I remember picking up the "Grindhouse Experience" movie pack, and popping in the first film of the notorious "Savage" trilogy, "Savage Man, Savage Beast". If you read my review for that film, it can easily be said that I had to see more. I ended up ordering "This Violent World" online, and it too was excellent. I soon felt the need to watch the final film, and come full circle. Having finally seen it, these are my thoughts.
The film opens with shots of penguins nestled together, with an excellent score accompanying it. We are then introduced to Mike Gunn, shooting at land mines to prevent local wildlife from stepping on them. This man appears throughout the film, and is by far the best part of it. To show contrast, we are shown antelopes being blown apart by said mines. After this, we are introduced to some dolphins and their trainers. Once again, this is juxtapositioned with the image of Japanese fishermen killing dolphins. This is a truly disturbing bit. Contrasts of this nature are displayed for about twenty minutes, then there are brief segments on human murder and dismemberment. A man gets his arm ripped off by a truck, dead bodies are fed to vultures, and a stuntman falls to his death.
The second half of the film focuses on more pleasant matters: Mike Gunn is shown playing with cheetahs, a quadriplegic is helped out by a trained monkey, dancing rituals are shown, and a few bits and pieces from "Savage Man, Savage Beast", and "This Violent World" are shown, with different narrations than previously.
Both parts of the film have some truly disturbing footage, as well as some truly heart-touching scenes. That being said, I do have a few complaints: Picture quality: Looks like ass. But this is thanks to the fact that this is only available in bootleg form, to my understanding. The filmmakers are not at fault.
The fact that the film feels like it's been split into two halves actually injures it somewhat. The film is supposed to show a contrast between the sweet and the savage, which while accomplished to a degree here, would've worked much better if they spread out the violent footage, as there would be more and better contrasts. Instead, the first half is all: "Look over there, someone's dying" and the second half is all: "Look over there, people are having fun" without proper contrast.
All in all, while it doesn't hold a candle to the films that preceded it, it still manages to be a solid entry into the mondo genre, and makes a good conclusion to the "Savage" trilogy.
The film opens with shots of penguins nestled together, with an excellent score accompanying it. We are then introduced to Mike Gunn, shooting at land mines to prevent local wildlife from stepping on them. This man appears throughout the film, and is by far the best part of it. To show contrast, we are shown antelopes being blown apart by said mines. After this, we are introduced to some dolphins and their trainers. Once again, this is juxtapositioned with the image of Japanese fishermen killing dolphins. This is a truly disturbing bit. Contrasts of this nature are displayed for about twenty minutes, then there are brief segments on human murder and dismemberment. A man gets his arm ripped off by a truck, dead bodies are fed to vultures, and a stuntman falls to his death.
The second half of the film focuses on more pleasant matters: Mike Gunn is shown playing with cheetahs, a quadriplegic is helped out by a trained monkey, dancing rituals are shown, and a few bits and pieces from "Savage Man, Savage Beast", and "This Violent World" are shown, with different narrations than previously.
Both parts of the film have some truly disturbing footage, as well as some truly heart-touching scenes. That being said, I do have a few complaints: Picture quality: Looks like ass. But this is thanks to the fact that this is only available in bootleg form, to my understanding. The filmmakers are not at fault.
The fact that the film feels like it's been split into two halves actually injures it somewhat. The film is supposed to show a contrast between the sweet and the savage, which while accomplished to a degree here, would've worked much better if they spread out the violent footage, as there would be more and better contrasts. Instead, the first half is all: "Look over there, someone's dying" and the second half is all: "Look over there, people are having fun" without proper contrast.
All in all, while it doesn't hold a candle to the films that preceded it, it still manages to be a solid entry into the mondo genre, and makes a good conclusion to the "Savage" trilogy.