Max, le meilleur ami de l'homme

Man's Best Friend (1999) is a childhood classic that I recently rewatched on Tubi. The storyline follows a genetically engineered dog who escapes from his laboratory and is adopted by an oblivious family. He becomes over protective of the child in the family and begins a killing spree. The creator of the dog will try to help law enforcement track down the dog and stop the killing spree.

This movie is written and directed by John Lafia (Child's Play 2) and stars Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club), Fredric Lehne (Men in Black), Robert Costanzo (Die Hard 2) and John Cassini (Se7en).

This is definitely one of those movies that's more fun than good. Lance Henriksen is awesome in this and always easy to root for, whether he's a good or bad guy. There's a bunch of light hearted scenes in this that make you smile - the opening post man sequence, the female dog back and forth and the cat scene are all worthwhile. However, the kill scenes always disappoint me and they all could have been better. The storyline is fairly straightforward and the conclusion is predictable.

Overall, this is a fun movie to watch but just an average addition to the horror genre. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

This is one of those movies that can entertain you as long as you don't get too critical. The basic premise of the story line is a good one but as with many low budget Sci-Fi films there are flaws in the telling.

The biggest flaw is in the title itself. Being as this dog befriends Ally Sheedy's character and basically snarls at all the men it come across the film probably should have been called "Woman's Best Friend" or better yet "M.A.X.".

Other than the title though the movie is basically a good film and you have to get pretty picky to find any real problems with it. It's not a great movie but it has some good scares, moments of comic relief, and some cool special effects.

I don't know why this film has gotten such a low over-all rating. I know that IMDb ratings tend to average a bit on the low side but still this movie deserves a lot better than a 4.4. I have given the film a 7 and feel this movie is good enough to add to any one's DVD library if found at budget prices.

Definitely worth a rental if you haven't already seen it.

EB

This mutated dog sci-fi/ horror / black comedy requires complete suspension of disbelief, and if you can live with that premise, you will find "Man's Best Friend" entertaining. Although Lance Henriksen receives second billing, his screen time is somewhat disappointing. The sci-fi element is never explored, giving way to "Cudjo"-like maulings and some moments of "dark comedy". There is a little too much cutesy stuff involving the genetically engineered dog, but overall other than the lack of Henriksen, this is a totally acceptable time waster. The dog is really the star, with the actors assuming a secondary role. - MERK

Dog that has had genetic experiments conducted on it is saved by a news reporter investigating a sciene lab. However, the dogs genetics have been mixed with several other animals and it kills anything or anyone that gets in the way of him and his new owner. Fun premise with some creative moments goes down the path you would expect, but still is entertaining anyway. The cast is used to little effect as this is a showcase for the dog.

Rated R; Violence and Profanity.

Lori Tanner (Ally Sheedy) a mediocre reporter who dreams of big-time. She gets her big break as she sneaks into a laboratory that is accused of having animal cruelty. She unwittingly releases poor pitiful Max, a lab experiment hound, in her pursuit for justice and a great story.

Max returns the favor by protecting her from a mugger. They soon bond and Lori is oblivious to Max's potential for good or evil.

The fun part of the movie is that we get to see Max's potential for good or evil. The situation makes us cheer for Max and overlook his few foibles. We also suspect and look forward to our local authorities (Robert Costanzo, and John Cassini) becoming dog chow.

It was a nice touch having the comic relief of dog catchers in this presentation.

It's not the best film or the worst or the best story or the worst but it is worth watching.