User reviews

Philippe Mora's film has more often than not been categorized as a western but might as well be called a political drama. The central character, the famous bushranger Daniel 'Mad Dog' Morgan becomes a bandit as a result of the harsh treatment the racist and unfair government doles out to the poor and ethnic minorities in Victorian Australia. The extremities of this injustice is made clear when a Chinese settlement is burned down -without there being any notable sanctions- while Daniel Morgan is locked up for six years for stealing some clothes. The victim of condoned rape and torture in prison, Morgan swears to revenge himself on society and becomes a sort of down under Robin Hood, much loved by the common people.

Those who love smooth Hollywood storytelling will not be entertained by the rambling structure of this film. However, there are moments of rough and ready poetry to be had for those who care to take a chance and watch something out of the ordinary. Morgan's friendship with Billy, a young aboriginal who saves his life and becomes his partner in crime, lends a strong, anti racist statement to the film which is quite unique. The script is very fragmentary, only dealing with the highlights of Morgan's career. Still, the sober treatment of the story and balanced portrayal of the bandit's growing frustration with the law and life itself, makes for compelling watching.

Dennis Hopper was never better than in this part. The transformation from excitable but honest and friendly Irish immigrant to desperate and saddened outlaw, hunted down by the police and tired of running, is minimally but very persuasively handled. Those of you who are familiar with the sentimental nature of the Irish, will recognize Hopper's truthful treatment of the character.

This Australian film is based on a true story of an outlaw in the rough and ready world of the 1800's Way Down Under. It's a very rough world indeed. There are no jokes, no hijinks, no pretty lady loves. Morgan is brutalized by his environment of gold camps, opium dens, and a hellish period in prison. His one love, his one true friend, is a male aborigine who acts as both his savior and his servant.

This is, indeed, an ugly film. Yet Dennis Hopper manages to find a note of grace, and gives the film it's heart. The last portion of the film seems deeper and truer than the scenes that went before, allowing the viewer to understand more fully the complexity of a man such as Morgan.

The movie is low-budget and a bit disjointed. It is also often compelling.....and unsettling. I can't give it a high grade, due to it's poor producton values. But I'm glad it's in my collection.

Despite some technical shortcomings and rather loose presentation, Mad Dog Morgan is an entertaining showcase of the Ozploitation genre. Dennis Hopper gives a strong performance, firing away as Irish prospector turned bushwhacker Daniel Morgan and there's rarely a dull moment. The pacing is quick and punchy, but not without it's more subtle dramatic moments.

Though what's most fascinating is that it's no more about crime than how easily a life can be corrupted, turning an individual into a criminal. Daniel Morgan is a confused, violent character but we sympathize with him nonetheless

All in all it's an interesting, near forgotten piece of film-making. You'd be hard pressed to find a proper version, but it's a must see for anyone interested in the sub-genre.

Unusual biopic of notorious Australian bush-ranger Daniel "Mad Dog" Morgan (played with animation by crazy-eyed Hopper), of Irish extraction who after witnessing a bloody massacre at a gold diggers site, flees into the Victorian countryside where he attempts a robbery, is captured, incarcerated and makes a lifelong enemy of sadistic trooper Bill Hunter. Following an early release for good behaviour, he's soon mistaken for a thief, shot at and left for dead. Aboriginal tracker (Gulpilil) finds, mends and befriends the affable if at times hot-headed Irishman and the pair go on to become the quintessential criminal duo, pillaging the countryside where Morgan becomes a champion for the battler, the bane of the establishment's fragile class structure.

Meandering tale is full of memorable scenes, picturesque landscape and quirky dialogue, but never quite gels the components homogeneously. The cast is superb with Hopper's erratic and at times dramatic characterisation nicely balanced by Gulpilil as his smiling, more at ease companion, Jack Thompson as a very serious-looking trooper, and Frank Thring as a brutal superintendent with a macabre legacy in mind. Graeme Blundell has a frivolous cameo as an Italian settler, while Liza-Lee Atkinson is sure to float your boat as a horny bar-maid starstruck by Morgan's wild-boy reputation.

