Whether it’s Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’, set in Los Angeles in 2019, or ‘Back to the Future II’, set at least partially in 2015, there are countless futuristic film classics set in a future that now belongs to the past. Anyone wondering how people in Hollywood imagined the year 2024 will get an answer if they go back almost half a century:
Also known as “In the Power of the Underground” or “Apocalypse 2024”The boy and his dog“ or “A Boy And His Dog” dared to take a look at the present in the mid-1970s. Based on the short story of the same name by Harlan Ellison, LQ Jones, best known as an actor in films such as “The Wild Bunch” and “Casino,” tells the story of a teenager and his four-legged mutant companion who fight their way through the apocalypse together.
The film is available on Amazon Prime Video – where you can buy/rent it as video-on-demand or through the channel Franatic * can watch. You can subscribe to the channel or just test it for free for 30 days. DVD and Blu-ray* have had a few years to their name – and today they can almost only be found on the third-party market and/or for expensive money.
That’s what ‘The Boy and His Dog’ is about
The year 2024: The Fourth World War has wiped out humanity. Those still alive live a miserable existence in a post-apocalyptic wasteland – fighting a bitter battle for survival day after day. This also applies to young Vic (Don Johnson), who in the aftermath of the end of the world is always looking for ways to satisfy his greatest basic needs: hunger and thirst as well as desire. He is accompanied by the mutant dog Blood, who also keeps him happy as a conversation partner thanks to his telepathic abilities.
But just as the duo encounters the libertine Quilla June (Susanne Benton) one day, they are attacked by marauders – so they have no choice but to flee to the underground city ruled by the diabolical Regent Craddock (Jason Robards). with his fate…
Weird 70s sci-fi cult
The apocalyptic adventure, which was shot in the Mojave Desert, among other places, attracted attention at the time with a whole series of crazy ideas – and has therefore always enjoyed the reputation of an unconventional genre work. On The review magazine not only promises an “unusual, eccentric black comedy with strong dialogues and a strange vision of the future” – 78 percent of positive reviews also show that the film is definitely worth seeing, or because of that. And not just to see the later ‘Miami Vice’, ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘Knives Out’ star Don Johnson in one of his first roles.
As with all films set in the future, it’s just a lot of fun to compare the creators’ vision with reality. One thing can be revealed: even if having a talking dog as a friend would be something, compared to the world in “The Boy and His Dog” we’re a little better off…