User Reviews

1975's "A Boy And His Dog" defies categorization, much like the outspoken author who penned its Nebula-winning source novella. Harlan Ellison has resisted the genre label for his entire 900+ short story career ("call me a 'science fiction' writer, and I'll come to your house and nail your pet's head to the table", he's warned), and yet his collections are stacked alongside "Sliders" novelizations in most bookstores. With its multiple world wars, mutants, and robot assassins, "A Boy And His Dog" is superficially science fiction, but only in the service of aspiring to a level of satire a la "A Clockwork Orange" or "Slaughterhouse Five".

Phoenix, Arizona 2024 AD: nomadic hunter-gatherers roam the radioactive wastelands ravaged by World War Four. Libidinous Vic has managed to survive his eighteen years as a "Solo" thanks largely to the aide of his far more intelligent - not to mention telepathic - companion Blood, a "Rover" who searches out supplies, women, and enemies and provides the requisite witty repartee. A post-nuke buddy pic? Well, of sorts--you see, while most viewers will recognize recently-bankrupt "Nash Bridges" star Don Johnson as the very young solo, fewer will realize that Blood is portrayed by the same veteran who managed to avoid being stereotyped as "Tiger" on The Brady Bunch. That's right: "Rovers" are intelligent, telepathic dogs, bred for warfare. If you're thinking of tuning out--don't, because this film has a lot to offer beyond an outrageous premise. When Blood sniffs out a disguised Quilla June (Susanne Benton) at a desert camp, Vic is surprised that he won't have to force her to be his evening's bedmate. Fleeing scavengers and the dangerous "Screamers" (nocturnal mutants who roam the deserts), Quilla June convinces Vic to join her in her subterranean home "Topeka", leaving Blood behind. Quilla June's father and leader of "The Committee" Lou Craddock (Jason Robards) sent her above ground to lure Vic into impregnating Topeka's women and offers the boy all of the perks of this bizarre Our Town meets Body Snatchers hamlet. But Vic finds out that his stud service will be extremely brief if he doesn't play by the rules, and after escaping The Committee's robotic enforcer, he finds loyal Blood on the brink of death, awaiting his return. Luckily, Quilla June has tagged along, and will provide a restorative service that reinforces Vic's worldview that the only "true love" is the one between a boy and his dog...

Produced in the days when "indie" typically meant "exploitation", "A Boy And His Dog" was a guerilla project for several Hollywood veterans who craved to do something different outside of "The System". Ellison had turned down big studio offers from Warners and Universal and instead handed over screen rights to L.Q. Jones, who had best been known as a stuntman (and still appears to this day in such fare as The Edge and Walker, Texas Ranger) to write and direct. The late Alvy Moore, of television's Green Acres, produced the film and appeared as Robard's accomplice "Dr. Moore". Tim McIntyre provided the voice of Blood and composed the music. Ellison wasn't happy with the Topeka sequences (and blamed his own story for their shortcomings) and was even less pleased with the film's final spoken line (a morbid pun penned by Jones). He offered to re-loop the dialogue out of his own pocket, but audiences loved the line. Despite Ellison's protests, the film impressed his peers enough for them to award it the 1976 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Fourth-time director Jones displays such a gifted eye for widescreen compositions and maximizing limited resources, and propels the story forward so breezily with witty voice-overs and bouncy acoustic score that it's amazing that he's never directed another film. The assured depiction of difficult character "Blood" is a true revelation: as voiced by McIntyre, reading dialogue more or less verbatim from Ellison's prose, the shaggy Rover ranks as one of the most believable and three-dimensional non-human screen characters--ever. I never cried when Old Yeller got shot, but I still get moist-eyed when Blood and Vic part ways at the entrance to Topeka.

"A Boy And His Dog" regularly shows up on most lists of the Top 10 Science Fiction Films Of All Time, and I certainly rank it alongside another independent S.F. marvels like "Dark Star" and "THX 1138". So, do give the dog a chance; after all, Tiger won the 1975 "Patsy Award" for his performance <g> The Region 1 DVD contains audio commentary from L.Q. Jones and two trailers (the promised "liner notes" are nowhere in evidence in my version). But be warned, purists: worse than the shoddy packaging and frequent misspellings ("Harlen" Ellison?), is the print itself: marred by emulsion scratches, dirt, and missing frames throughout. Still, the cheap price, and the sad fact that this is the only version fans have to choose from until someone like Blue Underground comes to the rescue, makes this disc a Must Have.

