Among Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and various movies, I grew up on the Muppets. While most of their appeal kids felt most of their appeal, Jim Henson's puppets offered a lot of fun for adults as well. The programs always were clever and featured a gently mocking tone that kept the material safe for young 'uns but enjoyable for their parents.

Some of that spirit comes through in 1999’s Muppets From Space, but I must admit that I didn't find it to be terribly entertaining. Oh, I'm sure that it's probably pretty enjoyable for kids, but I can't really review films on that basis, as it's hard to speculate what other demographics may think of a movie.

Hey, I wouldn't even want to speak for my own demographic - that of suave, sophisticated dudes, of course. I can only address what I personally think of the picture, and Space just doesn't do much for me.

A creature of unspecified species, Gonzo (Dave Goelz) feels lonely and wonders about his own kind. One day, he receives a message via his breakfast cereal that sends him on a quest to learn of his past.

It turns out that Gonzo comes from an alien race. As he seeks his people, government agents target him as well.

As noted, Space leaves me more than a little cold, though I find it tough to pin down why. Space offers one of those movies that seems to have all the right components but the whole adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

I don't think it's me, per se, because I know that I still find the better Muppet productions entertaining. Space, on the other hand, doesn't contain nearly as much creativity as those superior productions.

Maybe Jim Henson's death early in the 1990s really dealt a blow to the Muppet productions for the rest of the decade. Perhaps he possessed some unique quality he infused into the Muppet projects that others can imitate but not quite duplicate.

All I know is that there's something missing in Space and while it's a decent little movie, it lacks much appeal for adults. One somewhat strange component of the film stemmed from its roster of cameo appearances.

We see thespians such as Ray Liotta, Andie MacDowell, David Arquette, and F. Murray Abraham pop up in bit roles. (Jeffrey Tambor plays the only substantial human part in the movie.)

Logically, these brief appearances would seem to be sop for the adults who will delight in seeing the actors in these small roles, After all, other Muppet productions used cameos to good effect.

Here's the difference: look at lists of actors from previous Muppet films. 1979's Muppet Movie offered Steve Martin, Orson Welles, Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Milton Berle, Cloris Leachman, Mel Brooks, and many others - it featured an amazing roster of talent.

1981's Great Muppet Caper can't compete with its predecessor but still provides Diana Rigg, Charles Grodin, John Cleese, and Peter Ustinov.

Apparently, no Muppet films came out until 1992's Muppet Christmas Carol. For Carol and 1996's Muppet Treasure Island, it looks like the cameo formula used in the first two films got abandoned in favor of worlds with only a few humans.

Anyway, it's pretty clear that while the human talent in the first two films - especially Muppet Movie - offered a lot of entertainment for adults, the same cannot be said for the roster of Space. Hey, nothing against these folks, as they're some talented actors.

But cameos of this sort have to be fun - you need that recognition factor that accounts for half of the excitement to occur. That's not going to happen with Andie MacDowell or Ray Liotta.

At no point does Space become a poor movie, but it’s a lackluster one. It presents mild moments of amusement but not a consistent level of cleverness and humor.

Muppets From Space appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. The movie came with a lively image.

Sharpness was quite good. Occasional instances of slight softness occurred, but these were minor and not significant. Instead, the film looked pretty concise and distinctive.

No signs of jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and the image lacked edge enhancement. Source flaws were minor, as other than a small speck or two, this was a clean presentation.

Given the wide world of the Muppets, I expected a broad palette, and the movie delivered the anticipated tones. Hues appeared vivid and full throughout the flick. Mild grain toned them down a little, but they were usually pretty terrific.

Blacks seemed dark and tight, while shadows showed good density. Overall, this was a consistently fine image.

The film's DTS-HD MA 5.1 also worked well. If I had to pick out its main fault, that would be that it doesn't make tremendously active use of the rear channels.

Oh, they're utilized, to be sure, and often used very effectively, such as when Gonzo was rocketed through space. However, they simply seemed a little more subdued than one would expect from a modern film that contains so many wonderful opportunities for active surround usage - after all, these are the Muppets!

Other than that minor drawback, Space boasted an excellent soundtrack. Dialogue and effects always sounded clear and crisp, and the music was reproduced with strong dynamic range and a high level of accuracy.

Although the rear channels didn't do too much, the front soundstage was nicely defined; audio images were well-localized and they spread across the three front channels effectively. The surrounds added more than enough to make this an engaging, high-quality mix.

How did the picture and sound of this Blu-Ray compare with those of the original DVD? Both showed improvements.

Audio was more dynamic and robust, and visuals offered the standard upgrade in terms of clarity and vivacity. Of course, it came with a minor price, as grain seemed more noticeable, but I still felt the picture of the Blu-ray appeared dramatically improved over the DVD.

Some of the DVD’s extras reappear here. An outtakes reel contains 19 separate clips that were left on the cutting room floor.

These are all pretty short, as the reel lasts a total of six minutes, six seconds. They offer fun glimpses of the performers at work.

We see a music video for "Shining Star", the Earth Wind and Fire tune faithfully covered here by the Dust Brothers featuring Jeymes. It's an odd clip in that it simply edits together snippets of the film itself, so there's no footage shot especially for the video. As such, it's pretty dull, but at least it's short, since it clocks in at less than two minutes.

Two trailers for Space show up: one is the full theatrical trailer while the other is a teaser. Both are pretty good and they make the movie look a lot more fun than it actually is. Previews adds clips for Smurfs and Zookeeper.

At their best, the Muppets offer great cleverness and wit. Unfortunately, 1999’s Muppets From Space delivers a fairly mediocre adventure. While not unenjoyable, it doesn’t live up to Muppet expectations. Though the Blu-ray lacks substantial supplements, it gives us very good picture and audio. Leave this one for Muppet completists.