Benji (1974) (Remastered)

[Scottie]

[Filmmaker]

A new restoration! How exciting! The original Blu-ray is the most utterly execrable release I've ever encountered, so there's no doubt this will be an improvement over it.

[thinredline]

I haven't seen this although it's a classic and I love dogs.
Is it good?

Hope it includes English subtitles.

I haven't bought any Mill Creek bluray, and seeing their latest releases they all get low ratings in the quality department.

[stardragon9]

Awesome! I hope they remaster the sequel as well. I loved these movies when I was younger.

[ltb2.0]

For the love of Benji was one of my most watched movies as a kid, I hope they do that one as well.

Glad I held off.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by thinredline

I haven't seen this although it's a classic and I love dogs.
Is it good?

Not only good, but wholesome in a way modern family movies virtually never are (the remake of PETE'S DRAGON excepted).

Originally Posted by thinredline

I haven't bought any Mill Creek bluray, and seeing their latest releases they all get low ratings in the quality department.

I wouldn't bet on anything extraordinary, but there's simply no way that it can't been an improvement over the original BD release, for which there aren't enough negative adjectives in the dictionary to hurl at it.

[The Great Owl]

Benji was the first movie that I ever remember seeing at the theater. I was only a few years old at the time, and the sight of a huge dog on a massive theater screen freaked me out. For months afterward, I had nightmares where I would be playing in my front yard and suddenly see a giant three-story-tall Benji running toward me.

It's funny how seemingly innocuous things like that can affect a small child's psyche.

I might be up for buying this Blu-ray. I'm now an adult who has an understanding of spacial and size perceptions based on sight, so I probably will not end up curled in a fetal position in the corner of my living room for months after revisiting this movie. Probably not...

[meremortal]

Great news. Always a sucker for family 'dog movies.' I'd probably even get Bingo and Karate Dog if MC releases them.

[JoeDeM]

I passed on the original because of PQ, but will get this, would love to see Oh! heavenly Dog get a release.

[movieben1138]

Nice! I will be very happy to pitch that original blu-ray.

[Nailwraps]

Once again Mill Creek, you have sparked my interest.

I've never seen the film, but the fact Mill Creek is once again providing a new transfer AND bonus features always gets me excited and hope for the company's future. Another step in the right direction.

[Kingofkod]

I haven't seen this movie in years but I'm down to give it a go. The dog movies always get to me.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Benji always reminds me of Shannon, the song about Brian Wilson's dog that apparently was lost in the surf. Benji was big in the mid 70s, and this song was for a short time.

youtube.com/watch?TQOFFP8

[bigshot]

The one I want is Benji The Hunted. That movie was incredible. You could look at the dog's face and see what he was thinking! Another film in this genre that was great is Monkey Trouble starring Robert DeNiro!

[Dubstar]

this reminds me I need to buy the 1977 feature: 'For the Love of Benji' as well.

[CrazyBlu-RayFan]

Originally Posted by bigshot

The one I want is Benji The Hunted. That movie was incredible. You could look at the dog's face and see what he was thinking! Another film in this genre that was great is Monkey Trouble starring Robert DeNiro!

Disney owns Benji The Hunted, so you'll have be waiting super long time for them to get off their butts to release it.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Wasn't there some stink at the time that Benji's trainer/owner abused the dogs under his care and they were put in some jeopardy during filming?

Some of these various problems helped strengthen Hollywood code about using live animals in films.

[Thomas Crown]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Wasn't there some stink at the time that Benji's trainer/owner abused the dogs under his care and they were put in some jeopardy during filming?

I would hate for that to be true since Benji is such a wonderful family film. From memory, I don't remember any on screen scenes that put that animals in jeopardy. Any chance you are referring to "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" ? Now that's one movie that sickens me to think of all the animal abuse that went on during the filming of the movie.

[Buscemi]

Uh, the abuse that supposedly occurred on the set of The Adventures of Milo and Otis was never proven (and more than likely didn't happen as the co-director actually did work with animals for a living). That's one of those urban legends that continues to surface just because.

Meanwhile, Netflix has picked up the remake of Benji from Universal and will premiere it in March.

[LeeFanatic007]

Originally Posted by JoeDeM

I passed on the original because of PQ, but will get this, would love to see Oh! heavenly Dog get a release.

I hope so too, the DVD was ridiculously expensive last I looked. Chevy Chase and Benji share top billing!