Violent and sadistic (e.g. Morgan's sodomy in gaol), there's a Sam Peckinpah quality to the bloody executions, where the blood pumps and spurts out of gaping wounds like sauce from a squeezy bottle. Gory elements aside, there's also plenty of humour, particularly Morgan's delight when he hears of his 'up the establishment' reputation from people he encounters while on the lam. It's a bit amateurish in parts, though it's difficult not to like and the ending's implied gruesome epitaph is both shocking and memorable.

The recent release of "Mad Dog Morgan" on Troma DVD is disappointing.This appears to be a censored print for television viewing. Some of the more violent scenes have been edited and portions of the colorful language have been removed. Anyone who viewed the film uncut will be mad as hell at this toxic DVD version. "Mad Dog Morgan" deserves to be released on DVD in the original theatrical cut. However, even as released on DVD, the film is still one of the better depictions of bushranger life in nineteenth century Australia. After having toured the Old Melbourne Gaol, with death masks of convicts on display, it is "Mad Dog Morgan" that comes to mind.

A period piece Set in Australia 19th century , it dramatizes the life of a notorious outlaw , beginning when a prospector , hirsute Irish outlaw : Dennis Hooper is attacked by violent assailants . After a robbing and eventual capture he is imprisoned at a tenebrous jail where he is mistreated , hitten and raped . Shortly after , he finds it's impossibie for an Irishman in Queen Victoria's colony to walk the straight and narrow . Later on , there happens a manhunt proceeded by law enforcers : Jack Thompson , Michael Pate , Frank Thring , attempting to capture him , it results in deaths , violence and mayhem . Along the way , he is helped by an Australian aborigen , David Gulpilil , again representing the unknowable forgotten option like some fine Injun .

A peculiar and disjointed film about an outlaw roaming outlands of 19th-century Outback , resulting in a violent and offbeat G'day man . Concerning a victim of barbarities inflicted at the behest of nasty authoriries , and subsequent revenge and retribution . An acceptable early example of the Australia revival of the Seventies , with the same sort of critical kinship to its US models and in the wake of Backroads . Based on a true story in similar style to Ned Kelly 1970 by Tony Richardson with Mick Jagger ,dealing with the Australia's most notorious bandit . Dennis Hooper delivers a nice acting a quirky and outlandish outlaw . While support cast mostly formed by Australian secondaries giving engaging performances , such as : Frank Thring as a bald , bullish policeman , Jack Thompson , Michael Pate , John Hargreaves , Bruce Spence , among others .

Special mention for the colorful cinematography by Mike Molley , showing splendidly the wonderful Outback landscapes . The motion picture being basically a Western in all but locale was regularly directed by Philippe Mora , containing some shortfalls , flaws and gaps . Director Philippe Mora seems to have lacked an empathy for the material , given his lethargic filmmaking , though provides some thrilling scenes . Mora is an Australian craftsman who has made a lot of films in all kinds of genres , getting successes anf flops . Usually directing in low budgets, his uneven career with highs and lows is formed by the following films : "Scream of a winter night , The Beast within , Return of Captain Invincible , A Breed Apart , Howling 2 your sister is a werewolf , Holing 3 The Marsupials , Death of a Soldier , Communion , Precious Find , Back in Business , Pterodactyl Woman of Beverly Hills" and several others .

While I really liked the pictures and Hoppers performance, the movie itself couldn not convince me. The whole movie is about the character "Mad Dog"; while he was interesting, he simply wasn't realistic. This movie want's to tell the true story Mad Dog Morgan, a bloodthirsty robber and killer - of the ruthless kind! The movie totally stated it that way. But at the same time, the movie turned Mad Dog heroic! He was a rebel and Robin Hood and Jack the ripper in one person - and even worse, the movie wants to show Mad Dog as a victim! It all wouldn't be so bad, if it wouldn't have been told so unconvincing. The character of Mad Dog contradicted himself, and was way too exaggerated.