"A Boy and His Dog" (1975) is based on a well-known novella by Harlan Ellison of the same title. The movie focuses of the adventures of a young scavenger Vic (Don Johnson) and his telepathic dog Blood as they wander through the wasteland where Phoenix, Arizona used to be in 2024 AD after the end of WWIV that resulted in nuclear holocaust. In their duet, Blood seems more intelligent, experienced, sarcastic, and reasonable than Vic but they need each other to survive, to find food for both and the girls for Vic. All females have moved underground where a parody on pre-war suburban middle class life has been preserved and it has been over six weeks since Vic got laid last. Blood will sense a girl who dressed like a boy to attend the screening of an old porn-movie and Vic will follow her as far as the underground city "Topeka" against the Blood's advices. Little he knew that Quilla June was supposed to lure him down under where he will be used as a source for sperm that the underground women desperately need to get pregnant. After series of adventures, Vic was able to break away from the scary looking machine he was hooked up to with Quilla June's help and two of them escape to the surface...

While technically, the movie is not the most spectacular or visually prominent, the acting of the main characters, the communication between a boy (good performance from young and very handsome Don Johnson) and his dog (Tim McIntire was very convincing providing the voice of "Blood" and singing the main title song, "A Boy and His Dog"), and especially the story, dark and funny, make it well deserving of its cult status.

I wanted to see the movie because I am very impressed by Ellison's writings and consider some of his short stories the best, the most brilliant, incredible, shocking, and disturbing ever written. The first one I read literally took my breath away. It was "The whimper of the whipped dogs" that I found in the thick volume "The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century" and it was the brightest star among the works of such writers as O'Henry, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Patricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates, and many wore. Since my first encounter with Ellison's writing, I became his loyal fan. Later, I read Ellison's collection "Deathbird Stories: A Pantheon Of Modern Gods" which "The whimper of the whipped dogs" opens. While reading the story that gave the book its title, "The Deathbird", I first learned about "A Boy and His Dog":

"Yesterday my dog died. For eleven years Ahbhu was my closest friend. He was responsible for my writing a story about a boy and his dog that many people have read. He was not a pet, he was a person. It was impossible to anthropomorphize him, he would not stand for it. But he was so much his own kind of creature, he had such a strongly formed personality, he was so determined to share his life with only those he chose, that it was impossible to think of him as simply a dog." - Harlan Ellison "Ahbhu", the short story inserted in "The Deathbird"

After having read "The Deathbird", I was not surprised with the ending of "A Boy and A Dog", the story and the movie. Even though, they are attributed to the genre of science-fiction satire (and they are, intelligent, sharp, sarcastic, and biting), I think of them more as the meditation on many important subjects and the tribute Ellison paid to the true friendship, loyalty, and love. He also could've brought to the story resentment and disappointments from his many broken marriages and relationships.

Ellison says in a comment of his story that when you read his story, you won't find the distressing anti-woman sentiment found in the movie. I've never understood what he was talking about, because in that respect, I feel the movie followed the short story very closely. There is no doubt that there is a "distressing anti-woman sentiment" to the movie, but the real downfall of this movie is the production and acting quality. Don Johnson isn't horrible, but he is definitely not at his best, but the rest of the actors are very disappointing. The only thing this film really has to offer is the last scene, and that only works for it's shock value. Personally, I prefer the line from the story, it is more subtle, and therefore a bit more shocking. Overall, I give this film a rating of 3 of 10

"A Boy And His Dog" is definitely a cult classic, but defies being more neatly categorized beyond that genre. It's been labeled alternately and collectively as being "misogynistic", "the greatest Science Fiction movie ever made", "black comedy", and as a "cross between George Orwell and Mel Brooks" (the last description is my personal favorite), to list a few. Although it is true that the film is rather misogynistic, I don't find this a fault; the film is supposed to be portraying a terrible, possible future reality. And it may not be nice, folks.

"A Boy And His Dog" was directed by L.Q. Jones, a character bit actor favored by Sam Peckinpah for his westerns, and is based on the novella of the same name by Sci-Fi legend Harlan Ellison (who by all accounts loved the film version).

It takes place in the year 2024, after WWIV has ravaged the earth's civilization, rendering it into a post-apocalyptic desert, where humans have become complete scavengers. A very young, relatively unknown Don Johnson (way before his days in TV's "Miami Vice") stars as Vic, a young "solo" as the loners are called, trying to stay alive in this post-atomic desert of a world. Veteran actor Jason Robards appears in a small part, as a favor to Jones. Vic's companion, friend and mentor is a sheepdog named Blood. The dog, named Tiger in real life, was a very popular animal actor of the times, an extremely well-trained and appealing performer, and in fact was the family dog on the TV show "The Brady Bunch." Vic and Blood share a special bond, and the two communicate telepathically.

