# Dogs are gods in the movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551 "2006-12-25T20:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/21 "2006-12-26T15:07:36Z")
A couple of dogs get shot in _Akira_. It’s a pretty brutal scene albeit animated. The movie was huge in Japan when it was released; in the U.S. it’s well-known to anime fans but not really a mainstream success. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/22 "2006-12-26T15:20:08Z")
John Wayne’s dog got killed by the bad guys in the final shoot-out in **Big Jake** , and it was as moving as if it was a person. He sacrificed himself to save the boy. I loved his name, the Duke just called him “dog”. ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/23 "2006-12-26T15:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] I just noticed: It was not \*Mars Attracts \* but _Mars Attacks_! Ack! :smack: [/QUOTE] No, it’s more like “ack…ack ack…ack ack ack ack…” ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/24 "2006-12-26T15:29:26Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] John Wayne’s dog got killed by the bad guys in the final shoot-out in **Big Jake** , and it was as moving as if it was a person. He sacrificed himself to save the boy. I loved his name, the Duke just called him “dog”. [/QUOTE] ::sniff:: I remember that. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/25 "2006-12-26T15:47:18Z")
**Of Mice and Men** ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/26 "2006-12-26T15:53:56Z")
Dead Calm. The poor doggie died quite violently. I hated that movie simply for that scene. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/27 "2006-12-26T16:00:34Z")
Here’s a film concept: A serial killer who **targets puppies!** 🙂 Well, at least it hasn’t been done yet. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/28 "2006-12-26T16:10:04Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Here’s a film concept: A serial killer who **targets puppies!** 🙂 Well, at least it hasn’t been done yet. [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t watch it. Quite on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/29 "2006-12-26T17:13:20Z")
I hate to see dogs die in movies. It just about breaks my heart. Sidenote, I can’t watch Animal Planet’s Animal Police for this very reason. It just makes me choke up. Ain’t that wierd? Human dies: :rolleyes: Dog dies: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/30 "2006-12-26T17:26:13Z")
[QUOTE=dmatsch] No, it’s more like “ack…ack ack…ack ack ack ack…” [/QUOTE] You oughta know by now… and it seems such a waste of time, if that’s what it’s all about. Anyway… Best dog killing ever? **Time Bandits,** no question. Nobody but nobody kills dogs like David Warner. That dog blowed up _good._ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/31 "2006-12-26T17:30:43Z")
Forgot a major one: _Alien III_ ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/32 "2006-12-26T18:12:00Z")
**Dances with Wolves** , Semi tame wolf gets shot. Indians dogs get shot (arrowed, actually) by the other Indians. **Open Range** , Dog gets shot. Both Kevin Costner films. Coincedence? I don’t think so! That dog hatin’ bastard! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/33 "2006-12-26T18:24:02Z")
[QUOTE=River Hippie] **Dances with Wolves** , Semi tame wolf gets shot. Indians dogs get shot (arrowed, actually) by the other Indians. **Open Range** , Dog gets shot. Both Kevin Costner films. Coincedence? I don’t think so! That dog hatin’ bastard! [/QUOTE] Now that you mention it, I would opine that the premise of **Waterworld** , implies that most, if not all, dogs have drowned. However, **Open Range** is a good movie, and he saves a dog from being swept away, so it balances out. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/34 "2006-12-26T18:44:33Z")
> [@](#): > > However, **Open Range** is a good movie, and he saves a dog from being swept away, so it balances out. Yep, good movie and I had forgotten about the dog savin’ part. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/35 "2006-12-26T19:10:31Z")
In the director’s commentary track to Usual Suspects, he says that the question he gets asked most is: “Did the dog get out OK?” Referring to the dog that was chained up in the ship. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/36 "2006-12-26T19:28:33Z")
In John Wayne’s _Big Jake_, the main character has a scene-stealing mixed breed collie who gets hacked up with a machete during the climactic battle. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/37 "2006-12-27T00:46:09Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] I remember \*Independence Day \* had one of those god dogs. [/QUOTE] That movie is one of the reasons I applaud dog deaths in movies. Seeing a tunnel filled with innocent people dying does not lead to rooting for that dog. I thought the scene would have had more impact had we seen the dog swept away by the wall of fire and debris. But, _oh no_, a dog dying in the midst of thousands of other deaths would be too difficult for the audience to handle. :rolleyes: I was howling with laughter in _Snakes on a Plane_ when the guy pitched the motherf_ **in’ dog at the motherf** _in’ snake. Then I was sad when the guy was immediately punished for committing his breach of movie law. Don’t get me wrong, dog death in real life is tragic, especially when killed by a person. But since movies are make-believe, I enjoy a break from the predictable routine. I still enjoy it when a movie has a tragic ending, for that same reason. Besides, when a dog dies on screen, you know that it wasn’t actually harmed in the making of the film. I grew up on a farm. One of my biggest pet peeves (pun intended) is when people assume that farmers are inherently cruel to animals. I think of farmers as animal caretakers, and I’m offended when people tell me it’s immoral to domesticate them. I know that those are often the people who cry out in emotional agony when a screen dog kicks the bucket, so I get a bit of sadistic satisfaction knowing that the farmer-haters are being emotionally scarred by the experience. Including an ex-girlfriend who required consolation after the dog death scene in _Jurassic Park II._ I mean, come on, why are we so desensitized to human death, but so emotional about dog death? Even cats don’t get the same treatment in movies. A cat’s entire purpose in movie universe is to jump out of the cabinet and startle you, and to go “reeeow” when something heavy is thrown off screen. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/38 "2006-12-27T00:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] I hate to see dogs die in movies. It just about breaks my heart. Sidenote, I can’t watch Animal Planet’s Animal Police for this very reason. It just makes me choke up. Ain’t that wierd? Human dies: :rolleyes: Dog dies: ☹ [/QUOTE] I’m the same way. I used to have a bumper sticker that said, “The More I Know People, The More I Love My Dog.” Pretty much sums it up. I’m not known for being a people person. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/39 "2006-12-27T01:13:14Z")
Hmm. Ian Shoales had a different view than Ebert, though I can’t remember his cites offhand. He\* wrote an essay shortly after the first Star Wars movie called ‘That Dog’s Gonna Die’, in which he expressed frustration with the movie’s failure to follow the rules, according to which Luke should have died so Han could go forth and avenge him. I think he was drawing on Westerns, in which the dog or best friend must be needlessly slaughtered by the villain, so we’ll know the stony hero really does have a heart somewhere under the exterior of an unstoppable death machine. Come to think of it, doesn’t Ringo shoot a dog at the beginning of Tombstone, to show how soulless he is? Because killing an entire wedding party isn’t enough; any psychopath can do that. Real badasses always shoot the dog. RealityChuck has mentioned Cujo – it conforms to another rule, though, in that the kid lives, or did after the first more faithful-to-novel cut’s ending failed horribly with test audiences. \*Actually author Merle Kessler in acerbic social critic drag ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551/40 "2006-12-27T01:22:02Z")
The remake of The Hills have Eyes qualifies for both i think, it has a dog dying and a dog being a bad ass. Its almost like a dog revenge movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-are-gods-in-the-movies/385551.md?page=3)