Razorback (film)
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Razorback | |
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Directed by | Russell Mulcahy |
Written by | Everett De Roche |
Based on | Razorback by Peter Brennan |
Produced by | Hal McElroy |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Dean Semler |
Edited by | William M. Anderson |
Music by | Iva Davies |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release date | 19 April 1984(Australia) |
Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | A$5.5 million[1] |
Box office | A$801,000 (Australia) |
Razorback is a 1984 Australian
Plot
Jake Cullen is babysitting his grandson at his house in the
Two years later, American wildlife reporter Beth Winters journeys to the outback to document the hunting of
Some time later, Beth's husband Carl travels to Australia in search of her and encounters Jake, whom Beth interviewed during her initial report. Jake refers Carl to the local cannery, where he meets Benny and Dicko. He pretends to be a Canadian visitor and convinces them to take him along on their next kangaroo hunt, only to be abandoned by them when he spoils a potential kill. Carl is then attacked by a herd of wild pigs, spurred on by the giant boar, which chase him through the night and force him to take shelter atop a windmill. The next morning the pigs knock over the windmill, but Carl is saved by landing in a pond at the windmill's base, which the pigs fear to enter.
Once the pigs leave, Carl attempts to make his way back to civilization, all the while suffering from dehydration-induced hallucinations, before finally reaching the house of Sarah Cameron: a friend of Jake who has been studying the local pig population and the only person who believes his story of the giant razorback. While recovering, Carl learns from Sarah that something has been causing the wild pigs excess stress, leading them into unusual behaviour, such as increased aggression and cannibalising their own young. Meanwhile, after learning that Carl had seen the razorback, Jake sets out for the pumping station and manages to shoot it with one of Sarah's tracking darts. He also finds Beth's wedding ring in the boar's faeces, which he returns to a grieving Carl.
Benny and Dicko overhear a radio conversation suggesting that Jake knows what really happened to Beth Winters. Fearful that Jake is attempting to implicate them in her death, Benny and Dicko attack Jake at his camp, breaking his legs with bolt-cutters and leaving him to be killed by the razorback. His remains are later found by Sarah and Carl, along with marks in the dirt made by Dicko's cleaver. Realising that the brothers were responsible for both Beth and Jake's deaths, Carl attacks Benny at the brothers' lair, interrogating him by dangling him over a mine shaft before dropping him into it. As Sarah rounds up a posse to hunt down the razorback, Carl corners Dicko at the cannery when the razorback suddenly appears and mauls Dicko to death. The razorback then chases Carl into the factory, when Sarah arrives and is seemingly killed by the boar.
The boar continues to pursue Carl and, in its maddened rampage, damages the cannery's power plant, setting the production line in motion. Carl lures the boar onto a conveyor belt that throws it into a giant meat grinder, chopping it to pieces. After shutting down the machinery, Carl finds and rescues Sarah, who had merely been knocked unconscious, and the two embrace.
Cast
- Gregory Harrison as Carl Winters
- Arkie Whiteley as Sarah Cameron
- Bill Kerr as Jake Cullen
- Chris Haywood as Benny Baker
- David Argue as Dicko Baker
- Judy Morris as Beth Winters
- John Howard as Danny
- John Ewart as Turner
- Don Smith as Wallace
- Mervyn Drake as Andy
- Redmond Phillips as the Magistrate
- Alan Becher as Counsel (credited as Alan Beecher)
- Peter Schwarz as Lawyer (as Peter Schwartz)
- Beth Child as Louise Cullen
- Rick Kennedy as Farmer
Production
Razorback was directed by
The razorback boar was an
Release
Razorback was released in Australia on 19 April 1984, and grossed $801,000 at the box office.
Following various VHS video releases, the film was issued on DVD in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment on 21 September 2005. It was presented in 2.40:1 widescreen with a
Razorback was subsequently released on DVD in various other countries, including the US, UK, France and Germany, though they only contain varying quantities of the Australian disc's extras. The US release was by
In 2014, Umbrella Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray with all of the prior DVDs extras and an additional 84 minutes of cast and crew interviews.[9]
In August 2018, Umbrella Entertainment released a newly remastered edition Blu-ray featuring a 4K remaster of the theatrical cut and a VHS-sourced version of the uncut film. In addition to porting over all previous supplements, newly produced extras include an audio commentary by director Russell Mulcahy and the retrospective "A Certain Piggish Nature: Looking Back at Razorback."[9]
Umbrella Entertainment was scheduled to release a 4K remaster of the film in July 2023.[needs update]
Reception
Razorback received mixed reviews from critics, with several critics comparing the film to Steven Spielberg's Jaws.[10]
Empire awarded the film two out of five stars, writing, "The oddball nightmare style is effective but the prop pig and under par acting let the film down."[11] TV Guide also gave the film two out of five stars, commending the film's cinematography, but stated that the film was "too repetitive (and sometimes simply too silly) to be truly engaging".[12] Variety gave the film a positive review, writing, "The plot may be a bit familiar, but Razorback is no quickie: it’s an extremely handsome production, beautifully shot by Dean Semler."[13]
Accolades
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Everett De Roche | Nominated |
Best Cinematography | Dean Semler | Won | |
Best Editing | William M. Anderson | Won | |
Best Original Music Score | Iva Davies | Nominated | |
Best Sound | Tim Lloyd | Nominated | |
Ron Purvis | Nominated | ||
Peter Fenton | Nominated | ||
Phil Heywood | Nominated | ||
Greg Bell | Nominated | ||
Helen Brown | Nominated | ||
Ashley Grenville | Nominated | ||
Best Production Design | Bryce Walmsley | Nominated | |
Australian Cinematographers Society | Cinematographer of the Year | Dean Semler | Won |
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival
|
Grand Prize | Russell Mulcahy | Nominated |
Legacy
The film has been referenced in the Australian video game
See also
References
- ^ a b Schembri, Jim (July 1984). "Russell Mulcahy". Cinema Papers. pp. 139–141.
- ^ Schembri, Jim (12 July 2008). "Russell Mulcahy". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ Blackford, Russell; McMullen, Sean; Ikin, Van (1999). Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction. Greenwood Press. p. 128.
- ISBN 9780987050021.
- ^ "Jaws on Trotters": The Making of Razorback (DVD featurette). 2005.
- ^ "Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
- ^ Razorback at Box Office Mojo
- ^ a b "Razorback DVD comparisons". DVDCompare.net.
- ^ a b "Razorback Blu-ray comparisons". DVDCompare.net.
- ^ Buckmaster, Luke (13 November 2014). "Razorback Rewatched – the outback creature feature sold as Jaws on trotters". The Guardian.
- ^ "Razorback Review". Empire. 1 January 2000.
- ^ "Razorback - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide Staff. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ "Razorback – Variety". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ http://ty.kromestudios.com/thegame/characters_baddies_bull.html