Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Bob Pr. I have no problem with the anti-racist bias here. I DO have MAJOR problems with the techniques used in re-training the dog out of his racial bias. Possibly the author of the original story (and the film people) consulted only local dog trainers? My background (although a professional PhD clinical psychologist, now retired) includes 7 years study on my PhD in learning theory which also included teaching many fellow PhD candidates.This film's authors, directors, & screen writers obviously did not consult with any scientific university experts on the learning and retraining principles involved. As is, it makes an emotionally compelling story and worthwhile story but a flawed one. Why have the retrainer be one single black man -- why not have many blacks, of many ages and both genders? That's what any adequate retraining regime would have done. And why use a full size burger as a reward? In learning (and retraining) positive results do NOT depend on the size of the reward but upon its frequency of occurrence and immediacy to the desired response and desirability. While these are critical, important points in any effective retraining procedure, they are not those most people would be aware of.

tomgillespie2002 Deemed too controversial by Paramount in 1982, Samuel Fuller's bare- knuckled study of the psychology of racism went virtually unseen for over two decades, playing sporadically at film festivals and private screenings until Criterion remastered and re-released it on DVD in 2008. Fuller was understandably devastated and perplexed by the decision, as it was incredibly well received in the countries that actually saw a limited released, but it was made in a time when serious and unblinking social commentary was favoured less than greased-up man-mountains wielding dual machine guns.From the very start, Fuller's movie is an exercise in resourceful simplicity, as young actress Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol) hits a white German Shepherd with her car, and takes the injured and seemingly innocent animal to the vets for a check-up. The dog's ferocity rears its head early on, as it takes down a rapist that breaks in Julie's house and restrains him until the police arrive. Its eagerness to attack is interpreted as protection of its owner, but when the hound starts savagely attacking black people, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary dog. Despite her boyfriend's pleas to put it down before it kills somebody, Julie believes that it can be cured of the affliction it was taught from a young age.The first third of the movie plays out like exploitation with the subtlest of satire running through the story, almost like the type of movie Larry Cohen used to make only without a flying serpent or mutant baby. The attacks are brutal and well-made despite its low budget, and the movie proceeds almost like a slasher (gnasher?) as the beast bares its teeth with its coat festooned with blood. The animal is truly terrifying, and makes for a chilling movie 'monster'. Yet you see a glimmer of redemption in those sad eyes, and Julie does too, taking it to animal trainer Carruthers (Burl Ives) who, like everybody else, warns her to kill the beast before it kills somebody. One of his workers, dog trainer Keys (Paul Winfield), recognises it as a 'white dog' - one conditioned from a pup to hate black people.It is a this point that White Dog becomes an enthralling and intelligent expose of racism, posing far more questions that it quite wisely fails to answer. The pure hatred bred into the animal rings true with humans; the kind of ignorant, confused and misdirected fury so prevalent in America. The film also asks whether or not this kind of conditioning is curable. Keys certainly tries, exposing more and more of his black skin to the dog as they gradually form a bond, but the German Shepherd remains unpredictable, managing one night to escape its confines and commit an act of pure savagery in the holiest of locations. The film highly suggests that you may remove the racism, but the hatred will remain, and it's a sobering thought. This is blunt, unflinching B-movie film-making that will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch, and reflect heavily on its themes afterwards.

Steve Pulaski White Dog is a polarizing, criminally underrated commentary on racism as a curable way of thinking. The most dehumanizing thing you could do to a race is view them as stereotypical caricatures and writer-director Samuel Fuller recognized this when he made this film. Therefore, to tell his unconventional story, he utilizes characters as metaphors and events as psychiatric tests, beautifully articulating the theory that a racist can be "rebirthed," so to speak, as someone who holds no judgments.One of the many reasons to appreciate this film is - unlike so many pictures today - this one possesses the courage and gumption to take an idea and gleefully run with it. Samuel Fuller holds up a magnifying glass to his audience, questioning their prejudices and tests their understanding and belief in racist behavior - can it be "cured" or is it there to stay after initial implementation? Fuller uses a beautiful, healthy white German Sheppard as the main character - or device - to try and give substance and justification to these questions. The dog is of an older age and is struck by Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol), a young, starving actress in search of work. She takes the dog to a vet where it is seen suffering minor injuries. Not long after Julie takes it home with her - as all other options seem to be unfulfilling - she learns her nameless dog is an attack dog, specifically trained to viciously maul black people. Frustrated and low on options, she takes the dog to a black man named Keys (Paul Winfield), who specializes in training animals, particularly dogs. He knows all about "white dogs" and informs Julie that at the age of a puppy this dog may have been beaten and mistreated by a black man (as directed by a white owner) in order to make the dog "attack black before black can attack hit." Julie is disgusted and angry. Her boyfriend believes the dog should be put down, while Julie (who represents the optimistic side of the "learned racism" debate) believes that it isn't the dog's fault that it was trained to hate. Another elderly white trainer named Carruthers (Burl Ives) also believes the dog is untrainable and, on that notion, should be put down.Julie decides to let Keys do his best to try and make the dog relearn. What follows is terrific and lengthy sequences of Keys trying to retrain the dog and overwrite its memory. All the while, we, the viewer, are put in a position where numerous questions have already been quietly communicated to us and we have to come up with answers in our head. White Dog challenges the viewer in a mystifying way that is equal parts subtle, manipulative, and brilliant. The film plays with your emotions, but never shamelessly milks the material as sentimental bait.The only thing that will likely serve as a distraction to viewers are the film's production values, which are obviously cheap and of an independent film budget. However, when a film is this crowded with blunt social commentary and heavy themes, questioning a person's true beliefs and ethics, production values have little importance whatsoever. Few will complain because the film provides such a smooth conversation on racism that the way it is presented doesn't need to be very polished. I'd rather have a low-budget piece of valuable commentary than a glossy, good-looking film with no brain in its head whatsoever.Racism is a tough subject to tackle in film, and with directors like Paul Haggis unintentionally cheapening the material for easy-consumption and others like Spike Lee clearly passionate about making it believable, a film like White Dog is a true miracle. Fuller's approach to racism and the blunt question it asks a person shouldn't be ignored. We're told in the film that dogs can only see in two colors; what happens when one of them is viewed as an evil color? Starring: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Burl Ives, and Jameson Parker. Directed by: Samuel Fuller.

