Probably everybody, who saw in the film "I Am Legend" (2007) Will Smith walking though New York with his German Shepherd "Sam" as his last and only friend, was reminded of a very similar scene in the "The Road Warrior" (1981) with Mel Gibson.
Without any doubt the image of a man and his dog is already an icon and has older role models:
Dogs are good companions faithful and most loyal to their masters, so that they are even called sometimes "the oldest friend of man". Maybe here’s the root for their popularity in post apocalyptic movies. If they are the oldest friends maybe they should also be the last ones.
Two more examples of dogs in post apocalyptic movies :
A Boy and His Dog (1975) - maybe this was the inspiration for Mad Max.
Downstream (maybe next year)
The film A Boy and His Dog (1975) is based on a science fiction novel by Harlan Ellison. In a post apocalyptic world a boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex. This dog was probably the pattern for many other post apocalyptic companions to follow.
And here we have the oldest fried and true companion of men.
Yeah I liked an still do the Road Warrior. It imposed new standards on the whole genre and was full of dark humor and cutting irony.
Probably everybody, who saw in the film "I Am Legend" (2007) Will Smith walking though New York with his German Shepherd "Sam" as his last and only friend, was reminded of a very similar scene in the "The Road Warrior" (1981) with Mel Gibson.
Without any doubt the image of a man and his dog is already an icon and has older role models:
Dogs are good companions faithful and most loyal to their masters, so that they are even called sometimes "the oldest friend of man". Maybe here’s the root for their popularity in post apocalyptic movies. If they are the oldest friends maybe they should also be the last ones.
A Boy and His Dog (1975) - maybe this was the inspiration for Mad Max.
Downstream (maybe next year)
Sounds like a new version of the good old Mad Max story a little more western style. Till Today there is only a small website and a trailer on Youtube.