Some bad acting (and the awful German dub I needed to face), didn't help either.

Australia, in the 1850s. An Irish man Daniel Morgan starts off as gold-seeking immigrant who turns to robbery and gets sentenced to 12 years prison time. This is where the going gets truly tough and scars his mind. After a couple years he gets released. After befriending an aboriginal named Billy, he becomes a bushranger with an ever-growing bounty looming over his head. The two go out of their way to seek those prominent figures for turning him into what he is and for pushing him to the brink of self-destruction. On his trail is the determined Detective Mainwaring, which puts even more pressure on the cracking mind of Daniel "Mad Dog" Morgan.

I heard of the film before, but never had the chance to see it until just recently when I managed to pick myself up a copy of the film. Those who believe this to be a sorely forgotten Australian gem, do make a valid point and I'll be jumping onto the bandwagon too. Cult Aussie director Philippe Mora makes his directorial debut with an interestingly odd, exploratory and rampant curio piece of an Australian bushranger folk legend. It doesn't feel like your basic outlaw movie, as hounding the picture is a socially minded lashing of corrupt power taking away the respectability of a lone and misunderstood figure (Daniel Morgan). We watch the spiralling depiction of a fazed man fighting a society who thinks they are better accustomed and more civilized than him because of his actions against them (but that's far from the case). I didn't think it was going to be as harrowing and potently involving as it was, but this is very much largely thanks to spellbinding method actor Dennis Hopper's (who fell out favour with Hollywood at the time) multi-layered performance as Mad Dog Morgan. His erratic changes in mood (from being placidly polite to passionately quick tempered) are very successfully timed and indeed convincing. One of his best.

Leading the way is a strong Australian support cast with their characters getting enough time to shine. David Gulpilil is a good choice as Billy and has a budding rapport that works along with Hopper's character. Frank Thring stands out as the aggressively bull-headed Superintendent Cobham and a poignantly stern Jack Thompson makes the most of his small role as Detective Mainwaring. Also lurking on screen with tip-top (and some quirky) performances are John Hargreaves, Wallace Eaton, Bill Hunter (who chews up the scenery) and Bruce Spence ticks in with a blink and you'll miss it spot. These are very human characters and cast do a fine job in bringing that to the screen. Mora has crafted a roughly violent tale that skews between cheekiness and a spiritual foray in a well up drawn period. The story jauntily breezes by to begin with then falls into some patchy holes when it can drag, but never gets dull or loses its bitingly ironic edge. It seems to be more complex in its character's reactions than the basic narrative lets on. Mora smoothly plays along with his stylish filming techniques and has a gifted eye for short spurts of flair and (at time surreal) images. No more than some of the well mounted photography by Mike Molloy focuses on the vastly stunning backdrop of the untamed Australian wilderness and accompanying the action is an diversely roaring music score that fits right in with the style Mora's going for.

"Mad Dog Morgan" is an overlooked Australian rarity of the 70s, which is hard not to be highly fascinated by its boldly rough and evocatively baseless treatment of the stirring material.

Dennis Hopper was apparently "Chemically Altered" for much of the shoot, but still a sterling job. David Gulpilil is amazing and the late Frank Thring steals the movie with a few fantastic one liners!

I was moved to write something after reading with dismay comments from others that this was a fair depiction of Morgan... it wasn't.

Daniel Morgan was not named "Mad Dog" for no reason. He was a murderous rapist, and anyone with the interest to research the matter will agree. On one occasion Morgan joined forces with "Gentleman" Ben Hall to rob a large, well guarded, and very wealthy homestead, but when Morgan attempted to rape one of the women, Hall intervened and the two came to blows, Hall stood his ground and it almost became a gunfight. Hall took control and ordered Morgan off the property, threatening to shoot Morgan on the spot if he didn't go.

