I watched this movie years ago, and when I saw this on DVD, I had to have it. It is still one of my all-time favorite movies, though the ending is a bit sad, it is a great movie filled with action, adventure, and drama; A movie anyone can enjoy.

As a reviewer said below me It's a wonder this was made. This is a true sad tragic story that will make you think and will leave it's mark on you. Rarely do movies portray the reality of life and even more rare is that it is in animated form. By all means see this movie, it's bad enough that it has been thrown into obscurity by the delusional "everything is fine" public and that disney can only make animated features.

It's easy to look at the cover of the movie "Plague Dogs" and then call the kids into the living room for an enjoyable Sunday matinee. There is a deceptive nature to the beautiful hand drawn animation of cute little animals that harkens back to the golden age of Disney animation. This would be a mistake however for it's that very deceptive quality to "Plague Dogs" that makes this film such a treat for adults and a rather disturbing nightmare for children.

Like it's predecessor "Watership Down" (another Richard Adams book made into an animated feature by director Martin Rosen), "Plague Dogs" is a very adult tale about animals in jeopardy. In "Watership..." it was a small group of rabbits in search of a safe home. "Plague Dogs" is the story of two dogs who escape from a testing laboratory. Together they are desperate to find safety and a life free of abuse and pain. The smaller dog (Snitter) having just had brain surgery, is a smart but tortured animal. Rowf, is a dog mentally and physically beaten by repeated drownings. Together they search for peace, but peace does not come easily on an empty stomach and the many pastures of sheep are too tempting for the two dogs to pass up. As sheep carcasses begin to pile up local farmers begin to make the connection that the testing laboratory may have had something to do with the two wild dogs that are roaming their land. When it's discovered that the laboratory was working with Bubonic plague, the dogs are marked for death.

Ultimately "Plague Dogs" is an adventure tale; however, director Martin Rosen uses the bleak storyline to propel a theme of hopelessness. Snitter and Rowf and undesirables, cast out by bad luck and bad timing. The society that they find themselves in is unable to fully understanding their situation and their destruction is a simply seen as a more effective way of dealing with them. The ending in particular has our two furry antagonists in questionable straights.

Such a film would not play well today, nor did it play that well in this country 25 years ago. It asks too many questions, pushes too many cringe inducing buttons, and often doesn't wait for the passive viewer to catch up. I can't think of one reason why or how a movie like this got made, but it's our great fortune it did. "Watership Down" proves to be a better movie experience but "Plague Dogs" goes where "Watership Down" didn't and we are all the better for it.

I don't really have a lot to add about the film itself that the other reviewers haven't already said; this is a dark, distressing, relentlessly grim and harrowing film about two dogs on the run from an animal research laboratory. It has a somewhat slow pace at times, and much of the animation is crude by today's standards, but it has tons of character. It's not exactly a pleasant experience but it has great power and a worthwhile message. Just to make it clear (if it isn't already), this is mature material only suitable for older teens and adults.

I actually just wanted to address a couple of points in a previous review (possible spoilers coming). The original film, released in the UK in 1982, was 1 hour 42 minutes - this is the full, unedited version which can ONLY be found on the Australian DVD release (the quality isn't great, but at least you're getting to see the whole film). The difference in running time (99 mins on DVD as against 102 mins in theaters) is simply down to the fact that films run slightly faster on VHS and DVD than they do on the big screen; ALL films are approximately 3 - 4% shorter when transfered to home entertainment formats.

When it came time to release the film in the USA, director Martin Rosen had great difficulty finding a distributor willing to take it on. That shouldn't come as too much of a surprise; the film is far too disturbing for kids or families, and adults are likely to dismiss an animated feature with talking animals as kids' stuff - so who exactly would pay to see this movie? In an effort to placate the distributors, Rosen was forced to cut 17 minutes from the film's running time. Some of the cuts were simply made to speed up the pace, and others were made to remove some of the more unpleasant scenes (most notably the sight of a human corpse which the starving, desperate dogs have partially eaten). Needless to say, these cuts did little to lighten the film's grim tone, and it only ever received a brief and extremely limited run at a few US theaters. Unfortunately, it is this shorter version that has been used for most of the recent DVD releases; as I mentioned before, only the Australian edition has both versions included.

There were some changes to the plot in the transfer from novel to screen. The somewhat forced but nevertheless welcome happy ending in the book was removed, to make the film a more powerful anti-vivisection statement. Also the fate of the fox, or The Tod as he is known, was changed; in the book he falls victim to a hunt, whereas in the film he sacrifices himself to a pack of army hounds as a distraction, allowing the two titular dogs to escape (temporarily) on a train. This was NOT changed due to any pressure from pro-hunting groups; neither Richard Admas or his admirers would have tolerated such a move. I imagine it was changed to allow the Tod's death to play a more important part in driving the plot forward, and to show us the wily fox was a noble fellow in the end.

The animation is rough (ala Watership Down) - but this is a film with heart, and a moral...and makes me cry every single (*&(*& time I see it. Everyone should see this film, at least once...!