
Australia in the 1850s. Daniel Morgan, like hundreds of other ex-patriots from the British Isles (he is from Ireland), has come Downunder to seek his fortune. There is a gold rush going on, and Morgan wants to strike it rich. As fate would have it, Morgan soon finds himself on the other side of the law, broke and desperate. A single act of highway robbery gets him 12 years of hard labor. While in prison, he is systematically abused. Upon release, Morgan vows revenge on those ... (Full plot summary below)
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Australia in the 1850s. Daniel Morgan, like hundreds of other ex-patriots from the British Isles (he is from Ireland), has come Downunder to seek his fortune. There is a gold rush going on, and Morgan wants to strike it rich. As fate would have it, Morgan soon finds himself on the other side of the law, broke and desperate. A single act of highway robbery gets him 12 years of hard labor. While in prison, he is systematically abused. Upon release, Morgan vows revenge on those who wronged him. With the help of an aborigine named Billy, and a growing legend of audacity, Morgan soon becomes a hero. The locals love him, while the wealthy and powerful fear his influence. They want this outlaw dead or alive, and will stop at nothing to see that their sense of justice is done. But Morgan only wants those to pay for the crimes they have committed, to recognize that he wasn't always a bushranger - he was made into one. It wasn't only his mind that made him bad. It was society that turned him into Mad Dog Morgan.
Leave your thoughts about Mad Dog Morgan.
| Urban CinefileAndrew L. UrbanPhilippe Mora handles the screenplay with energy and pace, his storytelling focused on Morgan and his tragic, self-destructive path |
| User ReviewRichard DDennis Hopper is hillarious as the Aussie Outlaw Mad Dog Morgan in this faboulos ironic-sociocritic Australian Anti-Western i love the beautiful Pictures of the Australian Nature and this trancy Digeridoo Soundtrack |
| User ReviewDaniel MWhat a marvellous film this is. A strong lead performance from the legend that is Dennis Hopper which is accompanied by a great cast. Philippe Mora's direction is outstanding with some truly memorable imagery and the film pounds away at a breakneck speed way ahead of its time. It's a film with a truly mythic feel perfectly fitting its subject. Highest recommendations. |
| User ReviewMichael TInteresting Australian synthesis of Malick and the spaghetti Western. (Call it a Vegemite Western.) And yes, Dennis Hopper (excellent) does seem high as a kite. |
| User ReviewJack GIt's got an off-kilter pace that makes it a little uneasy to follow at certain times (especially in the first 20 minutes), but Dennis Hopper gives it his all, even with such a fake beard. If nothing else, he makes it a must-see. I just wish the film had a better editor, then it could be the underlooked classic it was touted to be on the Troma DVD. |
| User ReviewJason DMad Dog Morgan is the story of Irish bushranger Dan Morgan (played brilliantly by then-drugged up and completely unaware Dennis Hopper) who is unfairly put through a rigorous and painfully unfair justice system throughout Australia. His only option is to embrace the villainy and become the mad animal people treat him as. Accompanied by his best friend (possibly the film industry's most famous aborigine, David Gulpilil), the two embark on a crime spree in the old west, Ozzie style! Mad Dog Morgan's crime sprees become so large in number and infamous, the lawmen are constantly made to look foolish and become desperate in their attempts to capture him. These exploits of Mad Dog Morgan are fairly factual for the most part, and were kept hidden for many, many years by the Australian government, both for the notoriety and for the mistreatment of Morgan by the Australian lawmen. The movie serves as an excellent exploitation film that embodies many characteristics unique to this sub-genre of film, namely its Australian heritage (as the country was just getting into the exploitation ring) and for its historical period piece background. Dennis Hopper gives an amazing (and brilliantly insane) performance as Mad Dog, embodying the character in such a powerful way, many of the crew members on the film were understandably frightened of him. The supporting cast, which includes other well-established Australian actors like Jack Thompson, John Hargreaves, and Michael Pate, also does a commendable job. Philippe Mora's off-the-wall, spastic direction led him to receive some justifiable notoriety, not to mention gave him a chance to direct a string of other nominal exploitation (mostly horror) films, like the Beast Within, the dreadful Howling 2, and the delightfully corny Howling 3. One painful thing about this film is its ownership by Troma Studios, whose multiple releases of it show painfully rough, VHS quality transfers of the film. To further add fuel to the fire, the recently released documentary Not Quite Hollywood, about Aussie exploitation films, shows brilliantly looking clips of Mad Dog Morgan in glorious HD that make the movie look rather new. I say it's time for Troma to sell the movie to another company that could do this great film justice. |
| User Reviewdelysid dI'll Blow your fucking brains all over this Fucking Barn! Dennis Hopper is out of control in this crazy old australian movie |
| User ReviewBrody MIt's basically a spaghetti western set in colonial Australia. There's some social and racial issues portrayed but not very forcefully or successfully. Most of the movie involves Dennis Hopper riding around, killing people and speaking homespun poetry (basically) in an Irish lilt. Some of these monologues are good. Some aren't. The supporting cast is very throw-away, even the potato-faced main antagonist, even you can even call Daniel Morgan a protagonist, isn't a successful match. I'm a fan of yin and yang in movies. Balance is good and this movie doesn't exactly have that. Choppy pacing. It's entertaining to watch once though. On a side note, I can't believe that Dennis Hopper is a Republican. That just doesn't make any sense. |
| User ReviewBrandon SPhilippe Mora's western masterpiece about an Austrailian folk hero during the Austrailian gold rush of the mid 1800's. Dennis Hopper is perfectly cast as the out of control outlaw, as is Gulpilil as his sidekick. After shooting Hopper ran off the set in costume, drove to the grave of Morgan, polished off a bottle of rum, got caught driving with a blood alcohol count of being legally dead and then was deported. |
| User ReviewSpookie MSome strange edits and technical downfalls can't stop this from breaking loose as a rough Australian western. Dennis Hopper brings his usual intensity to his role and I'm glad to come along for the ride. |