Woodyanders Australia in the 1850's. Irish miner Daniel Morgan (an electrifying live-wire performance of remarkable intensity and conviction by Dennis Hopper) is forced to become a highway robber out of total necessity. After serving six years hard time in a brutal prison, Morgan gets released and vows revenge on those who wronged him. Assisted by his loyal and amiable Aborignine best buddy Billy (a wonderfully engaging portrayal by David Gulpilil), Morgan becomes a legendary outlaw who's a folk hero to the people and a vehemently hated wanted criminal by the police. Writer/director Phillipe Mora does an expert job of relating this potent, gripping, and often exciting tragic tale of social barbarism and injustice: the brisk pace rarely let's up for a minute, the tone is appropriately tough and gritty, there's a vivid and flavorsome evocation of the Australian outback setting, the jarring outbursts of abrupt and savage violence pack a wicked punch, and the bold and provocative central theme of racism is tackled in a gutsy and confrontational manner. Hopper's fiery impassioned acting in the lead role is nothing short of astounding; Hopper really shows this volatile and unpredictable man in a warts and all fashion (the film scores extra points for depicting the rougher aspects of Morgan's character in an admirably stark and unsentimental way), yet still manages to make Morgan a sympathetic person. The supporting cast is likewise excellent, with stand-out contributions by Frank Thring as ruthless Superintendent Cobham, Bill Hunter as the vicious, determined Sergeant Smith, Jack Thompson as the shrewd, compassionate Detective Mainwaring, Michael Pate as the cocky Superintendent Winch, and Robin Ramsey as jolly photographer Roget. Mike Molloy's sumptuous widescreen cinematography offers plenty of striking shots of the beautiful Australian landscape. Patrick Flynn's moody score also hits the spot. Among the most memorable moments are Morgan's mistreatment at the hands of his foul fellow inmates in jail (these scenes are extremely harsh and harrowing to behold), a barmaid attempting to seduce Morgan in a saloon, and Morgan crashing a posh diner at a mansion. The friendship between Morgan and Billy is genuinely touching. Well worth seeing.

bamptonj CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS Once again, Dennis Hopper gives an over-the-top performance as Daniel Morgan, the infamous outlaw of the the 1860s. MAD DOG (as the film was also known) is highly evocative of the colonial era: frontier lands with few townships but individual homesteads, extreme parochialism and an uneasy relationship between free settlers and ex-convicts. The dirge begins on the NSW Goldfields where our Irish protagonist falls out with his fellow diggers and seeks company with the out-cast Chinese instead. Whilst smoking opium in a Joss House, a group of aggrieved and racist miners beset Morgan and his compatriots; burning the house to the ground. Morgan runs to the bush and becomes a highwayman: eventually being sentenced to the gaols. As the magistrate reveals, severe sentences are necessary to build the colony's roads.In gaol, Morgan is brutalized and maltreated by both guards and fellow prisoners. Upon his release, he finds himself in old ways and later makes an aboriginal companion. The duo continue to harass (mostly) the squatters and large-lot landowners along the Riverina in New South Wales and Victoria. Morgan is eventually shot and killed by a loose coalition of police officers and privateers. The authorities generally are portrayed as equally corrupt and invidious as Morgan. The bulk of the police-force, for instance, are recently released prisoners or prison-wardens looking for easy money. The Governor of Victoria (played deliciously by Frank Thring) subscribes to the belief that a mastermind criminal like Morgan must have "the physical attributes of a gorilla" and a "throw-back to primitive man" - forgetting his own monolithic presence and bulging forehead.Australia is presented as the penal colony it really was: "a melting pot of racial, social, and economic tensions" - and so film is quite a macarabe and episodic one. While evocative of the mood, a far amount of artistic license has been taken in the history. Surprisingly absent from MAD DOG MORGAN are accounts of sadist and barbaric acts committed by Morgan, including the ungentlemenly murder of two policemen shot in the back. Looking back, MAD DOG MORGAN contains a guest-list of Australian actors which now can be somewhat distracting (Yes, that is Alf Stewart from "HOME AND AWAY" as the Scottish Telegraphist.)

uds3 If you check the credentials of Philippe Mora you will find he leans towards the outre school of film-making. In terms of cinematic crap he has managed to helm three of the all time greatest duds: THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE, SWAMP THING and the never to be forgotten, HOWLING 2 (The jury is still out on HOWLING III: THE MARSUPIALS...its either WORSE than 2 or a camp classic)Whatever, MAD DOG MORGAN (MAD DOG in the US) offers too much to either ignore per se or to slate unmercifully. As a towering portrait of a reasonably obscure bushranger, it is just to disjointed and lacking in sane continuity to be considered a winner. Dennis Hopper's work and intense interpretation of Morgan however is just plain awesome - I consider it amongst his career highlights - up there with BLUE VELVET (are these two characters cosmically related somehow?)The cinematography is sumptuous although on some dvd's I've noticed a strange discoloration towards the center of the screen throughout the print...oddly though it adds rather than detracts. The music is at times jarring and fully inappropriate, then before you can say "Is this one odd flick or not?" you're watching Hopper perched alone in a bar room, musing on his past and telling his would-be seductress - "I only ever knew one woman - my mother...I'm sorry." That scene alone makes the film worth watching. One of those scenes stays with you if you have any compassion whatsoever.Frank Thring still thinks he's playing Herod from KING OF KINGS as the head of Victorian Police. His psychotic demands at the end of the film sicken even his subordinates. Clearly he is closer to an institution even than Morgan!Excellent supporting work from Gulpilil as always. He also plays the film's didgeridoo on the soundtrack.MAD DOG MORHAN is no thinking-person's classic, its not even an especially good film. What it DOES achieve though, is a fairly accurate representation of Australian Bush life from a bygone period. Within its budgetary limitations, insane direction and superior acting, it is a mini-beacon of sorts from the mid seventies. PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK it ain't...but neither does it generate the cringe factor of THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY MACKENZIE. The 4.8 IMDb rating is woefully inadequate and quite absurd. This is a 5.6 (min) to 6.5 (max) if you consider the film rationally by virtue of the sum of its parts.

silverauk This movie is typical Australian because the landscape has its part of the scenes, it is a protagonist. It is similar to the American Midwest but at the same time it is so different because there is more variety. It is in the most hot parts of Australia that Daniel Morgan will be rescued by a bush-man. He became a horse-thief, element in the story which is not explained well because he already had left prison for three years. We only see the developing of his character at the end of the movie when he invites himself into the family Mcpherson. Why did he become a bandit? He does not lack courage but will he be caught alive? His life in the wilderness is only slightly developed with his bush-comrade who saved his life; the beginning of the story shows him confronted with Australian justice which had no equity at all. The prison system will almost kill him morally. In a scene in a tavern he confesses to a woman that he only knew one women in his life: his mother.