This Australian film is based on a true story of an outlaw in the rough and ready world of the 1800's Way Down Under. It's a very rough world indeed. There are no jokes, no hijinks, no pretty lady loves. Morgan is brutalized by his environment of gold camps, opium dens, and a hellish period in prison. His one love, his one true friend, is a male aborigine who acts as both his savior and his servant.

This is, indeed, an ugly film. Yet Dennis Hopper manages to find a note of grace, and gives the film it's heart. The last portion of the film seems deeper and truer than the scenes that went before, allowing the viewer to understand more fully the complexity of a man such as Morgan.

The movie is low-budget and a bit disjointed. It is also often compelling.....and unsettling. I can't give it a high grade, due to it's poor producton values. But I'm glad it's in my collection.

MAD DOG MORGAN is a low budget Aussie drama charting the life and times of the titular character, played with relish by Dennis Hopper at his outlandish best. Morgan was a real-life outlaw who pre-dated Ned Kelly and rang rings around the Aussie police after going on a rampage following his imprisonment for a minor crime. Hopper is a great choice for the role and I can think of few other actors to portray the character's bearded bravado so convincingly.

The film itself is a real cheapie but nonetheless engaging thanks to the rural photography and fun supporting roles. It has a fast pace that focuses on physicality and action throughout and a really vicious streak that emphasises visceral destruction. Even better, the great Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil has a strong supporting role as Hopper's friend and comrade, while the rest of the cast features the usual eccentric Aussie characters. Watch out for Bruce Spence in a bit part.

I became a Dennis Hopper fan the time I saw him on a talk show once (can't remember which) many years ago, and he cried real tears on demand at the host's request. Ever since I figured he could do just about anything in cinema. As the title character here, Hopper transforms his Easy Rider Billy into an enigmatic bush-ranger outlaw, basically despicable but deemed a folk hero to the locals who admire his tenacity in taking it to the authorities. Befriended and saved from death by an aborigine (David Gulpili),the pair become willing partners in crime after Billy teaches Morgan how to hunt and live off the land. You'll have to forgive the film for it's awkward skips and jump cuts and fill in some of the blanks on your own. That and somehow find a way to contain yourself at the sight of Hopper's ridiculous fake beard that looks like it might have been fashioned for a Saturday Night Live skit. No doubt viewers will recall with ease their most memorable scenes from the film. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of a barbecued snake.