I am a HUGE bushranger fan. I have written many essays, read many books, and watched many movies about them. And if anyone out there was also a bushranger fan and Australian history buff, they would soon realize after watching this movie, that it is not quite true to the real-life tale of the notorious bushranger Daniel "Mad Dan" Morgan.Firstly, I want to say that this is still a pretty good movie. The cinematography is great, the Australian setting, and the eerie Aborigine music that plays in the opening credits sets this relatively violent movie up in the most perfect way. Dennis Hopper does play a fantastic part as the fictionalized version of Morgan, who in this film is portrayed somewhat as a Ned Kelly or Ben Hall type bushranger--romantic Robin Hood-type folk hero. After witnessing a bloody massacre of Chinese gold diggers, he escapes into the bush and becomes a bushranger in order to stay alive, but is caught soon afterwards and sent to prison where he is brutalized not just by his fellow prisoners, but by the hateful police officers as well. Once released, he swears vengeance on those who have wronged him. After being shot and wounded, he is nursed back to health by Billy (played fantastically by Aussie actor David Gulpilil). Soon, the two team up and begin their revenge in the Australian bush. By the time the film ends and Morgan is killed, we feel remorse and sadness for him......which is one of the BIGGEST problems of the whole movie.Daniel Morgan (AKA John Fuller/John Smith/Sydney Native/Dan the Breaker/Down the River Jack) has always been one of my favourite bushrangers that I have studied. The real Daniel Morgan was a bloodthristy criminal who would NOT hesititate for a moment to shoot and kill anybody he pleased. He was known to have brutally murdered a couple of Chinese settlers in the bush, and cowardly shot John McLean in the back during his time outside of the NSW town of Morven when McLean rode on horseback to get help after another man (John Heriot) who was also shot by Morgan. This historic event was documented in the film, but rather poorly I thought.The character of the young Aborginie Billy was likely based on one of Morgan's associates named German Bill. Morgan and German Bill got into a bloody police gun fight, where German Bill was killed. Morgan didn't care though, as he didn't care much for human life. Everyone in the 1860's here in Australia had heard about "Mad Dan Morgan",and were terrified to venture in the bush at night in fear of encountering him. He stood 6-feet tall with piercing eyes. Thus, all of this is what I was hoping to be portrayed in the movie version based on his life.However, putting history aside, I really did enjoy this movie for what it was. This film has now become known as an Aussie Western, or "Bush Western". The acting was good, the premise dark and sometimes depressing, and it did really capture the mood of what life was probably like in Colonial times Australia.All in all, I give this movie a 5/10