Morgan may well have been a victim of a corrupt and autocratic Colonial Rule, but so was Hall, and he never mistreated his victims, other than to take their valuables. Hall never robbed or disrespected women, in fact male victims upon being "baled up" would quickly put all their money and valuables into the women's purses, knowing that Hall would never commit any bad act against a woman. Hall countered by begging forgiveness, but "could the dear lady please remove all the men's belongings from her purse?" His manner was so gracious and flattering they would usually blush and comply.

Mad Dog was entirely the opposite, a brutal and violent psychopath, and to glorify Morgan is simply fictitious sensationalism designed to garner applause for what is essentially a very bad movie. I thought Hopper did not take the role seriously and it seems he felt his reputation was all that was required for the payday. The movie was completely disjointed and came across as a series of unconnected one-act plays.

I gave it 3/10 purely for the beautiful Australian backdrop, but ONLY 3 because it was so poorly shot.

I've been searching for this movie for years, and now thanks to a recent DVD release here in Australia I've finally been able to see it. And best of all, it's a bloody good movie! 'Mad Dog Morgan' was made in Dennis Hooper's "wilderness" years where his reputation and behaviour meant that mainstream Hollywood was too nervous to employ him. During this period he made some of his most interesting movies, often overseas, with some of his bravest and most honest performances. Movies like 'Tracks', 'Bloodbath', 'The American Friend' and this one. Sadly little seen and rarely talked about. Hopper plays Irish immigrant turned bushranger (that's outlaw to non-Australians) Daniel Morgan, hero to the more famous folk hero Ned Kelly. Hopper, by the look of him in the 25 minute documentary included on the DVD, could out drink and drug Robert Downey Jr and Christian Slater combined and STILL give a remarkable performance. Hopper is helped by a supporting cast of the (then) cream of Aussie acting, most of whom are probably not all that known to overseas audiences apart from Jack Thompson, and maybe David Gulpilil ('Walkabout', 'The Tracker'), Bill Hunter ('Newsfront', 'Muriel's Wedding') and the legendary Frank Thring ('Ben-Hur', 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'). Director, Australian ex-pat Philippe Mora, went on to an eclectic and eccentric career which included cult favourites 'The Beast Within' and 'Communion'. 'Mad Dog Morgan' is one of the most underrated and overlooked movies ever made in Australia and deserves to be rediscovered.

Firstly, my DVD version is the final disc (of 12) in the Australian Cinema Collection and is in good, clear 'tall' widescreen. Therefore I do not need to cover ground about the quality issues surrounding the transfer that other Amazon reviewers have, apart from that it's fine.

Irish Daniel Morgan (a suitably way-out casting choice and performance from American acting legend Dennis Hopper) goes a bit awry and is subsequently incarcerated into a penal regime that demands 12 years hard labour from him. Here, he is raped, tortured and generally abused by officers and inmates who find pleasure in such things.

Calling himself 'Smith', he is freed on parole after serving half his sentence, but Morgan is emotionally damaged and wild with anger and revenge. The film, directed by Philippe Mora, is certificate "M", for 'Mature', as it's an Australian release, is probably between a 15 and 18, over here in the U.K. Thus, it shows the natural side to bush life, as Morgan starts out a free man as a horse thief. Therefore, if such things as aboriginal methods of pulling off a snake's head to extract a 'medicine' are going to spoil your viewing pleasure, then do, look elsewhere, such as the first disc in the boxed -set, the cert U 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'.

When Morgan is left for dead after a skirmish with those he was trying to steal from, the aboriginal youth mentioned above nurses him back to health and teaches him methods of survival. This is at times illuminating but also clumsy - such as Hopper's bushy, shiny false beards that can be spotted a mile off and gun wounds to a head that's obviously made of something very synthetic.

These anomalies aside, this is a pretty good yarn, with Hopper well able to carry the central character. The locational scenery is often splendid and the supporting cast well able, too. Excesses in violence do occasionally mar, as they do look gratuitous, but not, say in the almost stately manner that Sam Peckinpah managed and seem almost jokey.

