White Dog Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

White Dog Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 22, 2014

Samuel Fuller's "White Dog" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. There are no supplemental features included on the disc. However, the release arrives with a 48-page illustrated booklet featuring: His Master’s Vice (Jonathan Rosenbaum/1991); The White Dog Speaks – to Sam Fuller (Samuel Fuller/1982); and White Dog scrapbook. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The dog

Young, beautiful and single actress Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol, The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia) hits a stray white dog with her car. She immediately takes it to a nearby hospital where she is informed that the dog will live but it will need some time to recover. Feeling guilty, Julie decides to take the dog with her to her home in the Hollywood Hills.

Soon after, a serial rapist breaks into Julie’s home, but the dog attacks him and saves her life. Convinced that she has finally found a true friend whom she can trust, Julie begins spending plenty of time with the dog. She even takes it to an important rehearsal, but the dog attacks one of her black friends (Lynne Moody) and seriously wounds her.

After the incident, the deeply disturbed Julie contacts black animal trainer Keys (Paul Winfield, The Terminator), who works with the Hollywood studios, and asks him to reprogram the dog’s predatory instincts. Keys tells her that it may not be possible because her new friend is actually a White Dog, a vicious racist animal trained to attack only blacks.

Loosely based on a novel by Romaine Gary (Jean Seberg’s husband), this once enormously controversial film directed by the great Samuel Fuller is a fascinating metaphor for America’s long struggle with racist hate. Indeed, the dog’s behavior is effectively used to speculate about different American attitudes towards racism and probable ways of eliminating or encouraging it.

It is important to clarify, however, that there is no finger-pointing in the film. After Keys profiles the dog, Fuller leaves it to the viewer to ponder why racism exists. As a result, the rights and wrongs in the film can be grouped in a variety of different ways. Example: At one point Keys announces that the dog may have been trained to hate by a black man, so isn’t the black trainer just as guilty as the dog? And another example: When the dog attacks the black actress Julie isn’t willing to get rid of him despite the fact that at this point she fully realizes that the dog can and will attack again, so shouldn’t she be responsible for the dog’s actions later on?

These 'possibilities', however, are precisely the reason why White Dog was withheld from theatrical release in the America – it accurately described the awkward socio-political reality in the country at a time when it was a lot easier, and safer, to simply avoid racism. So, much to its creator’s amazement, White Dog was tagged ‘racist’, hence it immediately became an unsafe film to distribute, and then promptly shelved by its producer, Paramount Pictures.

Shot in a little over a month, White Dog proved to be director Fuller’s last American film. After the controversy with Paramount Pictures, Fuller moved to France, where he eventually shot Les voleurs de la nuit (1984) and the excellent Street of No Return (1989).

White Dog was lensed by cinematographer Bruce Surtees (Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry and Escape from Alcatraz, Clint Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josey Wales). The film’s surprisingly atmospheric soundtrack was created by the legendary Ennio Morricone (Tepepa, Once Upon a Time in America).

White Dog Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Samuel Fuller's White Dog arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

The high-definition transfer has not been struck from a recent restoration of White Dog, but the basics we typically address in these reviews are solid. Generally speaking, the overwhelming majority of close-ups boast strong depth (see screencapture #3), while clarity is consistently pleasing. The daylight footage, in particular, looks very good. Contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. Colors are natural and stable. Color saturation, however, could be better. There are no traces of problematic denoising corrections, though some minor adjustments must have been performed when the master was created (see screencapture #16). Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern. Finally, there are no serious stability issues. Also, the high-definition transfer isn't plagued by scratches, debris, large cuts or damage marks. To sum it all up, this is a solid and convincing organic presentation of White Dog. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

White Dog Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The upgrade in the audio department is very convincing. Ennio Morricone's atmospheric soundtrack has a very important role in the film and both depth and dynamic intensity are notably better. The strings, in particular, sound far richer than they do on the R1 DVD release of White Dog. (Listen to the strings in the sequence where Julie tries to force the dog to swallow the pills). During the action sequences the growls and a few of the screams are also cleaner and sharper. The dialog is clean, stable, and very easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, cracks, background hiss, or distortions to report in this review.

White Dog Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet - 48-page illustrated booklet featuring: His Master's Vice (Jonathan Rosenbaum/1991); The White Dog Speaks – to Sam Fuller (Samuel Fuller/1982); and White Dog scrapbook.

White Dog Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This once very controversial film directed by the great Samuel Fuller is still quite fascinating to behold. It is very unfortunate that it was shelved back in the early '80s - and for the wrong reasons - but considering the political climate in America at the time its fate is probably not too surprising. (See the excellent booklet provided with this release to learn more about the controversy and director Fuller's reactions). Eureka Entertainment's technical presentation of White Dog is very convincing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.