Don't laugh at that last remark; it's done very well in the film.

An element that could have ruined the film if not done carefully is, however, handled perfectly. Although it was suggested that animation be used to make it appear as if the dog's mouth is moving, thankfully none was used, and Tiger's masterful "acting", combined with the scruffy, gravelly, world-weary, old-west "voice" provided by Tim McIntire makes for some of the best acting in the film, and some of the best lines. Blood literally sniffs out women for Vic to have sex with, helps Vic be on the lookout for other packs of scavengers trying to kill him and each other in the ongoing fight over food and women, and Vic does the shooting, and the foraging for food. In addition the two are best friends, with Blood being the most intelligent by far. It seems that in the future, people have become the real animals.

The elements of caustically dark humor and dry dialogue (the dog gets the best lines) helps carry the film. And while this is in no way "the best Science Fiction movie ever made", in my opinion, it's certainly a great one, along with others of its time such as "Soylent Green". There are practically no special effects; the scenery and sets are cheap and minimalist, letting the characters and script tell the story, for the most part. This isn't a happy-happy-joy-joy overly-laden with special effects film like many of the ones made these days.

In case this whole scenario seems reminiscent of another film, "Mad Max", it's true that "A Boy And His Dog" inspired "Mad Max". I myself find this film to be superior, even if, and maybe in spite of, the fact that it is far less politically correct.

SPOILER FOLLOWS!

When Vic conveniently meets a young (and suspiciously clean and friendly) woman named Quilla June (portrayed by Susanne Benton), she pulls him in and the lure of frequent sex with her blinds him to Blood's warnings. So when Quilla June disappears Vic follows her to her underground community of Topeka, where he finds a warped reality of futuristic country living, combined with creepy clown makeup and aw-shucks country clothing. Its trio of self-anointed rulers is called The Committee, (this is where Jason Robards comes in), and they have a plan in mind for the young, able-bodied Vic. This all makes for a riveting scenario that's part "Stepford Wives", part "Hee-Haw", and more than a pinch of "The Twilight Zone". Beyond this, I will say no more except that the ending of the film is one of the best parts of the entire movie.

2024. Rather dim-witted and impetuous, but loyal teenage boy Vic (a sturdy and credible portrayal by a pre-fame Don Johnson) and his much smarter telepathic dog Blood (sharply voiced with fierce caustic aplomb by Tim McIntire, who also composed the folksy score) depend on each other to find food and females in a hostile post-apocalyptic wasteland. Complications ensue after Vic meets and falls for the seductive, yet conniving and deceitful Quilla June (a nicely charming performance by Susanne Benton), who convinces Vic to venture underground where a bizarre community that replicates vintage Topeka (!) require Vic's virility to impregnate their women.

Writer/director L.Q. Jones, adapting Harlan Ellison's classic novella, offers a truly odd, but ingenious and inspired blend of stark savagery and biting satire that has a marvelously off-kilter vibe which in turn gives this movie its own highly distinctive idiosyncratic identity. Moreover, Jones does a masterful job of creating and presenting a harsh and darkly amoral world populated by a rich assortment of nasty and grotesque people.

Without a doubt this film's key triumph is the often perversely funny and sometimes strangely moving central relationship between Vic and Blood that slyly subverts the special bond between a boy and his dog in which it's painfully clear that the more cunning and sarcastic canine is calling the shots for the subservient and stupidly impulsive kid (in essence, Blood's the brain to Vic's brawn). Jason Robards, Helene Winston, and Alvy Moore are wickedly amusing as the serenely strict committee who run the stifling subterranean conformist society, Ron Feinberg contributes a memorably ferocious turn as the brutish Fellini, and Tiger does excellent work as Blood. As for that infamous uncompromisingly nihilistic ending, let's just say that it packs one hell of a deliciously vicious punch. Wholly deserving of its stellar cult status.

