Man Bites Dog Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Man Bites Dog Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 4, 2025

Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, and Benoît Poelvoorde's "Man Bites Dog" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The supplemental features on the release include new documentary by Sarah Appleton; new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan; deleted and alternate scenes; vintage trailer; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

I am the story and the media now

Man Bites Dog manufactures the same artificial reality that The McPherson Tape promoted and The Blair Witch Project legitimized. However, instead of trying to plug into the viewer’s mind and manipulate it with various pseudo-realistic thrills and chills, it uses hyperviolent satire to smack him in the face and leave permanent scars. These permanent scars are meant to be educational. They are supposed to alter the viewer’s understanding of how violence is constantly encouraged by the media and allowed to flourish in society under different pretexts. For this reason, Man Bites Dog is supposed to be a serious and socially relevant film, not just a witty genre film like The McPherson Tape and The Blair Witch Project.

But many amongst the lucky few who managed to see Man Bites Dog before it was banned in multiple territories immediately rejected its educational ambitions, and rightfully so, because its brand of satire glorifies exactly what it supposedly targets -- unfiltered violence. However, because Man Bites Dog became a big target of state censorship and several A-listers like Quentin Tarantino endorsed it, its credibility as a serious and socially relevant film received a huge boost, and those who initially rejected it were isolated for being ideologically aligned with the censors. Interestingly, yet not surprisingly, by the end of the ‘90s, Man Bites Dog was routinely grouped with Dobermann, another genre film that became somewhat controversial for its depiction of violence, with its educational ambitions almost completely rejected or forgotten. In America, the controversy surrounding Natural Born Killers had done a lot to move Man Bites Dog away from the spotlight, too.

Man Bites Dog is the creation of several men, one of whom, Benoit Poelvoorde, is its star. Poelvoorde plays a violent lunatic who, while being followed by a tiny film crew, kills various strangers. The lunatic prefers to use his gun, but, if necessary, just as easily kills with his bare hands. The violent spree is very graphic yet loaded with dark humor and plenty of ramblings about the socio-cultural environment in which the lunatic exists. Initially, he single-handedly controls all of the humor and produces all of the ramblings, but when his creativity becomes repetitive and the quality of his eloquence drops, members of the film crew begin interfering. Annoyed that they are degrading his work, the lunatic then resets their relationship, and, in the process, forces them to sample the horror they have ‘only’ been documenting.

On paper, Man Bites Dog undoubtedly sounds like a potent project that could have produced some genuinely thought-provoking curveballs. Why are the media and their faithful audience addicted to violence if both agree that exploiting it is not right? Violence cannot be addictive if it is not carefully packaged and distributed for mass consumption. Also, are lunatics like Poelvoorde’s character everywhere amongst us, or are they created by the addiction that the media and their faithful audience support? Man Bites Dog asks several such extremely easy to answer questions, and then, to hammer its flawed point that a lot is not as simple as it appears, evolves into another transparent pretender. It is a tired trick and, frankly, not particularly effective here.

Unless, of course, one is willing to engage in the pretending, too. Then it becomes awfully easy to describe the lunatic’s ramblings and graphic horror as illuminating, and recognize that Man Bites Dog is a unique and uncharacteristically bold film that was way ahead of its time.

Man Bites Dog Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Man Bites Dog arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

It appears that the release is sourced from the same master that has been offered to various parties across the world for quite some time. However, you should not be alarmed. This is a good master with strong organic qualities that produces very strong visuals. In fact, aside from a few nicks that could have been eliminated and some minor encoding optimizations introduced to strengthen a few areas, I do not think there is any room for meaningful improvements. A new 4K master can produce slightly more attractive visuals with marginally better and more evenly exposed grain, but detail, clarity, and depth will remain virtually identical. Man Bites Dog was shot on 16mm stock, with a very modest budget, and pretends to be a rough documentary feature. It has a lot of hand-held camera footage with restricted or manipulated lighting that quite simply cannot produce great detail. Also, in various areas, density levels fluctuate quite a bit. A new 4K master can tighten up these areas, but the detail that is on the current master is already near optimal levels. The current master is not plagued by problematic digital corrections either. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Man Bites Dog Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

As you can imagine, Man Bites Dog does not have an elaborate soundtrack. Because it pretends to be a documentary feature, it enthusiastically welcomes a lot of organic sounds and noises, and some of them produce unexpected, uneven dynamic contrasts. The gun shots are loud and clear, but in a few places, as the cameraman runs behind the lunatic, they too can sound a bit random. All exchanges are easy to follow. The English translation is good, but I did not like the size of the subtitles. I found them too small, often difficult to read.

Man Bites Dog Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Man with a Movie Camera: The Found Footage Legacy of Man Bites Dog" - this new documentary, produced by Sarah Appleton, gathers several fans of Man Bites Dog, all film directors and screenwriters, who explain why it became controversial and was successful in what it set out to accomplish. The fans are Dean Alioto (The McPherson Tape), Koji Shiraishi (Noroi: The Curse), Lesley Manning and Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch), and Julian Richards (The Last Horror Movie). In English and Japanese, with English subtitles where necessary. (47 min).

• Deleted and Alternate Scenes - presented here is a large collection of deleted and alternate scenes. In French, with optional English subtitles. The subtitles must be turned on with the remote control. They do not appear automatically. (32 min).

• No C4 for Daniel-Daniel (1987) - a short mockumentary/promotional films about a goofy superhero/superspy from the creators of Man Bites Dog. Benoît Poelvoorde again plays the main protagonist, Daniel-Daniel, who is, again, slightly loopy. In French, with optional English subtitles. The subtitles must be turned on with the remote control. They do not appear automatically. (32 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Samm Deighan.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Man Bites Dog. In French, with English subtitles. (2 min).

Man Bites Dog Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All found footage films share the same innate defect, which is their fakeness. It is irrelevant how hard they attempt to be original because they rely on a simple trick to impress their audience. If the audience rejects it, either because it is not conceived well or executed properly, they immediately begin looking very, very amateurish. This trick has been used and abused so many times now that it is permanently broken. Man Bites Dog was released at a time when the trick was still somewhat fresh. It attempted to be different by mixing its graphic violence with satire that was supposed to make it socially relevant. I saw it before it became very hot and some places banned it. Despite claims to the contrary, it is not effective. The nihilism that fuels its violence is its greatest strength, but it wears off very quickly. This Blu-ray release from Australian label Imprint Films is the first to present Man Bites Dog with English subtitles. It has a decent selection of bonus features, too.