If looking on the DVD cover that is provided by Troma (yes, that old chestnut) - and by this I mean the *new* sort-of remastered uncut DVD version released last year, not the much lamented previous version that looks like hell- you would think that you have been missing out on something really special for your whole cinematic life. How has one not seen a mid 70's Aussie-Western (also one of the very first Australian film distributed in the US) which stars Dennis Hopper as a mad bandit going around the Queensland colonies in the 19th century donning a fake beard and shooting (mostly) those who he deems deserve a killing? It could go either way: it could either be the case where it is a suppressed classic just waiting to be unearthed, or it's a piece of Aussie trash given some prestige above its other Ausploitation films due to its star. Ultimately, the movie is somewhere in the middle, though it tries to be a classic when it can, and sometimes can't help but be kind of trashy due to its budget.It's protagonist is something of an icon in Australia, like their Billy the Kid (sadly I'd yet to hear of him until this film), who started out as just an Irish farmer who enjoyed his opium, but ran away from a massacre of the Chinese in the area. He then got put in jail for one hold-up, got tortured and raped in prison, and then got out to try and become normal again, only to get shot and get healed by an aborigine. If this sounds like something interesting so far, it is. But the only downside it's at this point that the film finally takes off, after the first half hour; it's not that the opening half hour is bad in the slightest, since the cinematography by Mike Molloy is always something cool to look at in widescreen anamorphic. But the pace is kind of jerky and shaky, going from one set-up to another with a jarring feeling. This happens at other points in the film as well, but not as much as at this part.And yet, as just noted, when Morgan is shot and heals up with the aborigine (a very natural David Gulpilil), he then decides to fight back. In a way he becomes an outlaw since he's left with no alternative, but at the same time goes for it for all it's worth. He especially attacks the upper class, those who have lots of money and land, and he becomes the big target for the police and authorities in the area, garnering a 1,000 dollar reward. It's here we get to see the big bad Dennis Hopper becomes as Morgan, and the film takes on a quality that is kind of special: it's a western, but it's also an anti-western. It's not about how Morgan is just some amoral villain going around to rob and maim and kill. His terms of being criminal are partly for survival (not too oddly enough one of his old prison "buddies" goes after him now as a member of the local authority), and partly to stick it to 'the man' circa 1860 Australia. We see the people who should be taking Morgan out as being, appropriately for the time period, not very sharp: one of their goals once they get kill Morgan is to study his skull to see how primitive he is.It's this, actually, that Philippe Mora latches on to. How primitive a life does Morgan lead as an outlaw? His main compadre is an aborigine, who is barely looked on as human by the people in charge in the Aussie area, and as he keeps going along he's more at peace in an odd way with his fate. He knows how lucky he is to get *this* far, and he becomes more of a bad-ass because of it. He's a solid anti-hero, and Hopper makes the movie as awesome as it can get. He has a look about him- yes, even with that fake beard like something out of Cannibal the Musical- that is a little frightening, but also kind of sympathetic and sad. There's a scene where his Morgan is in a house with a woman, and she basically offers herself to him sexually, and he just softly speaks about how he just can't do it, and speaks about his mother. It's a very odd but touching scene, mostly due to Hopper's dedication to the role. By the end he becomes a kind of tragic figure. He's not just the only reason to see the movie; when it's at its best, Mora's direction is sharp and exciting, particularly with action scenes as you really don't know who will get it and how bad in rifle and bullet fire, the blood being a big factor as well. And the cinematography, even in a print that is still shoddy in this updated Troma release, is striking and ethereal, giving the movie a whole other quality than I expected. Is it a great movie? Surely not. The pacing is not always tight, and some of the supporting performances are weak, as they tend to be in low-budget B-movies. But for what they had to work with, star included, it's definitely worth checking out.

well i went to a store and they had dvds for for really cheap, and i saw this, and dennis hopper on the front, and i bought it, and I'm pretty glad i did, it was really good for a 70's cheap budget western. Dennis Hopper like always, was good, it was kinda uncomfortable to watch, because of how old it was and how they shot, and the picture was in bad shape, but the acting was good, from most of the actors, the dialogue was good, and overall it was really good, which is surprising for a 70's low budget movie, but if it didn't have dennis hopper in it, i probably wouldn't like it as much, so if any of u see at like a rental place or store, buy it!

I've been searching for this movie for years, and now thanks to a recent DVD release here in Australia I've finally been able to see it. And best of all, it's a bloody good movie! 'Mad Dog Morgan' was made in Dennis Hooper's "wilderness" years where his reputation and behaviour meant that mainstream Hollywood was too nervous to employ him. During this period he made some of his most interesting movies, often overseas, with some of his bravest and most honest performances. Movies like 'Tracks', 'Bloodbath', 'The American Friend' and this one. Sadly little seen and rarely talked about. Hopper plays Irish immigrant turned bushranger (that's outlaw to non-Australians) Daniel Morgan, hero to the more famous folk hero Ned Kelly. Hopper, by the look of him in the 25 minute documentary included on the DVD, could out drink and drug Robert Downey Jr and Christian Slater combined and STILL give a remarkable performance. Hopper is helped by a supporting cast of the (then) cream of Aussie acting, most of whom are probably not all that known to overseas audiences apart from Jack Thompson, and maybe David Gulpilil ('Walkabout', 'The Tracker'), Bill Hunter ('Newsfront', 'Muriel's Wedding') and the legendary Frank Thring ('Ben-Hur', 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'). Director, Australian ex-pat Philippe Mora, went on to an eclectic and eccentric career which included cult favourites 'The Beast Within' and 'Communion'. 'Mad Dog Morgan' is one of the most underrated and overlooked movies ever made in Australia and deserves to be rediscovered.