A Boy & His Dog
by LQ Jones
List Price:
Our Price: $3.60
You Save: $21.35 (86%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Don Carter, Hal Baylor, Michael Hershman, Ron Feinberg, Susanne BentonDirector: LQ Jones
Brand: First RUN Features
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-11-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
Movie Reviews of A Boy & His Dog
Movie Review: Bizarre, blackly comedic, fun
Summary: 5 Stars
In the annals of low budget, post apocalyptic science fiction, you would be hard pressed to find a film stranger than director L.Q. Jones's cinematic adaptation of Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog." Here is a film that fairly screams cult classic despite its rather unexceptional backstory. In the year 2024 (or thereabouts), humanity teeters on the brink of ultimate destruction. Not one but two nuclear conflagrations have reduced most of the planet's denizens to scruffy, underfed ruffians. Why did the wars in this movie occur? Who knows? During the Cold War we all expected a nuclear exchange to break out any day over any number of reasons. Perhaps the Soviet Union would invade Western Europe. Maybe the United States and Russia would exchange volleys seeking control of Persian Gulf oil. Even a spark in a third world nation presented humanity with the threat of utter annihilation back in those days. One could argue that the nuclear threat hasn't gone away today since both the United States and Russia still possess arsenals. Even worse, proliferation means other countries with far less self-control already have or will soon have the bomb. Whatever the reasons for nuclear war, they are far less important in this film than life afterwards.
Vic (Don Johnson) roams the blasted plains of post-apocalyptic America with his trusty pooch Blood. Interestingly and weirdly enough, the two are able to communicate through a psychic link obviously brought about by too much exposure to radiation. Boy and dog spend all of their time looking for food, a challenge in a world where supermarkets tend to lie under tons of atomically fused soil and where one must battle roving packs of pirates for a can or two of preserved fruit. More important than procuring food is Vic's desire for locating women, any women but good-looking ones are better, in order to fulfill age old desires. It is this food/female combination that forms the central tenet of Vic's relationship with Blood and vice versa. The dog can quite literally sense the presence of women in the area, much to Vic's delight, but Blood insists on food before disclosing the location of the female in question. Blood's demands frequently result in flaring tempers, heated exchanges, and elaborate negotiations, but both eventually get what they want and, more importantly, possess an extreme loyalty to one another when the chips are down. A good example comes when weird shrieking creatures arrive on the scene and Blood helps Vic escape from them as well as from a band of hostile men. It's good to have such a loyal companion in this post-apocalyptic world.
Sadly, it takes a strange series of events for Vic to learn how important Blood is to his well being. Predictably, the trouble starts with a woman, a very attractive woman by the name of Quilla June Holmes (Susanne Benton). After Blood sniffs her out for his buddy Vic, Holmes lures our young hero into what can only be described as a dystopia that would give George Orwell nightmares. It appears Vic has a very special trait highly sought after by Topeka, an underground society led by Lou Craddock (Jason Robards) and a couple of other people, and that trait is fertility. Vic's vital fluids will help this community repopulate itself, but the whole thing isn't as much fun as it sounds. First, these people are weird on a metaphysical level. The whole community strives to reproduce a vision of America, but it looks like they culled their ideas about the pre-war United States from books written in the 1950s. Marching bands and picnics form the crux of the society's activities, and people wear attire that makes them look like parodies of American regional types. Second, these people look bizarre and act in strange ways. Craddock, along with the rest of the citizens, wears this hideous white pancake makeup that is truly frightening. Loudspeakers blare a constant litany of recipes and other news announcements. Yikes.