I'd heard about this film many times over the years and I am well aware that it has achieved "cult status". Being a lover of odd films, I knew I'd have to see it sooner or later. However, after seeing it, I was a little surprised HOW popular this film was. Yes, it was different and odd, but frankly, I've seen a lot weirder stuff so most of the shock value just wasn't there for me. For example, ED AND HIS DEAD MOTHER, HAPPINESS OF KATAKURIS, THE APPLE, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, and a lot of other films seem much more unusual and funnier. I had a hard time figuring out why I was so under-whelmed by it--and after a day of thinking I finally realize why I felt this way. The performances, generally, were lacking energy--especially the underground dwellers who mostly looked like they were just going through the motions. I really expected magic from Jason Robards and something weird from Alvy Moore (Mr. Kimbel from Green Acres--who didn't just act in this film but produced it). The only part that really jumped out for me was the very end where it appears Don fed his lady friend to his dog (she did have it coming, by the way). This was an excellent sick touch. Otherwise, this movie is like a combination of a MAD MAX film and MARS NEEDS WOMEN, though in this case the underground dwellers need fertile men instead. Great? Nope--but still pretty creative and worth seeing. I just wouldn't rush out to do so.

NOTE: This is not a good film for kids, as there is quite a bit of nudity and crude discussions about sex.

I gave this movie a 4, only because since I am still thinking about it a day after indicates that it must have something going for it. I had difficulty suspending disbelief while watching this movie. Perhaps I just couldn't find the post-apocalyptic world even vaguely plausible.

I also found the main character to be unsympathetic with no redeeming qualities at all. Perhaps it is just "PC" of me (Is anyone else sick of the people who parrot PC! PC! To any objections? That is simply another form of PC itself), but I just couldn't care about the main character, a nomadic rapist.

The underground society strikes me as the Morlocks and the Eloi rolled into one. The movie tries to deliver a critique of how repressive society can be, but since the main character is at least as despicable as the leaders of the underground society, the impact is lost. The main character's life as a nomadic rapist is hardly any better then the socially and sexually repressed underground society.

I also could not buy the idea that the relationship between the boy and the dog was a friendly one. "Albert" is rather cruel to the dog throughout the movie. I probably would have liked the movie, except for the final scene which ruined it for me.

I suppose someone might like this movie if they like sex with women, but don't happen to actually like women at all.

On one hand, this is probably one of the most misogynistic movies I've ever seen (and I've seen Straw Dogs and Marnie!). On the other hand, it comes from a particular brand of eternal man-boydom that resides so strongly in pretty much most male sentiments.... so, like a post-apocalyptic, semi-Freudian Judd Apatow movie from the 70s. For that reason, I'd actually quite recommend it.

The plot is slight, but entertaining and escapist enough. A post-WWIV world is covered in desert where men survive by basically digging up food from buried houses and bartering it. Of course, as the system they live under is basically true anarchy, most survival depends on one's handiness with a gun, and women are truly rare goods measured by "how many goes" they have left. The boy and dog of the title are the titular characters of this apocalyptic drama, two best friends that keep each other company and share talents for finding food and the next lay. Then a saucy young blonde comes along and threatens their friendship, their freedom, and even their lives by luring the boy down into the "below-ground", a somewhat "Brave New World" totalitarian society where rules are made of pleasure, happiness, and gluttony--so that failure to smile itself can actually be a capital punishment crime. It's up to our intrepid hero to escape back to the kindly above world, where one can "get into a real fight over a can of beans" and "roll over in the dirt to get clean." In other words, the backyard of the parents house, the all-boys club where girls are yucky and not allowed, and faithful Blood to sniff out the next adventure.

This is one of those cult classics that takes its concept and its small budget and runs with it, creating in its grainy simplicity some of the best apocalyptic, burnt-out imagery in science fiction. It's easy to see why it's such a cult classic and it's definitely worth catching at the local grindhouse theatre, provided your town still has one and they happen to show this film. But as for what it ultimately stands for, this probably isn't the greatest date movie unless you're one of those lucky bastards with a girlfriend with a wicked sense of humor, because at the best that's what this movie has, and in spades.

--PolarisDiB

I've read the short story. I've seen the movie. Both are equally horrible. Ellison states that the movie and the short story are different, but I say they aren't.

Harlan Ellison equates knowing women in a non-raping capacity with civilization. Then proceeds to state that civilization is a horrible freedom killing state that must be avoided.

Then he has his character kill and eat the woman for the sake of keeping his freedom and keeping the relationship with his dog. Thoroughly rejecting civilization and having non-violent sex with a woman.

I am not PC. But I am a woman, and I don't like being raped. I don't like the idea that a relationship with me is a bad thing because it forces you to stop raping and killing.

Furthermore, the movie does not give any reason why civilization is bad, other than repeating it like a mantra. It's juvenile rebellion and it is intellectually empty.

This movie fails in production, fails in acting, it fails in intellectual stimulation. And on top of this it has a horrible horrible message that you cannot like if you own a vagina. This stops it from being even hilariously bad for me.

I like men. I don't think that they are slavering rapists deep in their souls of souls. The reviews of this movie make me wonder, though.