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Atomic Dog

Atomic Dog (1998)

January. 14,1998
|
3.3
|
PG
| Horror Science Fiction TV Movie

When a pooch is irradiated by a nuclear plant and threatens the town, only a teenage boy can redeem him.

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Reviews

andrew persaud
1998/01/14

Okay first things first & that is this is a movie not an Animal Planet documentary so it will do as all movies should & that is suspend belief but this does not ask you to suspend it to stupidity levels like any of the Shark Attack munch munch naked women about to get made into shark food do. The movie does slightly mislead you from the poster as you are expecting some sort of super power dog when this starts with a man (cleaner I think) & his puppy who are at the Nuclear power plant when it suffers a LOW LEVEL I will repeat this a LOW LEVEL leak & the plant is immediately shut down & all staff removed including the cleaner who is refused allowance to go get his pup (admittedly you would have thought he would have sneaked back in & got him but nope he does not). Move on a year & you have a family new to the area comprising of dad (an inventor of gadgets,mum (a writer of children s books),teenage son (& no just a normal teen not a troubled one) & lastly but not lastly a daughter (this bit really says a lot about the people who wrote the description as they say about the son being the main character where as to me it is the daughter) & the family Labrador bitch. The son is going out with some of the towns boys for the evening & the dog goes with them & they end up at the abandoned power plant where one of the son's new friends decides to take out his .22 rifle & shoot at the exterior lighting where upon they see the pup (but he is now a full grown dog) & being a fool shoots at the dog so the dog runs off & this friend decides to trespass onto the site. The film is not a horror & does not have anything that would make me think unsuitable for older children (10 plus)so I would say give it a try.

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osachs
1998/01/15

*As obvious as this film may be, there may be spoilers in this comment.* The main question that came to me when watching Atomic Dog was: "What was going through the casts' minds during filming?". This film is terrible from the absurd plot that it entails to the poor acting on screen. The story of a dog made evil by radiation that terrorizes a friendly community that seems to know everything about dogs, including what they're thinking about. The dogs in this movie are trained horrendously bad and when you think that the stunts probably cost more than the movie will have grossed, that makes you think. To add to insult is blasphemy, as the atomic dog decides to recreate with the little girl at the end, because it likes her character. Was the movie not bad enough without this lame 'Alien like' twist at the end? Stay away from this film, just as much as you'd stay away from an overused porter toilet at the 3rd day of a festival! Serious! 2.5/10

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Tim Evanson
1998/01/16

This B-movie, which airs repeatedly on the Sci-Fi Channel, isn't the world's grestest film. But it has a certain camp appeal. The film is part anti-nuclear screed, part "boy loves dog" film, part "Cujo" and part science fiction movie.The film involves the Yates family, who live in a bucolic small town near a nuclear reactor. An old man who works as a security guard there adopts a homeless dog. But when the reactor has a meltdown (which is hushed up by the standard baddies who run the plant), the dog is trapped inside the core and irradiated. Assumed dead, "Atomic Dog" escapes the plant to wreak havoc on the town."Havoc" is a little over-stating the case, however. At first, the dog seems to menace the Yates family and especially young Josh, whose own dog keeps getting lost. But Josh (stupidly? heroically?) befriends Atomic Dog -- even though Atomic Dog has attacked his own pet -- and feeds the glowing beastie. None of this makes sense. It is as if the writer of the film wasn't sure if he wanted a family film or a version of "Cujo." Instead, a weird admixture exists in the film. For teens or younger children, the film has a slight menacing undercurrent (wholly accidental). But for adults, the film is just goofy. It's also unclear exactly why Atomic Dog is monstrous. The dog seems to glow at night, has glowing eyes, and is somewhat stronger than a normal dog. But other than that, it's not much of a menace.Soon, the town authorities, pushed by the evil folk at the nuclear plant (eager to cover up the nuclear monster they created), begin to think Atomic Dog is a horrible terror that will "destroy the town." The Yates try to protect Atomic Dog, helped by their vet and Josh's friend Dwayne (the quite good teen actor Scott Olynek). Lots of time-wasting action occurs, as the town hunts the dog down. The action is so slow-paced and interminable that it's difficult to actually sit through the film.By the end of the film, all's well that ends well. We even get puppies to which the audience is supposed to deliver the requisite "awww!"). There's clearly room for a sequel.Micah Gardner is serviceable as the film's teenage star, Josh Yates, but not outstanding. Daniel Hugh Kelly tries his hardest as the father, Brook Yates, but his acting skills are so limited and poor that his performance is painful to watch. Isabella Hofmann is given little to do except drive the kids to school, make cookies, and look worried. Scott Olynek is the surprise here -- he actually looks effortless and natural as the best friend.There are very few special effects in the film, although the editing, cinematography and production values are fairly top-notch. There's a little violence (mostly dog attacks, which are easily spotted even by children as fake), some crowds with torches, and such.It's a time-waster for adults, but probably might satisfy the middle-school kids.

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eek-3
1998/01/17

The dogs were not presented as being vicious naturally but by genetic malfunction. The villains in my estimation were the humans who ran the defective Atomic Power Plant and then abandoned it. They took no safety precautions causing a hazard to anyone who came in contact with the Plant. In this case, the innocent dogs were the victims of radiation poisoning. In my opinion, besides family entertainment, this movie also makes a social commentary.

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