7.1 Rating for this Turd?
The only reason people vote this high is because it's on Criterion. This movie is terrible.
"Stop calling me Muggeridge!"
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Sorry, but I for one held this film in extremely high regard long before DVD was even a format. I guess that shoots the hell out of your lame theory, blowhard.
Bragging that you've had *beep* taste in films as far back as before the advent of DVD hardly proves me wrong.
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Why is White Dog a bad movie?
Hmmm...let's see...
Maybe it's the horrible script?
Or the terrible directing?
Or the atrocious acting?
Or the rubbish cinematography?
Or the brutal editing?
"Stop calling me Muggeridge!"
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Sorry, but I personally find it to be a brilliantly written film, and I'm not alone with that opinion. This film has a sizable horde of fans, and for good reason... and the script is the foundation on which this remarkable film was built.
Sorry, but you obviously don't know anything about screenwriting because if you did, you'd know that this script is terrible in too many ways to list.
Fuller was at the peak of his form here, both aesthetically and dramatically. The shot design is worthy of study, it's so impressive.
Wow. Fuller was at the peak of his completely unimpressive career with this. That's sort of like saying puke smells better than *beep*
Kristy McNichol's approach to acting may not appeal to you, but like it or not this is her finest hour. Also, you have Paul Winfield here, and that man could do no wrong. I sincerely doubt that you could out-act that man.
Kristy McNichol's approach to acting doesn't appeal to anyone, ever. That's why she hasn't had any serious work in the past thirty years. Paul Winfield could out act me, you say? Wow a really formidable feat for a professional actor. You really got me there.
Bruce Surtees shot this, pal. He's the genius responsible for lensing such great looking films as DIRTY HARRY, RISKY BUSINESS, BLUME IN LOVE (one of Kubrick's favorite films), etc. The man is a cinematography legend, and his work on WHITE DOG ranks among his finest. You're way off on that one, fella, and your insistence that Surtees' cinematography is "rubbish" serves as evidence that you wouldn't know good cinematography if it slapped you in the face.
Great, Bruce Surtees shot this. Doesn't mean it's untouchable. Even a "genius" has a bad day at the office.
"Or the brutal ending?"
Learn to read, you mong. I said EDITING.
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Hmmm. Having seen a great many films, both poor and highly regarded, I'm pretty well versed in the ways of good screenwriting. Also, having taken four years of film school in which the emphasis of my study was on screenwriting, as well as the fact that I've read a good many books on the subject, I know whereof I speak in this regard. I've seen WHITE DOG several times, and each time I marveled at how skillfully penned the script was. Apples and oranges, I suppose, but your arguments against the script have been paper-thin at best. Try citing some examples of why the script is a failure and then maybe we can have an actual debate.
Great...a film school graduate. Honestly, if you can't see the flaws in this script, I'm not going to go to the effort of explaining them to you. I make my living writing screenplays, so I guess I know a couple of things about screenwriting. But hey, I didn't go to film school so I must have no idea what I'm talking about, right?
Let me ask you this: What is your idea of a good film? How about a short list of movies that you hold in high esteem (and I have a feeling it will be very, VERY short indeed). That would certainly help me to put your attitudes toward this film into a more digestible perspective. Something tells me, however, that you won't grant me that favor.
L'enfant
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Nights of Cabiria
Fargo
The Shining
Paths of Glory
Repulsion
Knife in the Water
Cul De Sac
Lost in Translation
The 7th Continent
Code Unknown
Cache
The White Ribbon
Le Fils
The Sound of Music
Lawrence of Arabia
Rear Window
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Match Point
Withnail and I
The Lives of Others
Pulp Fiction
Serpico
The Godfather
M
The Royal Tennenbaums
Casablanca
Notorious
There's a very small list of films that I think are beyond good, actually. And you're right, it does put my attitudes toward White Dog into perspective. See, I like good, well made films. White Dog is garbage.
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The majority of those movies are considered cinema staples by the bulk of the world's film enthusiasts, so I'm not about to salute you for having good taste. Frankly, I'm shocked that you failed to include CITIZEN KANE in your list of universally cherished movies. The term "film snob" leaps to mind when I look at that list, guy.
I believe you asked for a small list of films I enjoy. That's exactly what I provided - microscopic would be a more apt description. Does it make you feel any better to know that there's a copy of Citizen Kane on my DVD shelf? If you don't think Lost in Translation is superior in every single way possible to White Dog, then you indeed are a lost cause.
And film snob? Of course I'm a film snob. What of it?
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dude, i snoozed thru Lost in Translation....White Dog stands on its own.
the only bad thing about White Dog was the way they used the gun to try shot the dog, they could easily have shot their mates as well. That was B-grade sure.
It was an early 80s film, that wasnt very strong technically, and didnt try to over-dramatise it.
But it wasnt weak either.....
Take for instance, Planet of the Apes, the original had the same 70s and 80s technical inferior feel to it, compared to the recent remakes.....But everyone loves it to bits.
White Dog will be cult classic once the release and word of mouth is in hyperdrive.
Hopefully they can find more on the cutting floor for the director's cut version
I've been dismantling White Dog (a film people seem to appreciate more for its good intentions and bad luck more than for its actual merits) long before you got here--I still prefer it to Lost in Translation. A film I went to see in a theater, and will probably never summon the energy to watch again. Because honestly, what's the POINT?
You do realize that many of the people who made those films you listed respected the hell out of Sam Fuller, right? He was a flawed talent, no question, and White Dog is far from his best work. Even his best work is inconsistent and lamentably offkey at points--but he was one of the rare Hollywood directors who really deserves to be called an auteur--his work succeeds and fails on his own merits, or lack thereof. At his best, there was nobody else like him--at his worst, too. He made a few films (Pick-up on South Street, Shock Corridor, The Big Red One) that will live on as long as people watch movies. And I'm guessing you won't. But feel free to provide us with a link to your IMDb page.
Why are you wasting your time arguing with this moron? Anyone with any taste knows that Sam Fuller is an important and accomplished director, and that "White Dog" is an excellent film. This jerk is just frustrated because he can't comprehend what most people can comprehend when they look at a film like this. He's an angry loser, and probably no older than 15. It isn't always easy to do it, but if we all ignore trolls, they would disappear from IMdB.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'
Well technically, Sam Fuller WAS an important and accomplished director.
And I honestly don't think White Dog is an excellent film. I think it fails where most Fuller films fail--the script. It's not boring, but it just doesn't hold together. Some of the imagery still packs a punch. The irony of Sam Fuller is that he was one of the few Hollywood directors who wrote or co-wrote pretty nearly all his movies, and he started out as a writer--but his skills as a director are actually much better--he'd probably be remembered more kindly if he hadn't insisted on writing the scripts. But then, of course, he wouldn't have been Sam Fuller.
And as I've pointed out many times here, Fuller particularly fails when he writes about race--he had no real insight into the subject. He mainly succeeded in offending minorities--Japanese Americans sure didn't thank him for The Crimson Kimono, which suggests that anti-Japanese prejudice only exists inside a Japanese American's head--in the 1950's! The token African American soldier in The Steel Helmet, when taunted by a communist about how he's fighting for his oppressors, says that you can't rush these things and in 50 years, maybe he could ride in the middle of the bus--as matters turned out, it took less than 60 years to elect a black President. Fuller was no social prophet, that's for damn sure. He was an effective and individualistic filmmaker, but I wouldn't put him in the Top 50 American directors. I would rank him over most of today's directors, but that ain't saying much.