Rodrigo Amaro A film that deals with racism and hatred is necessarily racist and because of that can't have a good message? Well, if this is a current truth "White Dog" proves it wrong. With its apparently simple plot of a attacker German Shephard trained to kill Black people, the film directed by Samuel Fuller is a redemption story that makes us not take a look at how animals are treated to make horrible things but it's a even deeper look to another animal whose bestiality surpasses of any other wild animal, and that is us, we, the "thinking human", superior to all the other creatures of Earth.After accidentally hit a dog while driving, an actress (Kristy McNichol) takes the poor animal to her home thinking he's such a good boy. That good boy will later proof to be an racist and horrendous attacker who can kill or injure his victims simply because they're African American. As many know, this kind of situation leaves no alternative than to put the dog out of his misery but the woman says "No, I can't let that happen", and decides to take him to an specialist in wild animals who might cure the dog's dangerous obsession. And who's more inclined to do this job? A black trainer (Paul Winfield in one of his best roles) who tried (and failed) this experiment a few other times and firmly believes that he can take out of the hatred of the vicious dog. Will the white dog change for good?This adaptation from Romain Gary's book is translated to the screen as an strong reflection to us on why people should think twice before training an animal to become a monster who can kill people. To those who dared to call "White Dog" a racist due to the fact of all the things presented throughout the story, take a second look and pay attention to the ending, in which was corroborated that even if changing the animal's ferocity towards his primal target he'll change for another. What we get is that hatred sees beyond colors (even though, as the trainer says, "to the dog it's a black and white world" meaning that he'll find one good, nice and the other bad, I must attack), or to another extent seeing far away from what the film has shown, hatred and intolerance, even seeing the appearances, are completely blind to all the other things that exists, it doesn't see the interior of someone. The biggest questions we must ask ourselves while watching this film is: Does hate can easily be erased from somebody or something? One can teach to despise but one can really teach to change his views or what is thought to be his natural behavior? Not just the dog but a person as well, can we really change them of their negative and violent views? The film answers in its own sad ways but there's greater lessons to be learned when we reach its conclusion. The dog as a metaphor really worked for me, might not be so well perceived by some.It is an upsetting and tense plot but never discouraging, it always manages to make us engaged, thrilled. Of course, it has its minor flaws (an struggling actress like the main character wouldn't have the money to buy that kind of house), it has some weak acting from the leading role and her romantic pair, but it features some decent acting from Winfield, Burl Ives, and the five dogs that play the unnamed White Dog) but it's a effective thriller that skilfully touches the horror (some moments when I couldn't control myself when the trainer tests the dog with another black man in the cage just to prove that the animal already cured); such horror followed by the splendid music of maestro Ennio Morricone. Paramount feared to release this in theaters back in the days believing that the subject wouldn't be accepted by audiences and they also feared a massive boycott led by NAACP. Shelved after a few limited screenings, the film never found its public until recently with the release of the Criterion DVD. Sadly, Fuller never directed another American film just when his career was starting to being resurrected with the glorious war film "The Big Red One". Huge mistake of them but gladly many audiences can rediscover something more appealing and more positive than many flicks out there (and to think that "Birth of a Nation" caused more damage than anything with the racists played as heroes, coming out of the dark again and killing, lynching people and disseminating hatred in America; "White Dog" is highly harmless in comparison). Be prepared to really see something both scary and thought provoking. 10/10