Beethoven's 3rd (2000)

Beethoven hits the road in this cross-country comedy. Despite a series of crazy canine calamities, when two bumbling thieves threaten his new family, Beethoven puts the bite on the bad guys.

Director:

David Mickey Evans

Writers:

John Hughes (characters) (as Edmond Dantès), Amy Holden Jones (characters)

Stars:

Judge Reinhold, Julia Sweeney, Joe Pichler

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judge Reinhold	...	Richard Newton
Julia Sweeney	...	Beth Newton
Joe Pichler	...	Brennan Newton
Michaela Gallo	...	Sara Newton
Mike Ciccolini	...	Tommy (as Michael Ciccolini)
Jamie Marsh	...	Bill
Danielle Keaton	...	Penny (as Danielle Wiener)
Frank Gorshin	...	Uncle Morrie
Holly Mitchell	...	Kennel Employee
Mark Carlton	...	Ranger Smith
Dana Lee	...	Sheriff Festus
Big Nate Kanae	...	Black Bart / Sumo Cowboy (as Big Nate)
Greg Pitts	...	Quentin / Video Store Clerk
Dean Wayton	...	Delivery Man
Scott Evans	...	Grocery Store Manager

Storyline

The Newton family from the first two Beethoven movies are on vacation in Europe, but do plan to join a Newton family reunion, and to make sure one of their family members definitely makes it, they ship him to travel to the reunion with George Newton's brother Richard. Guess which family member it was? That's right, Beethoven! The giant dog follows Richard Newton and his family of a nagging wife and two bratty kids, as they hit the road to California in a huge, shiny, and expensive RV, equipped with a DVD player. Following them, are two bumbling crooks who have hidden some secret codes on a DVD that they figure no one in the world will buy, but someone does: Richard. So now they have a DVD holding top secret information, and the crooks must get it back.

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Plot Keywords:

skunk | brother sister relationship | girl dog relationship | human dog relationship | master dog relationship | 

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Taglines:

Buckle Up... Beethoven Is Taking A Road Trip!

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Genres:

Family | Comedy

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming location for the biggest toy train in the world was at the Los Angeles live steamers in Toluca Lake. Los Angeles California.

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Goofs

It was originally written here: "The design of the The Shakiest Gun in the West DVD's case is completely incorrect. It bares exactly the design of the 1996 MCA Home Video VHS release's case. When the film was actually released on DVD (three years after this film), the DVD case was designed in a completely different way." Since The Shakiest Gun in the West was not officially released on DVD at the time this Beethoven movie was made, what ever design the prop department chose for the DVD in the movie could not have possibly been incorrect. In fact, it was 100% correct in this movie's universe.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Sara and Beth are packing for their trip]
Beth Newton: What are you doing?
Sara Newton: [holding a camcorder] Dad said I'm family videographer. I'm documenting our journey!
[Beth grabs some items and chuckles at Sara's comment]
Beth Newton: We're not going on a journey, Sara. We're going on a very long drive.
Beth Newton: Nuh-uh! Dad said we're taking a journey!
[Beth chuckles again]
Sara Newton: Does the R.V. have a power port for my laptop?
Beth Newton: Well, we're on a budget, Sara and the economy R.V. might not even have a toilet; but I'm sure it has a ...
[...]

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Connections

References The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

User Reviews

Quentin Tarantino bit is clever, rest is not.

Ok, the problems with this movie are numerous, but they must start with the silly storyline.

1- Thieves put a virus on a DVD and then sell the DVD to a movie rental store, only to wish to purchase it back again, only to notice that Judge Reinhold bought it (or at least I hope he bought it because otherwise he'd have massive rental fees), yet if he bought it, then the theives would have had to put a factory seal on it, which they didn't.

Anyway, trying to figure out the logic of this is beyond the point of the movie. In fact, its illogical that a movie with such a plot would even be green-lit (let a lone a sequel with the same copywrite date???, which doesn't even follow directly from the "surprise ending" of this movie--> if you can even call it a surprise).

Anyway, Judge Reinhold is decent and the new Newton family is at least watchable, yet the writing of this movie is the biggest disapointment. The characters are basically just around to fill holes and none of them have any character developement. Brennan's character is just whinny kid, who uses Beethoven to seduce girls (as he lacks charm), Sara is just there to be on the dog's side and to play off her brother, Beth is just a whinny Mom who hates the dog, and the theives are just idiots, the cops are pretty stupid, heck the best part may be the Video Store Clerk. At least Greg Pitts shows some range in an obvious Quentin Tarantino reference to his video store clerk days.

Too bad the rest of the film could not have been as clever. Rating: 3 (at least its better than part 4: rating of 2)

Details

Official Sites:

Universal Studios

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beethoven's 3rd

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Live Steamers - 5202 Zoo Dr, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Family and Home Entertainment, Ludwig Productions, Universal Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1