All in all, this is a pretty good film and actually one of the best in my boxed set, which was slightly surprising.

The previous reviewer, who complained of the historical inaccuracy of the film, somewhat missed the point. While the film may not be true to the original Morgan's personal story, it is certainly true of the conflict between legal authorities and outlaws throughout the English speaking countries during the 19th Century. The Governor at the end asks for Morgan's scrotum to be used as a tobacco pouch; I don't know if this happened to Morgan - but it happened to Nat Turner. Jesse James' corpse went on tour briefly as a carnival attraction before his family intervened; so did the bodies of Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s. In Canada, one Indian outlaw was so feared, they used cannon to get at him in his last house rather than face him with small arms. Public hangings came to a halt in Great Britain because the crowd got raucously drunk and lecherous after-wards. The fact is, outlaws became legend because government agencies and private interests, as well as the perversity of the general public, made them so.

Like Bonnie and Clyde, part of the function of this film - which is really more a 'docudrama' than an adventure film or simply another crime film - is recording what was said of Morgan once he became infamous. Of course most of it was lies - people want their fifteen minutes of fame, even if it's just for bumping into an well-known outlaw.

That said, this film suffers from two major problems. First its low budget - it is clear from certain set-pieces that the film had high ambitions.. It is unfortunately clear, from the quality of the film-stock used (and its unevenness) and the awkward uniforms of the provincial police, that there just wasn't enough money to fulfill those ambitions.

The second major failing is that the lead is given over to Dennis Hopper, a 'cult' actor of very limited range. He simply isn't up to it. His dialect is terrible, and he utterly lacks either the panache of a flamboyant outlaw, or the angst of a socially driven one. In fact we end the film not knowing much about Morgan, which makes all the broad lies about him believable. And that's a weakness - he needs to be a factual counterpoint to his own legend. Hopper cannot give us this, it's beyond his capabilities.

Nonetheless, its an interesting film to watch, even as merely a curio. It was a risky film to make; Australian film industry had not yet attained 'world-class' status, and the strictly Australian subject-matter is certainly interesting. There is also some interesting cinematography, and the story has an odd draw to it even if its promise is never fully realized.

Not a classic, but hardly the disaster some have remarked it as.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. There is not a shred of historical accuracy, in fact reality is reversed. Just one example: Morgan preyed on the few ethnic Chinese he encountered. The acting is over the top, the script is a poorly written lie. I have never seen worse fake beards.

Hopper arrived in Australia and reportedly only would make the film if the script was totally rewritten so he could be a hero. Since the script was ten made up on the fly, the may explain how bad it is and how disjointed the movie is.

Any movie about Ned Kelly is a lot better than this film.

If looking on the DVD cover that is provided by Troma (yes, that old chestnut) - and by this I mean the *new* sort-of remastered uncut DVD version released last year, not the much lamented previous version that looks like hell- you would think that you have been missing out on something really special for your whole cinematic life. How has one not seen a mid 70's Aussie-Western (also one of the very first Australian film distributed in the US) which stars Dennis Hopper as a mad bandit going around the Queensland colonies in the 19th century donning a fake beard and shooting (mostly) those who he deems deserve a killing? It could go either way: it could either be the case where it is a suppressed classic just waiting to be unearthed, or it's a piece of Aussie trash given some prestige above its other Ausploitation films due to its star. Ultimately, the movie is somewhere in the middle, though it tries to be a classic when it can, and sometimes can't help but be kind of trashy due to its budget.

It's protagonist is something of an icon in Australia, like their Billy the Kid (sadly I'd yet to hear of him until this film), who started out as just an Irish farmer who enjoyed his opium, but ran away from a massacre of the Chinese in the area. He then got put in jail for one hold-up, got tortured and raped in prison, and then got out to try and become normal again, only to get shot and get healed by an aborigine. If this sounds like something interesting so far, it is. But the only downside it's at this point that the film finally takes off, after the first half hour; it's not that the opening half hour is bad in the slightest, since the cinematography by Mike Molloy is always something cool to look at in widescreen anamorphic. But the pace is kind of jerky and shaky, going from one set-up to another with a jarring feeling. This happens at other points in the film as well, but not as much as at this part.

