Air Bud: Golden Receiver

Air Bud: Golden Receiver (also known as Air Bud 2) is a 1998 sports comedy film directed by Richard Martin. It is the sequel to Air Bud. The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is also the last of the Air Bud films to be released theatrically. Outside the United States the film was often titled Air Bud 2. This film is dedicated in memory of the original Air Bud (Buddy), who died of Synovial sarcoma – a rare form of cancer that affects soft tissue near the joints of the arm, leg, or neck – in 1998, several months before the film's release.

Unlike its predecessor, Air Bud: Golden Receiver was a box office failure, receiving negative reviews and grossing $10,224,116 against a budget of $11 million. The film received a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 29 reviews and an average rating of 4.3/10.

Plot
In Fernfield, Washington, Josh Framm (Kevin Zegers), now a teenager and a basketball player, becomes angry with his mother, Jackie, when she begins dating Patrick Sullivan, the town's new veterinarian, after a couple of failed dates with other men. Patrick innocently tosses Josh's basketball-savvy dog, Buddy, a football one day, and Josh discovers that Buddy also has an uncanny ability to play the sport of football. After his best friend Tom, convinces Josh to sign up for football instead of basketball, Buddy also begins playing on Josh's junior high football team, the Timberwolves. At first, the team is failing extremely miserably, and the school intends to fire the coach, if he does not start winning. However, thanks to Buddy's excellent athletic skills and speed, the team has a streak of wins and makes the playoffs. In addition, they advance to the championship.

Meanwhile, two Russians, Popov, and the glamorous and bossy, Natalya, kidnap Buddy in the hope of having him perform as the special attraction in a Russian circus while Josh runs away, when Patrick proposes to his mother. Josh's coach finds him at the train station and convinces him that just because Patrick is in his life now, he does not have to stop loving his father. Josh returns home, but Patrick is gone and Buddy has gone missing.

The Timberwolves now must play the championship game without Buddy and they are losing terribly. With the help of a chimpanzee who is also held captive, Buddy escapes from Natalya and Popov. In fact, Buddy and the chimpanzee release all the other captive animals, and they manage to escape. Popov and the well-dressed Natalya are ambushed by the chimpanzee, their former captive, in a warehouse; the two criminals are lured into a trap, where the chimpanzee empties a tank of slimy fish guts all over them, knocking them off their feet. The Russians slither around in slime and fish guts on the floor of the warehouse for a few moments, trying to regain their feet. Following this, the by-now dishevelled Natalya and Popov chase after Buddy in a van. However, Patrick rescues Buddy after he saw the fireworks that were set off by the escaping animals. Patrick and Buddy, dodge the van and Natalya and Popov eventually crash into a bollard on the pier. The impact of the crash, send the two villains hurling out of the open front window of the van and into the deck of a nearby fishing boat, where they become entangled in a net full of fish. Unable to escape and now captives themselves, and filthy from having been covered in slimy fish guts earlier, Natalya and Popov are subsequently arrested and placed into the custody of the Russian embassy.

Patrick then takes Buddy to the game. With the help of Buddy, the team catches up, but Buddy is taken out of the game due to a subsequent injury. The Timberwolves are forced to finish the game without him. Due to efforts by Josh and Tom, the Timberwolves win the championship.

The following day, Josh stops Patrick from leaving on a boat and convinces him to stay with him and his family and Patrick reluctantly agrees. A few months later, the family goes to a Seattle Seahawks pro football game, where Buddy sneaks onto the field and catches the ball.

Rating
Prior to the film's theatrical release, it was once advertised with a PG rating from the MPAA (as seen in the original theatrical trailer). By the time the film was released in theaters, it was officially given a G rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, making it the first Air Bud film to have been designated that rating in the United States.

Home media
Air Bud: Golden Receiver was released on VHS on December 15, 1998, and later released on DVD in 2000. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment continued its line of Air Bud Special Edition DVDs with the release of Air Bud: Golden Receiver Special Edition on February 2, 2010. The special edition includes a play-by-play action exclusive Sports Channel by the Buddies (the pups of Air Bud), led by Budderball.

Mill Creek Entertainment reissued the film on January 14, 2020, on a 2-disc boxset also containing other Air Bud films owned by Air Bud Entertainment.

All five Air Bud films, including Golden Receiver, arrived on Disney+ on October 1, 2023.

Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 21% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10.