Blu-Ray Review: Catch Up With ‘Spy Kids’ Trilogy in HD Before Upcoming Sequel

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CHICAGO – Before you spend your hard-earned cash taking the entire family to see “Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World,” you might as well catch up with the original “trilogy,” the very-popular series of films that most of us assumed were the end of this mediocre franchise. Don’t get me wrong — the first “Spy Kids” is actually a very fun movie and totally worth owning for Blu-ray buyers with kids of the right age but the two sequels are mediocre and annoying, respectively. Still, kids like to have complete collections and all of the films are hitting Blu-ray this week extras-packed HD editions with digital copies. Now you can take these precocious mini-Bonds anywhere.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

How much did the “Spy Kids” films slide film-to-film? Take a look at the Rotten Tomatoes percentages for each movie — 93, 75, 45. That tells you most of what you need to know. 2001’s “Spy Kids” was a fun, clever family movie, a modern kiddie riff on classic spy movie archetypes with fun supporting performances from Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, and Tony Shalhoub with star-making turns from the two leads — Daryl Sabara & Alexa Vega. The first “Spy Kids” made an amazing $113 million, which is actually the highest-grossing film of Robert Rodriguez’s career. Isn’t that amazing? Hip readers may love “Desperado,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” and “Sin City,” but “Spy Kids” movies pay the bills.

Spy Kids will be released on Blu-ray on August 2nd, 2011
Photo credit: Lionsgate

Released a year later, “Spy Kids 2: The Island of the Lost Dreams” was pretty well-received critically but it didn’t quite have the charm of the original and it dipped to $85 million at the box office — still a massive hit. The third film, “Spy Kids 3D: Game Over” is basically a mess but it once again broke $100 million and features a pretty fun performance from Sylvester Stallone as the super-villain Toymaker.

Of course, all three “Spy Kids” movies make good fits for Blu-ray and Digital Copy, given the new generation’s desire to watch their favorite flicks everywhere and the fact that HD plays to the bright lights and loud noises that make these films run.

Will the fourth one be any good? It’s doubtful but you never know. Catch up on your “Spy Kids” history before you find out (and come back for more “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” coverage including interviews and a film review).

Spy Kids 2 will be released on Blu-ray on August 2nd, 2011 Photo credit: Lionsgate

Special Features:

“Spy Kids”
o Growing Up Spy Kids
o Robert Rodriguez Ten-Minute Film School
o Ten-Minute Cooking School
o Stunts Spy Kids Style
o Makeup Effects Featurette
o Trailers
o Digital Copy Of Feature Film

“Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams”
o Audio Commentary by Robert Rodriguez
o Robert Rodriguez Ten-Minute Film School
o A New Kind of Stunt Kid
o Lost Scenes with Optional Director’s Commentary
o Isle Of Dreams Music Video
o School at Big Bend National Park
o Essential Gear: The Gadgets of Spy Kids
o Behind-the-Scenes Montages
o Total Access 24/7: A Day In The Life Of Spy Kids
o Trailers
o Digital Copy Of Feature Film

“Spy Kids 3D: Game Over”
o Audio Commentary by Robert Rodriguez
o Robert Rodriguez Ten-Minute Film School
o Alexa Vega In Concert
o The Making of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
o The Effects of the Game
o Making Tracks with Alex Vega
o Surfing and Stunts (Multi-Angle)
o Big Dink, Little Dink
o Trailers
o Digital Copy Of Feature Film

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com