Black Dog

An ex-con (Patrick Swayze) takes a job driving a truck cross country. What he does not know is that the truck is filled with illegal weapons and now he must fight to survive and save his family.

This film is given low ratings, and I suspect the reason is that people wanted it to be more than it is. This is the story of a man who has one chance to make a big score, and he is followed by trouble -- explosions and car crashes ensue. If you wanted more than a nice popcorn-munching film, you put the wrong DVD in, my friend.

I enjoyed this one. I did have a question or two about the plot that I think was never fully answered, but then I had to refer myself to the previous paragraph: I was expecting too much and should just relax. After that change of perspective, it is a joy.

For the genre movie that this is, it's a pretty enjoyable movie to watch. It's definitely no worse or better than any other similar simple straight-forward action flick from the '90's.

Of course the movie is suffering from more than 1 problem though. One obviously is its story. It's simple and actually doesn't make a lot of sense and is a real unlikely one. I mean, why did Red ever let the truck drive off from his place, only to dangerously attempt to hijack it later, on the very same day. But oh well, without this story we wouldn't had all those exploding trucks and action scenes within this movie.

Well, it's not like the action is much spectacular though. Funny enough there are lots of exploding trucks and cars but they already seem to blow up when one of the passengers farts. Action-wise this movie just isn't good or spectacular enough to watch.

Another problem with the movie is that it has far too many villains in it. It's like the main characters against the rest of the world. The movie also doesn't seem to be able to make a choice who to make the main and most important villain of the movie, with as a result that all of the villainous characters aren't really anything memorable or evil enough, since the movie spends to much time on showing the many different villainous characters of the movie.

The movie is from the period when Patrick Swayze's career of course already was more or less on a death end. Nevertheless he's always good and serious with every role that he plays. He's also credible in this role, despite his already showing age. He was perhaps a tad bit too old at the time of this movie to play the main lead in an action movie. Meat Loaf mostly seemed to have had fun with playing his role, which shows on the screen. But like I said before, since he plays a villain, he didn't get the screen time he deserved. There are parts in the movie were he completely disappears, only to show up 20 minutes later again.

But despite this all, the movie is good and entertaining enough to watch. It's current rating on here would suggest that this is one of the worst action flicks of the '90's but it hardly is. It's also no better than some action flicks but also definitely no worse than some others.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Yes, it has many a plot hole. Yes, the acting isn't Oscar worthy. And yes, it's a cheesy B-grade movie. But guess what? I like it. "Black Dog" is a silly trucker action/thriller topped off with comedy, both intentional and unintentional, and a really, really cool country music score. The reason why so many people don't like it is simply 'cause they are taking it far too seriously. If you're like me and have had plenty of warning NOT to take "Black Dog" so seriously (thanks to the other IMDb members), then you'll like "Black Dog".

In short, DO NOT expect "Black Dog" to be something like "Donnie Darko" and/or "Fight Club". Don't take it seriously and you may just have a rollicking good time, especially if you are a fan of anyone who stars in it.

I am no fan of the stars of this movie or a truckdriving buff or interested in country music (not that that's overly relevant.) I borrowed this tape with low expectations but was happily surprised by how entertaining it was. What has happened to Patrick Swayze? I thought he did a good job acting in both Donnie Darko and now this. THIS film is what goofy, illogical action flicks are supposed to be. This isn't simply a music video stretched out to an hour-and-a-half. This director actually knows how to make a movie. The plot ain't deep but there IS a plot, which is important. The ideas are dopey but the actors aren't simply laughing their way through but rather they treated this like a serious work. The actress who plays Swayze's wife has a style which usually annoys me but she, too, was ok in this thing. Even the little bits of country music didn't bother me. A stupid finale? Sure, but even that was fun. Wow.

This, although not entirely intended to be that funny, is one of the most humorous films I've ever seen. Wes's constant pleading to visit the jon, Red's quoting of Bible verses, and Earl's horrible singing all intertwine into a story originally intended to be very serious. However, the great acting of Randy Travis and Meat Loaf give the viewer a pleasant and hilarious surprise. The car chase scene is wonderfully made as is a crafty semi truck rampage up a steep hill and along jagged cliffs. A unique blend of good and bad acting along with good scenes and bad scenes make Black Dog one of the best "bad" movies you'll ever see.