Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is the pilot movie of the animated television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. It was originally released as a Direct to Video movie but was later adapted into a three part episode of the show.
Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear and his partner Warp Darkmatter are on a mission to rescue three Little Green Men (LGM for short) on an uncharted moon in the Zeta Quadrant. Buzz assumes that the Evil Emperor Zurg, the sworn enemy of the galactic alliance is behind it. After a battle with a mutant monster, the duo discover a hidden outpost which sure enough, belongs to Zurg. The LGMs and Buzz escape, but Warp perishes at the hands of a self-destruct mechanism.
Stricken with survivor's guilt after Warp's death, Buzz vows to only work alone, out of fear of endangering another ranger's life. Buzz's boss, Commander Nebula doesn't approve, who immediately pairs him up with new rookie ranger and former Tangean princess Mira Nova. The LGMs try as well, building a robotic ranger named XR (short for Experimental Ranger). Buzz rejects the new cadets because he is still grieving.
Meanwhile, Zurg finishes putting the finishing touches on his new henchman Agent Z. At the same, he learns of the LGMs' Uni-Mind, the mystical orb that links all of LGM kind. He decides to launch an assault on the LGMs' home planet so he can steal the orb. Buzz and XR fight off Zurg's minions but too late, the Uni-Mind is stolen and XR is blown up.
Back at Star Command, the LGMs try to repair the robotic ranger, but without the Uni-Mind, they are absolutely clueless. On Planet Z, Zurg corrupts the Uni-Mind with evil energy so he can enslave the minds of every innocent civilian in the Universe. Buzz and Mira want to use a one-man ship known as the Alpha-1 to slip past Zurg's defences and stop his plan, but Commander Nebula disagrees, who decides to launch a full scale assault instead.
Mira steals the Alpha-1 and Buzz goes after her; little does he know that janitor Booster and a rebuilt XR have stowed away. Meanwhile Zurg uses the Uni-Mind in a new ray gun to enslave the minds of innocent civillians, including Star Command.
When Buzz, Mira, Booster and XR find out, they escape in the Alpha-1 and infiltrate Planet Z. Buzz goes alone, dismissing the other rookies. When Buzz fights off Agent Z, he realises that the henchman is actually his partner Warp Darkmatter, who had faked his death and worked for Zurg since the beginning.
Buzz now realises that he cannot work alone, so he calls Booster, Mira and XR back and together they fight off Zurg and restore the Uni-Mind back to normal. The LGMs' Mind-link has been repaired and Warp is taken to prison for treason.
Buzz, happy that he has backup forms a new team: Team Lightyear, and they fly off into space once again for their next adventure.
Tropes associated with the movie include:
- The Ace: Buzz Lightyear is very much this, being Zurg's arch nemesis as well as having written several of Star Command's regulations.
- An Aesop: Everyone sometimes needs help.
- Arc Words: “Evil never wins”.
- Ascended Fanboy: Booster starts out as the Star Command janitor who dreams of being a Space Ranger just like Buzz. By the end of the movie, he becomes a proud member of Team Lightyear.
- As You Know: Lampshaded when one of Zurg's not particularly bright scientists is called to tell Zurg how things are going. He then explains in some detail how they believe that since the Unimind allows the LGMs to share a Hive Mind, they should be able to alter it to give Zurg mental control over other people. Zurg replies:Zurg: You're telling me my plan. I already know my plan, I made up the plan, it's MY plan. What I don't know is how close you are to ACCOMPLISHING MY PLAN!
- Borrowed Catchphrase:
- Booster sneaks aboard Star Cruiser 42 and imitates Buzz's catchphrase, "To infinity and beyond!" He tries to get XR to say it with him, but XR is rather unenthusiastic.
- After Buzz purifies the Uni-Mind, an LGM says his catchphrase after coming into contact with it.
- All four members of Team Lightyear say it at the end as they blast off into space.
- Captain Space, Defender of Earth!: What Buzz, and Star Command as a whole, is.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Evil Emperor Zurg calls himself that name.