And yet, as just noted, when Morgan is shot and heals up with the aborigine (a very natural David Gulpilil), he then decides to fight back. In a way he becomes an outlaw since he's left with no alternative, but at the same time goes for it for all it's worth. He especially attacks the upper class, those who have lots of money and land, and he becomes the big target for the police and authorities in the area, garnering a 1,000 dollar reward. It's here we get to see the big bad Dennis Hopper becomes as Morgan, and the film takes on a quality that is kind of special: it's a western, but it's also an anti-western. It's not about how Morgan is just some amoral villain going around to rob and maim and kill. His terms of being criminal are partly for survival (not too oddly enough one of his old prison "buddies" goes after him now as a member of the local authority), and partly to stick it to 'the man' circa 1860 Australia. We see the people who should be taking Morgan out as being, appropriately for the time period, not very sharp: one of their goals once they get kill Morgan is to study his skull to see how primitive he is.

It's this, actually, that Philippe Mora latches on to. How primitive a life does Morgan lead as an outlaw? His main compadre is an aborigine, who is barely looked on as human by the people in charge in the Aussie area, and as he keeps going along he's more at peace in an odd way with his fate. He knows how lucky he is to get *this* far, and he becomes more of a bad-ass because of it. He's a solid anti-hero, and Hopper makes the movie as awesome as it can get. He has a look about him- yes, even with that fake beard like something out of Cannibal the Musical- that is a little frightening, but also kind of sympathetic and sad. There's a scene where his Morgan is in a house with a woman, and she basically offers herself to him sexually, and he just softly speaks about how he just can't do it, and speaks about his mother. It's a very odd but touching scene, mostly due to Hopper's dedication to the role. By the end he becomes a kind of tragic figure.

He's not just the only reason to see the movie; when it's at its best, Mora's direction is sharp and exciting, particularly with action scenes as you really don't know who will get it and how bad in rifle and bullet fire, the blood being a big factor as well. And the cinematography, even in a print that is still shoddy in this updated Troma release, is striking and ethereal, giving the movie a whole other quality than I expected. Is it a great movie? Surely not. The pacing is not always tight, and some of the supporting performances are weak, as they tend to be in low-budget B-movies. But for what they had to work with, star included, it's definitely worth checking out.

It's 19th century Australia. Daniel Morgan (Dennis Hopper) is an Irishman with anger issues. His sense of social justice leads him to battle racists and turns him into a robber. He gets a harsh sentence in a horrific prison. Upon release, he goes a revenge tour against his enemies.

This is a fictional telling of the Australian outlaw Dan Morgan. I doubt the criminal's social justice bent. I really rather have a straight forward violent criminal. The filmmaking is ramshackle and low budget. Yet there is a great raw energy about the film. That has a lot to do with Dennis Hopper although I would like him to have a constant companion. Maybe Billy could have stayed with him longer.

In the mid 1800s, Irishman Dennis Hopper (as Daniel Morgan) emigrates to Australia, seeking a share of the continent's gold. Instead, Mr. Hopper finds himself branded, and thrown in a torturous prison; there, he is gang-raped. Upon release, Hopper hooks up with aborigine David Gulpilil (as Billy), with whom he seeks revenge upon sadistic Bill Hunter (as Sergeant Smith), Jack Thompson (as Detective Mainwaring), and others. Eventually, vengeance becomes heroism; Hopper is admired and assisted by the common people, and hunted by corrupt and powerful authorities. Hopper's "scarcely human" performance certainly fits the disjointed feel of the film. Mr. Gulpilil heads up a strong supporting cast. The personnel involved in "Mad Dog Morgan" make it not only worth a look, but also a huge disappointment.

*** Mad Dog Morgan (1976) Philippe Mora ~ Dennis Hopper, David Gulpilil, Bill Hunter