Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
The 70s were a strange time for sci-fi movies. On the other hand, the genre had moved away from the typical scientist/monster movie and a new wave of filmmakers were experimenting with stories that pushed the envelope. On the other hand, those wild experiments were sometimes a little strange. 1975 point storyA Boy and His Dogfollowing Vic and his telepathic dog Blood as they roam the post-apocalyptic wasteland as they search for food, and more importantly, women. Streaming for free on Tubi and Amazon Prime, it's an unlikely inspiration for both Fallout and Mad Max, while a time capsule of what sci-fi was like before Star Wars changed everything.
A Boy And His Dog And His Libido
A Boy and His Dog stars Don Johnson as Vic, and Tim McIntire as the voice of Blood. The two are constantly bickering like any two best male friends. The blood's ability to smell women is incredibly important to the horned and lonely Vic, who after saving one girl, the volatile Quilla June (Susanne Benton) and finally sleeping again, decides to follow her to the Downunder, a secret underground society that is very close to a nuclear wasteland.
Unfortunately, Blood is always at a premium and none of the human characters can match his dry wit. It is there, in the underground version of Topeka, that Vic learns that he will achieve his dream of reciting because of the “student ratio,” except that he will be “sent to the farm” after impregnating 35 women. Worse, it's all done with electrodes, and that more than anything else is what makes Vic flee Topeka.
A Faithful Adaptation of Sci-Fi Fiction
It's a strange plot, but it's also a faithful adaptation of the novel, A Boy and His Dog by sci-fi illustrator Harlan Ellison. The biggest change was a few lines of dialogue that made the film more, according to Ellison, more misogynistic than his previous novel. It's not enough to stop the film from becoming a cult classic. It would not, until it was done today. Johnson's performance makes it clear that Vic can't be defeated by everyone he meets, even starting to flip the script.
Influence A Boy and His Dog what was in Fallout is immediately clear. Vic calls Blood “Dogmeat,” Downunder is actually a Vault-Tec experiment, and the complete breakdown of the old social order explains why something as mundane as bottle caps became money in games. Who knew that a dark sci-fi comedy about a horned survivor could influence the best post-apocalyptic series of all time?
A Boy and His Dog it bombed in theaters, but when it became a cult classic, work began on the next show. Instead of Vic, it will follow a female survivor named Spike and, Blood, the real hero of the series. After nine years of bringing Vic to life, Don Johnson played a major role Miami Vice and changed television forever. If you've ever wanted to see Sonny Crockett as a swordsman, A Boy and His Dog it's your turn.
The Boy and His Dog streams free on Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV, Plex, and YouTube.