- Character Development: Originally Buzz works alone at all times but he learns to accept help.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: What happens when XR tries to dress Booster in a spacesuit that's too small for him.
- Comically Missing the Point: Warp is exasperated at Buzz always assuming Zurg is behind every bad thing that happens in the universe.Buzz: This diabolical plot can only be the work of the sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance: Evil Emperor Zurg!
(Beat)
Warp: What PLOT?! You think Zurg is behind every kitten stuck in a tree!
Buzz: That fiend! Why can't he leave the kitty cats out of his nefarious schemes? - Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Zurg at one point says, "Nana Zurg would be so proud!"
- Evil All Along: The revelation about Warp Darkmatter.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Mira tries to abscond with a ship to hunt down Zurg alone, she's caught by Buzz, but as she's walking away she realises Buzz was trying to do the exact same thing.Buzz: Going somewhere, princess?
Mira: Buzz! Oh, hi, how are ya? I was, uh, you know, just taking a little stroll, and I thought...
Buzz: Ranger Mira Nova, you were about to hijack the Alpha-1, weren't you?
Mira: Why I... yes, sir.
Buzz: Princess, report yourself to Commander Nebula at once.
Mira: I'm sorry, I just wanted to help, you know? And I thought this would be the best way to... Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing down here?
(We see Buzz trying to hijack the Alpha-1, which is exactly what Mira was trying to do) - Facepalm: Done by Zurg when one of his Grubs realizes that the Zurgatronic Megaray's battery has been placed the wrong way.
- Face–Heel Turn: Warp Darkmatter appears to make a Heroic Sacrifice to save Buzz, then reveals this when he returns. However, it turns out he's been secretly working for Zurg as The Mole since the "academy days" (one episode of the series shows it in a flashback), and faking his death was just his way of switching to "full-time."
- Failed a Spot Check: When Warp crashes down on the remaining Hornets with the escape, Buzz never bothers to question where Warp was or how he found the escape pod, only complimenting him for his dramatic entrance.
- Faking the Dead: Warp fakes his death so that Buzz doesn't find out until later that Warp was working for Zurg all along.
- Foreshadowing: The movie manages to hint a major plot point in the beginning. When Buzz and Warp head to rescue the kidnapped LGMs at Zurg's base, it first starts off with Buzz alone fighting the Hornets, with Warp nowhere to be found. He later appears and finishes off the remaining Hornets with an escape pod that Zurg had previously used to flee the base. The fact that Warp appears to know where the escape pod is in the base and not Buzz is an indicator that he's a spy working for Zurg.
- A big clue that Warp is Agent Z was the fact that Zurg sent a spy drone to the LGM Homeworld to find the Uni-Mind. It's not the spy drone by itself, but it's the fact that he knew what the Uni-Mind was called. Since he couldn't get anything out of the LGMs, only someone with knowledge of the Uni-Mind could've told him about it. That only someone was Warp, as Buzz would never tell Zurg such information.
- Framing Device: The direct-to-video version opens with a CGI intro with the toys from Toy Story 2 watching the Buzz Lightyear movie on VHS.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: While the LGMs are rebuilding XR, keep an eye on the items they carry past Buzz. One is the Genie's lamp from Aladdin.
- Fun with Subtitles: A Running Gag throughout the movie is the snarky subtitles at the beginning of each scene. Below are just a few examples:
- "Zurg Tower. Note: big gun on roof."
- "LGM Homeworld, under attack. (Obviously)."
- "Zurg Tower. But you knew that."
- "Space... duh."
- "Zurg Tower: Now zurgarrifically evil."
- "B Deck Cafeteria. Avoid the meatloaf."
- The Gadfly: In the opening scene, Woody screws with Rex (who just wants to watch the movie) a couple times: first by pretending he can't open the VHS case, then by telling Buzz they're only going to watch the commercials and not the movie itself and finally by pretending the tape is jammed.
