Man's Best Friend (1993)

This is a silly and nonsensical monster movie which mixes sci-fi elements in with plenty of tired and predictable clichés, rounded off by an unbelievable plot which bears little resemblance to real life. The intriguing possibilities of a killer dog movie are quickly dissipated when you realise that this is a family-orientated movie, complete with lame jokes and so much sweet talk and sentimentality that it'll make you physically sick (it certainly made ME sick). After the initial set-up, the film is merely content to go through the paces, introducing one-dimensional characters who are set up just to be killed off.The many death scenes in this film are generally off screen and not very gory, although some of them will make you jump. Sadly they're shot in such a slick way that any suspense or terror emanating from them is destroyed, as they just look too unrealistic. There are so many plot discrepancies that it's impossible to list all of them, plot twists are based on contrivances and you begin to wonder if the story was written by a child.The acting - well, if you can call it acting - from Ally Sheedy as the film's lead is terrible, her character a simpering idiot who fails to see what's going on right in front of her eyes. Incredibly, Sheedy continues to love the killer dog despite the fact that its eaten a cat whole, mutilated her boyfriend (via acid urine, go figure) and devoured half of the minor cast. The ever-reliable Lance Henriksen is on hand as a cruel scientist, and incredibly he's vilified as the film's chief villain - even though his only sin is to try and get his own property back! This is definitely a movie that makes no secret of its distaste for animal experimentation, as you get the morals shoved down your throat at every opportunity, the intelligent character Henriksen plays a mean-spirited and bad, bad person - despite the fact that he himself mentions that his research is being carried out for the good of mankind! Elsewhere, familiar faces like that of Robert Costanzo pop up but fail to make much of an impact, although I did like William Sanderson's bastard scrapyard owner whose first action upon receiving the dog is to club it with a spade! Whilst the first half of this film is schmaltzy, feel good stuff - you could be forgiven for thinking that you're watching BEETHOVEN, actually - packed with silly humour and obnoxious characters, the second half - a violent string of brutal murders - sits oddly with the beginning. Indeed some of this film's scenes border on the deeply unpleasant, like one character burning the dog's face with a blow torch as he is attacked! It's not really necessary, just a reason to give the dog an ugly look to make it more frightening. It's not. Kevin Yagher's usually reliable special effects work are also below par, the animatronics instantly recognisable from the real dog(s) used.The final insult comes at the end of this movie. What an infantile, stupid, moronic way to end the film. Aside from the incidental pleasure of watching a dog rip a postman to shreds, MAN'S BEST FRIEND is an appalling and ugly film to watch, one that offended me deeply.

"Man's Best Friend", about a genetically altered dog that kills any perceived threat, is pretty much what you'd expect. Ally Sheedy really chews the scenery as the reporter investigating cruelty to animals and inadvertently releasing the bloodthirsty pooch. But no matter, the movie still is pretty fun to watch, with the full understanding that it's basically a totally dumb flick. Lance Henriksen, playing the scientist who created the murderous hound, lets his face do the acting.Like I said, it's mostly just a fun movie to watch. Definitely nothing special about it. Although I should admit that I'd never heard of a Tibetan mastiff until I read a description of the movie.

this movie was better than i thought it would be.i thought it would be good,but it exceeded my expectations.the acting was fairly decent,but there was one standout--the dog.all the other characters were secondary.this dog was very well trained and had a personality-to boot.intelligent,lovable,sad and even romantic.there is a brief back story to the dog and how it came to be where it was.this is basically a very genetically enhanced animal,with all senses heightened,great strength,speed and intelligence.the story flowed very well and the dog(whose mane is Max) soon becomes endearing to the viewer the filmmakers even added a brief touch of whimsy,which i thought was a hint of brilliance.we feel pain when Max feels pain.Because this dog is such a highly developed character,it becomes very easy to sympathize with him.Even when Max slowly evolves from being a lovable "mutt" into a vicious killing machine we still feel for him.and that' because we are told early on that Max is not completely under his own control,and every second he is away from the"lab"his killing instincts exert themselves until he becomes psychotic.I was very entertained by this film,having also recently seen"Rottweiller" which is fairly similar,containing some-of the same subject matter but it takes a different tact than "Man's Best Friend" I give this movie an 8*/10

Ambitious television reporter Ally Sheedy (spunky and looking terrific) does an unauthorized news piece on lab-animal conditions, inadvertently freeing a seemingly lovable mutt who is actually a ticking time bomb with a wagging tail! Critically-drubbed film (Entertainment Weekly still takes potshots at it) plays like a Disney movie on acid. It has a few gory scenes, but is actually a lot of fun. The script, while nothing spectacular, is quite sharp and morbidly funny, and the performances by Sheedy and Lance Henriksen are very good. A keen, entertaining sleeper which could become a cult item. **1/2 from ****