A Boy and His Dog

Standing tall amongst the body of work that we refer to as science-fiction today, the 1975 classic A Boy and His Dog will forever be remembered as one of the greatest pictures in science fiction. This "R"-rated picture, which in the seventies actually meant something, is one of the truest conversions of a science fiction story from print to the silver screen. Ellison is credited on the film as a writer, although the script was reworked by the film's director, somewhat prolific actor L.Q. Jones.

Before I go on, I want to let you know that this picture is not a happy, nice, tripping through the flowers kind of post-apocalyptic romp like, say, Beyond Thunderdome where everything has the look and feel of a Disneyland ride. This is an ugly, mean picture which deals with murder, rape, and survival in the wasteland. Our lead characters are Vic (Don Johnson), a typical wanderer of the wastes, and his telepathic canine companion Blood, voiced by Tim McIntire. Vic's primary concern is getting laid; Blood's are getting fed, and moving on to someplace a little easier to live in. Their banter is occasionally pretty forced, but in general Johnson does an amazing job — in sharp contrast to his work on television.

This film's tagline, "A rather kinky tale of survival", is one of the most apt constructions in show business. The original trailer is a jump-cut mishmash of violent and sexual scenes, an assault on the optic nerve worthy of MTV (or any current action movie.) While there are titillating moments in the film, they exist primarily to provide contrast to the rest of the picture, but this is definitely not a movie for kids. My mother made the mistake of renting this one when I was a kid, which meant that I didn't even get to finish it. One wonders if this movie is at least partially responsible for my emotional development. :)

This is possibly the best movie for its budget of all time. Granted, it doesn't take much to tell a story about some guys wandering around a desert wasteland — the contents of a junkyard and some old, run-down industrial buildings are generally about sufficient, and that's about all they had to work with in this movie. There aren't even any special effects worth mentioning. Just solid acting, a creepy plot, and two hours of film whose ending, if it is a surprise to you, is guaranteed to leave you with an eerie feeling when you figure it out. Every science fiction fan must see this movie.