- Hive Mind: The Uni-Mind, which allows all of the LGMs to think as one, which Zerg steals and corrupts into a brainwashing tool.
- I Work Alone: What Buzz decided after Warp’s apparent death. He even says this trope word for word, refusing to be partnered up from then on in case it costs another good ranger their life, no matter how many people try to team him up with someone.
- Ironic Echo: While in pursuit of Agent Z, Buzz says, "He's good, but I'm better." Agent Z repeats his words just as he is about to zap Buzz.
- Karma Houdini: Both Zurg and Agent Z escape custody to engage in more evil by the end of the film.
- Loophole Abuse: The LGMs tricked Commander Nebula into giving them permission to build XR by sneaking the authorization form in with their vacation requests.
- Mass Hypnosis: Zurg's mind control ray is, technically, an example of this as it allows him to exert telepathic control over anyone it hits.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The LGMs' reaction when Commander Nebula finally finds out that they tricked him into giving them permission to build XR.
- Mythology Gag:
- The LGMs use "The Claw" to bring the Unimind.
- Also, Zurg's gun fails to work at first because his minions accidentally placed the batteries for it in the wrong position (placing the minus sides with the positive sides)... just like the toys in Andy's room were doing for the baby monitor in the first movie.
- The Name Is Bond, James Bond: Buzz introduces himself this way in his opening narration.
- Not Brainwashed: Warp, in the pilot, unashamedly admits that he was on Zurg's side all along.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Everyone under Zurg's Mind Control gains his glowing red eyes.
- Rewatch Bonus: During the scene where Warp dies, he can be seen smiling, which is a hint early on that his death was staged and that he wasn't on Buzz's side in the first place.
- Right Behind Me: When Warp is complaining to Buzz that they looked everywhere and haven't found the Little Green Men, a Crater Viper appears behind his back. Noticing Buzz's horrified reaction, Warp points behind him and says "There's something really bad behind me, isn't there?"
- Seinfeldian Conversation: A scene involves the main characters looking over the regulation which leads to a discussion about noserings being against the dresss code.
- Two Words: Added Emphasis: XR's plan for dealing with Zurg:XR: Now follow me on this, Buzz. Two words: Time share!
- The Unpronounceable: The LGMs' homeworld is identified on-screen as Œzạ£▪◊βGæ!.
- Wham Line: Warp Darkmatter: "Lightyear, I've been on Zurg's payroll since the Academy." Buzz's reaction is the saddest Heroic BSoD in the entire series.
- World-Healing Wave: Happens when Buzz undoes Zurg's corruption of the Unimind and frees everyone from Zurg's thrall.
- Worthy Opponent: Twice invoked (not quite in so many words) by Zurg regarding Buzz.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Right before Warp's little bombshell, Buzz offers several possible excuses for his partner's Face–Heel Turn:Buzz: Of course: amnesia!
Warp: No.
Buzz: Evil clone.
Warp: No...
Buzz: Android replica!
Warp: No.
Buzz: ...Okay, okay, it's so obvious! Zurg's mind-control ray! He got to you first! (Warburton: Zurg's mind-control machine! He blasted you first!)
Warp: Actually, I went to him. Evil is just so much more profitable than good—and more fun.
Buzz: I don't believe it! The Warp Darkmatter I trained side-by-side with would never work for the most evil force in the universe!
Warp: Look, Lightyear, I've been on Zurg's payroll since the ''Academy''. Once I got the LGMs to spill the secret of the Unimind, the Big Z brought me on full-time. My name's Darkmatter. Who's surprised here? - Yank the Dog's Chain: Buzz takes XR as a nonsentient robot out on a test mission to find Agent Z. At one point Agent Z manages to knock XR off a building, but XR recovers while repeating Buzz's Badass Boast of "he's good, but I'm better". Buzz smiles and says he is learning. Then Agent Z blows XR to bits, and steals the LGM Unimind. While the Little Green Men repair XR, he's not quite the same.
