A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
Bob Keegan
- Harry Ware
- (as Robert Keegan)
June Brown
- Mrs. Hebden
- (uncredited)
Jimmy Charters
- Man in Pub
- (uncredited)
Chloe Franks
- Emma Hebden
- (uncredited)
Michael Mundell
- Bertie Hedden
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the scene where David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) first enters the local pub, director Sam Peckinpah was unhappy with the other actors' reaction to this stranger entering their world. Eventually, he decided to do one take where Hoffman entered the scene without his trousers on. He got his reaction, and these are the shots shown in the final film.
- GoofsIn the scene where David is taken duck shooting, he fires his gun into the air at ducks flying overhead. We see ducks flying to the right and straightaway to the left. It is the same film reversed.
- Alternate versionsThe video version was twice rejected by the British Board of Film Classification in 1999 after the distributors refused to cut forcible stripping and any signs that Susan George was "enjoying" the rape. Video versions were available in Britain before the 1984 law which required all videos to be classified. There were two such releases, one of which was uncut, and one which lost some dialogue due to print damage. As of 1st July 2002, the full version of the film has been passed uncut for video and DVD release by the BBFC.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Kartal Yuvasi (1974)
Featured review
Absurd and laughable.
I had wanted to see 'Straw Dogs' for a long time. Being from the UK, I have been unable to see the film as it is banned on video there and very rarely shown at the cinema, if at all.
The version I saw in America may be editted, I don't know, but there seemed to be gaps in terms of plot and continuity at various stages of this film.
The basic out-line of this film, a timid American academic, David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) living in Cornwall with his English wife, Amy (Susan George) being forced to resort to violent means in order to deal with a group of bullying locals, is straightforward enough. In the version I saw, there is no explanation offered on some of the arguments between the married couple. For example, a scene where Amy slowly summons up the courage to plonk some chewing gum on her husband's maths blackboard as an act of defiance has to be seen to be believed simply because it happens for no reason. Whether this is due to cutting or negligence on the part of Peckinpah, who knows?
The main point of controversy in this film and indeed, the reason why it remains unavailable on video in the UK to this day is the rape scene of Amy where at turns, she appears to be terrified and gratified by this. This again appeared bizarre to me although I would imagine that this scene was slightly editted.
The whole film is pretty dull but it does have an atmosphere about it where you know that it is all building up to something at the end.
Unfortunately, the climax of this film is just a collection of laughable violence and fight scenes. The transformation in Hoffman's character is totally unconvincing as he goes from pathetic pacifist to tough guy who threatens to break his wife's neck in a matter of seconds.
This film is silly basically from start to finish, it is poorly written and George doesn't stand up well to an actor of the calibre of Hoffman, who probably looks back on this film with a touch of embarrassment.
The version I saw in America may be editted, I don't know, but there seemed to be gaps in terms of plot and continuity at various stages of this film.
The basic out-line of this film, a timid American academic, David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) living in Cornwall with his English wife, Amy (Susan George) being forced to resort to violent means in order to deal with a group of bullying locals, is straightforward enough. In the version I saw, there is no explanation offered on some of the arguments between the married couple. For example, a scene where Amy slowly summons up the courage to plonk some chewing gum on her husband's maths blackboard as an act of defiance has to be seen to be believed simply because it happens for no reason. Whether this is due to cutting or negligence on the part of Peckinpah, who knows?
The main point of controversy in this film and indeed, the reason why it remains unavailable on video in the UK to this day is the rape scene of Amy where at turns, she appears to be terrified and gratified by this. This again appeared bizarre to me although I would imagine that this scene was slightly editted.
The whole film is pretty dull but it does have an atmosphere about it where you know that it is all building up to something at the end.
Unfortunately, the climax of this film is just a collection of laughable violence and fight scenes. The transformation in Hoffman's character is totally unconvincing as he goes from pathetic pacifist to tough guy who threatens to break his wife's neck in a matter of seconds.
This film is silly basically from start to finish, it is poorly written and George doesn't stand up well to an actor of the calibre of Hoffman, who probably looks back on this film with a touch of embarrassment.
helpful•89
- DC1977
- Aug 29, 1999
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,251,794 (estimated)
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