A Boy and His Dog (1975 film) is worth checking out if you liked the Fallout games or the Mad Max movies

Submitted by Pancake_muncher t3_zwlzsy in movies

The premise is a teenage Boy (played by Don Johnson) and psychic dog go across a post apocalyptic wasteland to survive. The boy's main objective is to get laid by any means necessary.

It's interesting and weird enough to watch to see where some of the apocalyptic tropes and imagery influenced game like Fallout. Don Johnson and the dog performer do a great job working with the dark humor and tone. Though I disliked the last line of the movie, which doesn't come off funny as I think it intended to. Still it's an oddball of a movie to recommend especially if you like stories about surviving the post apocalypse.

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TheDudeTodd t1_j1vepnp wrote

I haven't seen that in forever. Thanks for reminding me of it!

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MurielHorseflesh t1_j1vgn2r wrote

Can we get a modern day remake where Don Johnson plays the psychic dog?

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opiate_lifer t1_j1vk1qo wrote

I first saw this movie as a kid and I actually had a theory Don Johnson was delusional and hallucinating the dog telepathically talking to him!

I mean think about it, what evidence do we see the dog was altered in a high tech lab to be super intelligent and psychic? Even if it was, in the movie its clearly been a decade+ since the nuclear war so how is the dog still alive?

It makes more sense to me the dog is a dog, and Don Johnson has gone insane due to trauma and isolation heh.(yes I know its based on a short story)

A bit of warning for modern audiences, this is a black comedy and our main character is openly a rapist! And his motivation for most of the movie is having the dog sniff out women to rape in the wasteland.

Also has a "twist" ending I found darkly hilarious, your mileage may vary.

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Roook36 t1_j1vnrbb wrote

I'd played the Fallout series like crazy and didn't realize how much of it was inspired by this film until years later. Blew my mind. Crazy movie

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allfriggedup t1_j1vpwdp wrote

Based on the 1969 novella of the same title by Harlan Ellison. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novella.

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althea1959 t1_j1vsfpn wrote

I saw this in the theater and as I was walking out I thought it was probably the most forgettable movie I had ever seen. I was wrong about that.

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Odolinsky t1_j1vt0se wrote

I loved it, want to read the novella.

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claytonianphysics t1_j1vyrgv wrote

I once saw L.Q. Jones at an outdoor jazz show and he was wearing A Boy and his Dog t-shirt.

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HugeRaspberry t1_j1wa64x wrote

It was one of those movies in college that we would go to the bar, get a good buzz and go see - funnier than hell when you are slightly buzzed.

The premise is that the dog has been "altered" via radiation and can thus communicate with Johnson's character.

I won't spoil the rest, but yes - the last line is hilarious.

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AlanMorlock t1_j1wdx3c wrote

A few months back my parents called me. They were extremely excited to hear in some documentary that the dog in a boy and his dog also played Tiger, the dog in the Brady Bunch and thought I would be equally excited to learn that factoid. They were 100% correct.

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pi_face_ t1_j1wsmw4 wrote

I love how much influence Ellison's work had on the Fallout games considering he hated computer games.

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JonesyOnReddit t1_j1wtmz1 wrote

so misogynistic, it would never get made today, the ending is epic.

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ZorroMeansFox t1_j1y0gdn wrote

Here's a bet I always win: I saw A Boy and His Dog before almost everyone else.

That's only because I saw the very first public showing, before it ever even went to theaters. Harlan Ellison showed the just-finished film to his "class" at UCLA. I was sitting right behind director L.Q. Jones and a very young Don Johnson.

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murdertron3000 t1_j1y4ap3 wrote

Love this movie. Harlan Ellison was a true sci fi genius

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Barnaby_Cuckoldsniff t1_j1z1xvw wrote

I dont think many in this modern audience would enjoy watching a story about a boy who has a deal with his psychic dog to find women to rape.

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