Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
TOMATOMETER
——
——
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
Mad Dog Morgan Videos & Photos
Movie Info
Dennis Hopper plays the title character in this true story of a 19th-century Australian gold-digger who is pressed into a life of crime. A six-year stint in jail doesn't provide reform, but does introduce him to an Aboriginal partner-in-crime (David Gulpilil). The duo then proceed to terrorize the province of New South Wales with no lack of violence. The TV version was retitled Mad Dog. ~ John Bush, Rovi
| Rating: | R |
| Genre: | Western, Drama, Action & Adventure |
| Directed By: | Philippe Mora |
| Written By: | Margaret Carnegie, Philippe Mora |
| In Theaters: | Sep 22, 1976 Wide |
| On DVD: | Mar 29, 2005 |
| Runtime: |
People Who Like this movie also like
Cast
as Daniel Morgan
as Detective Manwaring
as Billy
as Superintendent Cobha...
as Superintendent Winch
as Sgt. Smith
as Baylis
as Wendlan
as Roget
as Italian Jack
as McLean
as Alice
as Judge Barry
as Gibson
as Evans
as Martin
as Prisoner
as Mrs. Warby
as John Evans
as Swagman
as Simon
as Maples
as Haley
as Roget's Assistant
as Maginnity
as Watson
as Heriot
as Mayor
as Trooper
as Macpherson
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
LoginCritic Reviews for Mad Dog Morgan
All Critics (3) | Fresh (3) | Rotten (0) | DVD (1)
Dennis Hopper is mesmerising as real life bushranger Dan Morgan. His scene in the wealthy homestead as he becomes maudlin is something to behold.
Philippe Mora handles the screenplay with energy and pace, his storytelling focused on Morgan and his tragic, self-destructive path
Philippe Mora has purposely made a movie about a criminal that has very little to do with crime. Instead, Mad Dog Morgan is about how an outlaw is crafted.
Audience Reviews for Mad Dog Morgan
From the Mill Creek 20 Movie Mean Guns Collection. Mad Dog Morgan is a real rarity, which is a great shame, because Philip Mora's film has much to recommend it and deserves much better than a dodgy cropped transfer on the Mill Creek label. More a chronicle of the exploits of 'Mad Dog' Morgan, the bushranger who inspired Ned Kelly, than a conventional narrative, it's a non-judgemental portrait of an inconsistent, unpredictable man - after going to great lengths to deny he'll ever "be made a murderer," he then becomes one almost immediately when he drunkenly sets his gun off, wounding his host, and then hurrying off to kill the man that he himself has just sent after a doctor. It's very much a seventies film (in the best sense), with a sense of the violence of both the landscape and the people trying to eke a living from it, and it constantly surprises with neat little details such as the magistrate who doles out long sentences simply because there are still so many roads to build.
Despite being made at the height of his drugs-and-booze lost period, Dennis Hopper gives a pretty good performance as the naïve and contradictory folk hero cum psychopath, even managing a fairly convincing Irish accent (I'm sure th Irish could find fault, but it never makes you cringe). There's an impressive supporting cast of familiar Aussie faces, not least Gulpilil as Morgan's beloved partner in crime and Frank Thring at his most superciliously unpleasant as the Superintendent: few actors could seem more natural when he and his social circle start casually divvying up Morgan's body parts in the final scene (the head for an anthropologist, the scrotum for the Superintendent's new tobacco pouch). Although not overly graphic, it's still fairly strong meat. 3 stars 2-3-14
Super Reviewer
Mad Dog Morgan is a real rarity, which is a great shame, because Philip Mora's film has much to recommend it and deserves much better than a dodgy cropped transfer on the Troma label. More a chronicle of the exploits of 'Mad Dog' Morgan, the bushranger who inspired Ned Kelly, than a conventional narrative, it's a non-judgemental portrait of an inconsistent, unpredictable man ? after going to great lengths to deny he'll ever "be made a murderer," he then becomes one almost immediately when he drunkenly sets his gun off, wounding his host, and then hurrying off to kill the man that he himself has just sent after a doctor. It's very much a seventies film (in the best sense), with a sense of the violence of both the landscape and the people trying to eke a living from it, and it constantly surprises with neat little details such as the magistrate who doles out long sentences simply because there are still so many roads to build.
Despite being made at the height of his drugs-and-booze lost period, Dennis Hopper gives a pretty good performance as the naïve and contradictory folk hero cum psychopath, even managing a fairly convincing Irish accent (I'm sure th Irish could find fault, but it never makes you cringe). There's an impressive supporting cast of familiar Aussie faces, not least Gulpilil as Morgan's beloved partner in crime and Frank Thring at his most superciliously unpleasant as the Superintendent: few actors could seem more natural when he and his social circle start casually divvying up Morgan's body parts in the final scene (the head for an anthropologist, the scrotum for the Superintendent's new tobacco pouch). Although not overly graphic, it's still fairly strong meat.
Super Reviewer
Mad Dog Morgan would have been unwatchable had Dennis Hopper not been involved. He makes this movie interesting, scratch that! He makes the movie, period.
The thing that got me with the film was that it is very uneven, I don't know if it was the copy I have but the editing in the movie is terrible.
The film showcases Hopper at a crazy moment in his life, where he was at his artistic peak as an actor, and fueled by alcohol and drugs he had all but become an outcast in Hollywood, and despite all this he gives one of his most memorable performances.
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
Discuss Mad Dog Morgan on our Movie forum!
