A Dog's Courage - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

A Dog's Courage



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
One of the most cruel and vile things a pet owner can do to their beloved pet is abandon it. I’m not talking being forced to re-home a pet, or give it up to a shelter because your family can’t live with it anymore (a move, life threatening allergies in a child etc), and I’m not even talking about dumping your pet off at the shelter because you don’t want it (as irresponsible as that last one is). I’m talking about the despicable act of taking your pup or you kitty out to to a deserted road, dropping it off and then driving away while said pet looks after you all confused. It’s not AS common in America and western Europe as it is in other countries, but it is still a major problem. I’ve personally had to deal with the aftermath of some creep who has dumped their dog out in the desert (I live in the scorching heat of Arizona) leaving their dog to starve and die of heat stroke for some unknown reason. And as much as I hate it I’m also glad that it’s become less and less of a problem over the decades as more and more rescue shelters have cropped up to curb the epidemic. Unfortunately it’s still a pretty hefty problem in South Korea, where pets and strays litter the streets and dumping a pet when it becomes to large for an Asian apartment is still more common than it should be.

Such is the heart and soul of South Korea’s A Dog’s Courage. As the opening scene rips your heart out with an unnamed human dumping their dog Moong-chi (Kyung-soo Do) off in the woods with a bag of dog food and a hasty ball throw to distract the pup just long enough to get in the car and race off. Confused, scared, and waiting for his human to come back, Moong-chi is “adopted” by a gang of street dogs who have also been abandoned by their owners. Together they long for better food as they beg for scraps on the street, and wish for a place where they can be taken care of once again.

However, Moong-chi senses a new opportunity when he runs across a pack of wild dogs living in the mountains nearby who are living free and clear from humanity. Wanting so desperately to fit in (and of course being enamored by a black Russian dog by the name of Bam-yi (So-dam Park) ). The only thing is, the mountain dogs have been even more abused by humans than the stray house pets, and are hardened by living by their own teeth and claws up in the mountain. Initially refusing Moong-chi’s desire to fit in with them, they are forced to band together with the stray dogs to repel and even worse threat. A monstrous dog cat catcher who only wants to make money off of dog fighting. Now they have to run for their lives to a mythical place by the North and South border where dogs can live in peace without fear of their lives.

A Dog’s Courage reminds me of the 1960s films An Incredible Journey, revolving around a set of talking (at least to the audience) animals making a death defying trek across the nation. Except this time it’s intermingled with a very potent message about the consequences of abandoning your pets when they’re not wanted. The story is sweet and charming, but that very harsh message flows underneath the surface, making the entire film rather bittersweet (in a good way). While humans are many times seen as the “villains” here by the dogs, the story also infuses hope as well in the form of running into humans who do their best to take care of the pups, even if the animals are naturally a bit gun shy.

I really wasn’t expecting much but a cheap animated story (much like the animated films from Lionsgate), but A Dog’s Courage was much, MUCH better than I expected it to be. I hadn’t heard much about it on the grapevine, but it was one of the films that was caught up in the Covid-19 issues. Supposedly being released around May, Well Go USA instead decided to push back the release date to August instead of just canceling the review opportunity outright. I’m actually rather glad they did, as I snuffled, I smiled and at the end of the day, had to admit that this was one of the better South Korean animated films I’ve seen. It may not be perfect (some pacing issues in the second half), but overall it was a very pleasant film and easily accessible to younger ones and adults alike.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Well Go USA brings us another great looking AVC encode framed in 1.85:1. There’s the typical Well Go USA banding that goes on from time to time (it wouldn’t be a Well Go release without SOME banding) but otherwise the rotoscoped animation looks really good. Lines are intact and clean, while softness is kept to a minimum. The art style isn’t super complicated, but it’s complicated enough to give plenty of detail levels in things like waving grass, or the colors and grime on a nasty looking Jeep driven by the main villain. Colors are warm and vibrant, and black levels maintain a healthy depth to them. Simply put, this is a generally outstanding encode.








Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mixes are split between an English dub and the Korean original language track, both of which sound identical outside of the English vs. Korean voices. I’m usually an “original language purist”, but the dub for this is actually quite good. I still like the Korean vocals a bit, as it sounds more “authentic” to my ears (probably my own bias), but sonically both tracks sound pretty much identical. Vocals are crisp and clean, surrounds get some activity with the musical score, and there’s some solid bass for when the action amps up (usually the dogs getting chased, or the roar of a wrecking ball smashing a building to pieces). Good mix and neither language choice is the wrong one.







Extras:

• Trailers for the film
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

A Dog’s Courage was a breathe of fresh air in the animated world, and it has quite the subversive message playing throughout. The whole film is built upon criticism of the unspoken travesty happening in South Korea (and many other places across the world), where animals are domesticated as pets, then thrown aside under the assumption of “it’s just an animal”. The film thrives on irony, even going so far as to make the dog’s “haven” where they can be at peace one of the biggest ironic twists of the movie. It’s sweet, heartfelt, and really well done by modern standards. The Blu-ray is very solid as well, with great video, good audio, but the barest of extras. All in all, a good film and a very good Blu-ray. Recommended


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Bill Pullman, Ice Cube
Directed by: Chun-Baek Lee, Seong-yun Oh
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0, Korean DTS-HD MA 5.1, Korean DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 102 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: August 18th, 2020

Recommendation: Very Good Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check this out once available on amazon prime/netflix.