Conceived by writer-director Noel Marshall, "Roar" is an insane animal-attack thriller clearly made with a LOT of cojones. Marshall plays Hank, an eccentric big cat lover in Africa who lets the beasts run wild over his estate. But his family is soon to be visiting, and they won't know just what is in store for them. They are then repeatedly menaced by the big furry predators, over and over in a practically plotless movie, while Hank, who has ended up miles away, hurries to get back to the property. And in the meantime, the vindictive Prentiss (Steve Miller) is determined to seriously cull the animal population.
Although obviously made with a lot of passion for big cats and the protection of wildlife, Marshall and company give you the impression that they were absolutely certifiable. This is some of the most reckless filmmaking that you'll ever see, with cast and crew often in real danger. A trouble-plagued production (with setbacks ranging from fire to flood to disease) that spanned several years, it resulted in serious maiming of 70 or so people - including young Melanie Griffith, Marshalls' stepdaughter at the time. Also co-starring Marshalls' then-wife Tippi Hedren (Griffiths' mother), and his sons Jerry and John, this doesn't give its cast fully-fleshed out characters to play, but just has them *react* a lot to the big cats, who were NOT trained and who were basically given free reign.
It's these very qualities that make "Roar" an interesting curio that is the kind of thing that film lovers just have to see for themselves.
One definite asset is the widescreen photography; the cinematographer Jan de Bont (also one of the camera operators) was one of the personnel that came to harm during the production; he was scalped by one of the lions!
One appropriate postscript is that Hedren DID become an animal-rights advocate afterwards, and presides over an animal preserve outside of Los Angeles.
Six out of 10.
Although obviously made with a lot of passion for big cats and the protection of wildlife, Marshall and company give you the impression that they were absolutely certifiable. This is some of the most reckless filmmaking that you'll ever see, with cast and crew often in real danger. A trouble-plagued production (with setbacks ranging from fire to flood to disease) that spanned several years, it resulted in serious maiming of 70 or so people - including young Melanie Griffith, Marshalls' stepdaughter at the time. Also co-starring Marshalls' then-wife Tippi Hedren (Griffiths' mother), and his sons Jerry and John, this doesn't give its cast fully-fleshed out characters to play, but just has them *react* a lot to the big cats, who were NOT trained and who were basically given free reign.
It's these very qualities that make "Roar" an interesting curio that is the kind of thing that film lovers just have to see for themselves.
One definite asset is the widescreen photography; the cinematographer Jan de Bont (also one of the camera operators) was one of the personnel that came to harm during the production; he was scalped by one of the lions!
One appropriate postscript is that Hedren DID become an animal-rights advocate afterwards, and presides over an animal preserve outside of Los Angeles.
Six out of 10.