Roar (1981)
- Directed by
- Noel Marshall
- Genre
- drama film, comedy film, horror film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1h 42m
- Rated
- PG
- Rating
- 5.9 of 10 from 129 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A naturalist lives with wild big cats in Africa. When his family visits, the animals confront them instead.
chaoticunpredictabletenseadventurousdarkly comicharrowingslow-burnoffbeat
What happens
Roar is a 1981 American adventure comedy film written and directed by Noel Marshall. Its plot follows Hank, a naturalist who lives on a nature preserve in Africa with lions, leopards, tigers, and other big cats. When his family visits him, they are instead confronted by the group of animals. The film stars Marshall as Hank, his real-life wife Tippi Hedren as his wife Madeleine, with Hedren's daughter Melanie Griffith and Marshall's sons John and Jerry Marshall in supporting roles. In 1969, while Hedren was filming Satan's Harvest in Mozambique, she and Marshall had occasion to observe a pride of lions move into a recently vacated house, driven by increased poaching. They decided to make a film centered around that theme, with production starting when the first script was completed in 1970. They began bringing rescued big cats into their homes in California and living with them. Filming began in 1976; it was finished after five years. The film was fully completed after 11 years in production. Roar was not initially released in North America. Instead, in 1981, Noel and John Marshall released it internationally. It was also acquired by Filmways Pictures and Alpha Films. Despite performing well in Germany and Japan, Roar was a box office failure, grossing $2 million worldwide against a $17 million budget. In 2015, 34 years after the film's original release, it was released in theaters in the United States by Drafthouse Films. Roar's message of protection for African wildlife as well as its animal interactions were praised by critics, but its plot, story, inconsistent tone, dialogue, and editing were criticized. During production, the cast and crew members faced dangerous situations; 72 people, including the film's stars, were injured in attacks from the untrained animals on set. Flooding from a dam destroyed much of the set and equipment, dramatically increasing the film's budget. In 1983, Hedren founded the Roar Foundation and established the Shambala Preserve sanctuary, to house the animals appearing in the film. She also wrote a book, The Cats of Shambala (1985), about the events that took place during its production. The film has been described as "the most dangerous film ever made" and "the most expensive home movie ever made", and has gained a cult following. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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The Plague Dogs (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Continental Divide (1981)
Sredni Vashtar (1981)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.