NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (March 2022): Indicator have transferred Philippe Mora's Mad Dog Morgan to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New restoration from a 4K scan of the interpositive by Powerhouse Films". Indicator offers two presentations of the film, seamlessly-branched on the Blu-ray: Mad Dog Morgan, the 103-minute director’s cut and Mad Dog, the 95-minute UK/US theatrical cut. Troma Entertainment's original VHS and DVD release was a heavily edited version of the film, seeing that the unrated or uncut versions were very difficult to come by outside of Australia. There is an Umbrella Blu-ray of the film, HERE, that came out in 2019. We don't own it to compare. The Indicator 1080P is at their usual high standard; on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Some scenes look a bit softer and waxy than others but overall the landscapes are awe-inspiring and close-ups very pleasing. To me, this looks like a very authentic representation of the film although the textures are not easily discernable. I thoroughly enjoyed my viewing.  

NOTE: We have added 64 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Indicator use a DTS-HD Master 1.0 channel mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Mad Dog Morgan is filled with aggression - gunfire, assault, screams and more. It comes through hollow but clean with surprising depth on the mono track. There is a score by Patrick Flynn (Sunday Too Far Away) as well as the traditional Australian song "Over The Border" performed by Danny Spooner, and some brief didgeridoo. It all sounds clean with occasionally scattered dialogue in the lossless transfer. Indicator offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Indicator Blu-ray offers a two commentaries. The first by commentary is by writer-director Philippe Mora and film critic Jake Wilson from 2019 and a second with writer-director Mora from 2009. It's interesting to hear Mora's thoughts 10-years apart - his intentions, Dennis Hopper anecdotes, the small budget and much more. The disc is totally stacked with supplements. To Shoot a Mad Dog is from 1976 and runs 25-minutes. It is a behind-the-scenes documentary featuring interview footage with actor Dennis Hopper, produced and directed by David Elfick. Hopping Mad was made in 2019, running over 1/2 hour. In it Philippe Mora reflects on the film’s production and working with Hopper. That’s Our Mad Dog: A Conversation with Dennis Hopper & Philippe Mora is from 2008 and runs just shy of 1/2 hour. In it the legendary actor looks back at his experience of making the film. We also get over and hour of excerpts from Mark Hartley’s acclaimed documentary on Australian cinema; ‘Not Quite Hollywood’ from 2008. It features interviews, a selection of outtakes and features Mora, producer Jeremy Thomas, camera operator John Seale, and actors Jack Thompson, Roger Ward and Graeme Blundell. There is also a 2009 interview with Mike Molloy where the director of photography in discussion with Mora and an interview with Richard Brennan which has the associate producer in conversation with Mora. Included is a 1/4 radio interview with Philippe Mora from 1976, Mad Country: Shooting Locations Revisited from 2019 with an optional audio commentary by Mora. It shows Riverina, including Billabong Creek, Culcairn, Jindera, Beechworth, north-east Victoria and the actual cave Dan Morgan had used. We get an archival Intro/Outro with the director and an original theatrical trailer. This Blu-ray also includes Indicator's usual image galleries of promotional and publicity material as well as a second of production diary text screens. The package offers a limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Tara Judah, Philippe Mora’s pre-production notes on Mad Dog Morgan, archival interview with Mora, archival article by Mora on the making of the film, Jeremy Thomas on Mad Dog Morgan, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits. Purchasers also receive a limited edition exclusive double-sided poster.

Philippe Mora's Mad Dog Morgan is an Australian western that doesn't scrimp on the extensive violence - Peckinpah-like. It can be quite harsh. It's hard to imagine anyone playing the lead other than Hopper - although first choice was Stacy Keach who turned it down with Martin Sheen and Jason Miller expressing interest. It was made on a shoestring with plenty of 'first-timers' in the crew behind the camera. I think it works as a scattered film biography of Australian bushranger (escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia) Daniel Morgan who lived from 1830 to1865. Morgan has been described as "the most bloodthirsty ruffian that ever took to the bush in Australia". The Indicator Blu-ray has everything you could want; two versions including the longer director’s cut, two commentaries from Mora who also participates in other disc supplements, hours of interviews and more, plus a booklet + poster. Another highly impressive Blu-ray package from, the best in the business, Indicator.

Gary Tooze