My Top 20 SF Films-18-A Boy and His Dog

I’ve recently dived into doing ”best of’ list, so as I’ve explained, I’ve decided to do my top 20 SF films. This is my personal list, so feel free to disagree with it and of course, you’ll be horribly wrong.

Previously at # 20, The Matrix, 19, Seconds. 

At 18 it’s the film based upon a Harlan Ellison story, it’s A Boy and His Dog.

 

It’s a simple tale of a boy, Vic (played by an amazingly young Don Johnson pre-Miami Vice) , and his telepathic intelligent dog, Blood, wandering a post-apocalyptic America after a nuclear war searching for food, and of course, women for sex. During the course of their travels across America they stumble upon an underground society clinging onto the pre-apocalypse world who want Vic to help impregnate their young women, however they have plans for Vic when he’s done…

It sounds like a weird little film and it is. Although Ellison’s original story is toned down for the film version, it’s still brutal at times (Blood is telepathic and uses his abilities to search out women for Vic to rape) , but it also manages to retain much of Ellison’s very dark, very cynical sense of humour. It’s also a film some people have called misogynistic which is something that a surface viewing can easy make you think is real, especially after watching the ending, but it’s not. It’s a very dark comedy/satire which touches upon some topics which are going to upset, so don’t watch it if you’re of a sensitive nature…….

The film itself is a bleak joy. It’s the closest cinema has gotten to portraying an Ellison story as well as it can without diluting Ellison’s voice too much. It’s also one of those 1970’s SF films that look fantastic without being pointlessly glossy, and there’s at least one more example of this type of realistic 70’s SF film coming up on my list.

A Boy and His Dog is enormous fun. Yes, the ending is so darkly bleak it might turn people off, but it’s also optimistic as you can be in a post apocalyptic world of a boy and a dog trying to survive….

Here’s the trailer and a No-Prize to anyone who can name the trailer that it’s ”inspired” by…

Next time, it’ll be a sunny day….