The conclusion to the film is downbeat yet fits perfectly with the off the wall antics of the preceding ninety minutes. And everything about "A Boy and His Dog" is off the wall. You want to see a pack of pirates digging for food in the desert? A bunch of folks watching a blue movie out in the middle of nowhere? Here's your film. This is such a strange jaunt into the realms of the odd that the idea of a human communicating with a dog seems perfectly normal. Speaking of Blood, it's the same dog that played Tiger in the Brady Bunch. The person voicing this animal is a real hoot, what with the off color limericks and world weary sarcasm that dominates his discussions with Vic. For his part Don Johnson does remarkably well in a role that requires him to act opposite an animal in a believable way. It is Jason Robards, however, who steals every scene he is in as the tyrannical Lou Craddock. Everyone knows this actor was a real talent, but it's nice to see him take on such an offbeat role. I always like an actor or actress who steps outside the conventional, and Robards definitely does that here.
Extras on the disc aren't plentiful. There's a trailer, of course, that tries to play up the controversial elements of the film. The real treat is the commentary with L.Q. Jones; he discusses every element of the movie from the low budget to working with Robards. One intriguing anecdote involves the scene where Craddock eats the sandwich while talking with his associates. Jones relates with great glee how the sandwich was rotten yet Robards refused to interrupt the scene in any way to voice his displeasure. That's professionalism carried to the nth degree, wouldn't you say? "A Boy and His Dog" might not appeal to many viewers, but it's definitely worth watching for the cult film fan.
Summary of A Boy & His Dog
A BOY AND HIS DOG is a wild, kinky and darkly hilarious cinematic adventure, a cult classic for almost 30 years and an inspiration for an era of sci-fi films, including the Mad Max movies. Based on the Nebula winning novella by Harlan Ellison and directed by L. Q. Jones, it stars Don Johnson, Jason Robards and Susanne Benton.Set in the year 2024 in Post-Apocalyptic America, 18-year old Vic (Johnson) and his telepathic dog Blood (voiced by Tim McIntyre) are happy scavengers in the desolate wilderness ravaged by World War Four, where survivors must battle for food, shelter, and sexual companionship in the desert-like wasteland. Vic and Blood eke out a meager existence, foraging for food and fighting gangs of cutthroats. When they find a woman named Quilla Jones (Benton), she lures Vic into a bizarre underground city, where he is to be used against his will to impregnate dozens of young ladies!
Closely adapted from the acclaimed novella by Harlan Ellison, this postapocalyptic black comedy has emerged as a cult favorite since its release in 1975, when Don Johnson was a relative unknown and still years away from TV stardom on Miami Vice. Here Johnson plays a young, libidinous loner named Vic who roams the postnuclear wasteland with his loyal dog, Blood, a remarkable hound with keen intelligence and the ability to telepathically communicate with his less-intelligent master. It's survival of the fittest, so food and sex are Vic's highest priorities, and he gets plenty of both when recruited into a mysterious underground society in desperate need of young fertile males. While Blood must fend for himself on the unfriendly surface, Vic realizes that he's an exploited prisoner and must escape to return to the canine friend he left behind. Thanks in large part to the sly wit of Blood (whose sarcastic voice is splendidly provided by Tim McIntire), this clever and disturbing film readily earns its lasting reputation as a low-budget classic, and features a funny yet chilling supporting role for Jason Robards Jr. --Jeff Shannon
Similar DVD Movies
WestworldWHV; Release date: 2010-11-09; DVD
Best price: $3.20
Price in other shops:
Repo Man (Collector's Edition)NBC Universal; Release date: 2006-01-24; DVD
Best price: $12.56
Price in other shops:
The Omega ManWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $2.43
Price in other shops:
Logan's RunWHV; Release date: 2007-12-18; DVD
Best price: $3.09
Price in other shops:
OutlandWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-12-18; DVD
Best price: $3.18
Price in other shops:
THX 1138 (Two-Disc Director's Cut Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
On the BeachPECK,GREGORY; Release date: 2000-02-29; DVD
Best price: $6.33
Price in other shops:
The Day AfterGUTTENBURG,STEVE; Release date: 2004-05-18; Published: 2004-05-01; DVD
Best price: $24.99
On the BeachPLATINUM DISC LLC; Release date: 2005-03-01; DVD
Best price: $2.63
Price in other shops:
By Dawn's Early LightHBO Home Video; Release date: 2004-06-01; Published: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $1.75
Price in other shops: