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May 16 2008
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Dom Robinson reviews
A Boy and His Dog
The year is 2024... a future you'll probably live to see.
Distributed by
Arrow Film Distributors
Producer:
I.Q. Jones and Alvy Moore
Screenplay:
I.Q. Jones and Wayne Cruseturner (from a novella by Harlan Ellison)
Music:
Cast:
Vic: Don Johnson
Quilla June Holmes: Susanne Benton
Lou Craddock: Jason Robards
Blood (voice): Tim McIntire
The year is 2024 and the world is in turmoil after World War IV.
It only lasted five days but that was long enough to turn the planet into a wasteland. The wording at the
start claims that politicians had finally solved the problem of urban blight. Hmm... some solution(!)
Don Johnson is Vic, a "Solo", a loner going from place to place looking for food for both him and his
telepathic dog, Blood (voiced by composer Tim McIntire), giving him advice and seeking out new women
for Vic to have sex with in the post-apocalyptic world, but the first ones he comes across are dead, having
seen those who did the deed just escape from the location. Instead of commenting on them no longer being alive,
he sighs, "They didn't have to cut her... She coud've been used two or three more times.", to which
Blood replies, "Ah, war is hell(!)" So, necrophilia is all the rage in the future, it seems!
Along the way, the pair meet other scavengers, we learn there's danger for all concerned when they come across
'screamers' and that when desperate men are in that situation any sex isn't going to be tender and loving...
However, after chancing his luck with Quilla June Holmes (Susanne Benton), Vic is lured into the world
"Down Under", not Australia, but a place where they can live without having to worry where their next meal, or
shag, is coming from. Sounds ideal, but at the same time you're partnered up with someone else at the choosing
of those in power, a strange commitee including Lou Craddock (Jason Robards), and to make things worse,
Vic is not allowed to bring his faithful companion, Blood, down with him. There are even more sinister reasons
for wanting Vic to join the clan underground, which you'll find out.
That's if you stay the course. A Boy and His Dog is a movie that has an interesting premise but this
isn't well-carried out and drags quite often, even during its short running time.
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Don Johnson: Heartbeat
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Don Johnson was 26 at the time, playing an 18-year-old. I'd never heard of this film until the press release
dropped through my door. Like many, I first knew of him through the successful '80s TV series Miami Vice,
where he epitomised the flash lifestyle with designer suits, designer cars and flash women to suit. He even
tried his hand at music, which was largely ignored but as well as the class pop/rock title track to his debut
album, Heartbeat, there were many other tunes on that album well worth listening to, such as Voice on
a Hotline, the upbeat Last Sound Love Makes and the haunting ballad, Can't Take Your Memory.
As the album is now hard to find, the link on the right will take you to a collection, The Essential Don
Johnson, but many of the original album's tracks are on there.
Shot in 2.35:1 Techniscope, the film here is cropped to 16:9 - something I didn't realise until I had started
watching the DVD and then browsed the Internet Movie Database, and then the opening credits began, a few minutes
in. I normally hate watching a cropped movie, and while I was curious to see this Don Johnson outing, my
enjoyment was spoiled. Why was such a print used, Arrow? In addition, sometimes the print is as bad in quality
as the dodgy '60s porn films being shown in the make-shift cinema.
The mono sound fares no better, crackling at time when characters are having to shout or there's loud
dialogue, over a PA system, for example. Similarly, there's no subtitles, no extras and a static menu with
only options to play the film or view the sparse 12-strong chapter menu. Is that really worth a penny under
sixteen quid?
FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
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OVERALL
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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2005.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
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