides is a disgrace. No one could race that junk heap (I'm glad it got vapourised). Azebeth Siege and her codes of kong (is this movie riddled with references to King Kong?) is lame, lame, lame. And there's one scene where this little kid just runs underneath the dino for no apparent reason. And what's with all the moths flying around in the beginning sequence...Did they film this in an old barn?.

The sword fighting with the dino was also way lame. And sacrificing people to the "dragon" (dino)...hmmm...again, somebody's been watching too many King Kong movies.

I wonder what the budget for this was...$2.

It's sort of cool though how this is set up like old serials. Chapter one at least leaves you hanging & shows a preview of the next chapter.

My friend gave us a laserdisc player & a box of movies. In the box were chapters 1 & 2 of this series. We watched the first one. And maybe one of these days when I'm extra bored I'll watch chapter 2...that is if I haven't used the laserdiscs for frizbees by then.

I wonder if laserdiscs will shatter nicely upon impact with a tree...In this case that's about all they're good for. Well maybe some really bored little kids might like Josh Kirby.

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1 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Maybe I didn't get the joke..., 19 December 2001
Author: danwroy from Concord, CA; USA

This is one of the strangest and most idiotic shows I've ever seen. The premise is cheerfully boneheaded, but could only work with under a larger budget or better production values. While there are some rather original in-jokes littered here and there, namely the references to George Lucas (American Zoetrope Productions and THX 1138), the rest of the show - acting, plot, special effects, script - seems to be comfortable with it's sheer awfulness. I'm not tossing out the possibility that there is a higher intelligence at work here (the ridiculous premise and numerous in-jokes should make this show a cult classic alongside Beastmaster) but based on the empirical evidence... what an amazing piece of crap.

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