On one hand, this is probably one of the most misogynistic movies I've ever seen (and I've seen Straw Dogs and Marnie!). On the other hand, it comes from a particular brand of eternal man-boydom that resides so strongly in pretty much most male sentiments.... so, like a post-apocalyptic, semi-Freudian Judd Apatow movie from the 70s. For that reason, I'd actually quite recommend it.
The plot is slight, but entertaining and escapist enough. A post-WWIV world is covered in desert where men survive by basically digging up food from buried houses and bartering it. Of course, as the system they live under is basically true anarchy, most survival depends on one's handiness with a gun, and women are truly rare goods measured by "how many goes" they have left. The boy and dog of the title are the titular characters of this apocalyptic drama, two best friends that keep each other company and share talents for finding food and the next lay. Then a saucy young blonde comes along and threatens their friendship, their freedom, and even their lives by luring the boy down into the "below-ground", a somewhat "Brave New World" totalitarian society where rules are made of pleasure, happiness, and gluttony--so that failure to smile itself can actually be a capital punishment crime. It's up to our intrepid hero to escape back to the kindly above world, where one can "get into a real fight over a can of beans" and "roll over in the dirt to get clean." In other words, the backyard of the parents house, the all-boys club where girls are yucky and not allowed, and faithful Blood to sniff out the next adventure.
This is one of those cult classics that takes its concept and its small budget and runs with it, creating in its grainy simplicity some of the best apocalyptic, burnt-out imagery in science fiction. It's easy to see why it's such a cult classic and it's definitely worth catching at the local grindhouse theatre, provided your town still has one and they happen to show this film. But as for what it ultimately stands for, this probably isn't the greatest date movie unless you're one of those lucky bastards with a girlfriend with a wicked sense of humor, because at the best that's what this movie has, and in spades.
--PolarisDiB
The plot is slight, but entertaining and escapist enough. A post-WWIV world is covered in desert where men survive by basically digging up food from buried houses and bartering it. Of course, as the system they live under is basically true anarchy, most survival depends on one's handiness with a gun, and women are truly rare goods measured by "how many goes" they have left. The boy and dog of the title are the titular characters of this apocalyptic drama, two best friends that keep each other company and share talents for finding food and the next lay. Then a saucy young blonde comes along and threatens their friendship, their freedom, and even their lives by luring the boy down into the "below-ground", a somewhat "Brave New World" totalitarian society where rules are made of pleasure, happiness, and gluttony--so that failure to smile itself can actually be a capital punishment crime. It's up to our intrepid hero to escape back to the kindly above world, where one can "get into a real fight over a can of beans" and "roll over in the dirt to get clean." In other words, the backyard of the parents house, the all-boys club where girls are yucky and not allowed, and faithful Blood to sniff out the next adventure.
This is one of those cult classics that takes its concept and its small budget and runs with it, creating in its grainy simplicity some of the best apocalyptic, burnt-out imagery in science fiction. It's easy to see why it's such a cult classic and it's definitely worth catching at the local grindhouse theatre, provided your town still has one and they happen to show this film. But as for what it ultimately stands for, this probably isn't the greatest date movie unless you're one of those lucky bastards with a girlfriend with a wicked sense of humor, because at the best that's what this movie has, and in spades.
--PolarisDiB