Product Details

• Actors: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, Dominic Purcell, Laz Alonso
• Directors: Rod Lurie
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, French, Spanish, Thai
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Thai, Mandarin Chinese, Korean
• Dubbed: French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: December 20, 2011
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B005TK22R0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,905 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Straw Dogs" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Forty years after Sam Peckinpah's hugely controversial 1971 original, Rod Lurie adapted and directed a new version of Straw Dogs, with a very deliberate change of location and an updating of the social context. Instead of being set in Britain, the story now takes place in small-town Mississippi, where Hollywood screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) is moving with his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth). She grew up in Blackwater, which she aptly refers to as "backwater," but has since become a much-desired TV actress. In their isolated house, David will write while Amy's ex-beau (Alexander Skarsgård) repairs the adjacent barn with his redneck buddies. In drawing the unease between this effete, conflict-averse intellectual and the swaggering, flag-waving, God-fearing locals, Lurie (The Contender) seems to be aiming at the hostility between red state/blue state America in 2011. But the movie breaks down when it gets to the sadistic plot turns that lead to the savage finale, a siege in which David is pushed to his primal self. In the Peckinpah film, this was a hellish and ambiguous exorcism, but here the events just seem ugly, and the movie loses control of its perspective about halfway through. James Marsden is a game actor, but he can't be as convincing a bookworm as Dustin Hoffman was in the original film. Kate Bosworth's ambivalence is the most interesting thing at play here, as she suggests the marriage might have been less than perfect all along. That subtle discontent is more intriguing than the movie's lurid collapse into ultraviolence. --Robert Horton

Product Description

A young couple (James Marsden and Kate Bosworth) moves to a quaint southern town. Soon their perfect getaway turns out to become a living hell when dark secrets and lethal passions spiral out of control. Trapped by a pack of depraved locals led by a ruthless predator (Alexander Skarsgard, TV’s True Blood), they face a night of agonizing suffering and endless bloodshed. Now their only hope for survival is to become more savage than their merciless torturers. Also starring two-time Academy Award® Nominee James Woods (Best Actor, Salvador, 1986 and Best Supporting Actor, Ghosts of Mississippi, 1996).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful - never a dull moment November 2, 2011

By D. Doppes

Format:Blu-ray

James Marsden plays David Sumner, a screenwriter from California, who makes the move to Mississippi with his girlfriend Amy(Kate Bosworth). This is her hometown, but its all too foreign to David. The secluded property and beautiful background seem an ideal place for him to finish work on his Stalingrad project. It doesn't take long for this thought to diminish from his mind.

As much as David tries to mix with the locals and feel a part of the community, theres always something that doesn't work. Theres several times in the film where he goes out of his way to be courteous, but the locals don't seem to like an outsider in their town. A rich, clean cut outsider to be precise. This film builds an ominous tone very well through the course of the story. While the film feeds off the differences between David and the locals, it also shows David changing in his own way later in the film. Amy's(Bosworth) ex-boyfriend Charlie (Skarsgard)enters the picture early and often in the young couple's life. Skarsgard really does a nice job with his character. You never have a good feeling about Charlie from the first frame, when he starts in on Amy, as David gets a beer at the bar. The situation worsens when he is hired to repair the roof to David and Amy's home. That puts Charlie and his hunting/roofing buddies too close to the couples everyday life. James Woods is very good as well in portraying "coach" a beer drinking, raucous legend in the small town. It seems everyone in the town played for coach in the past and he has the respect of most. The coach has his own issues with his daughter and a mentally challenged man. This adds another level of brooding to the story. Another factor is the difference in ideals and beliefs between David and Amy. The couple clearly love each other, but its not a rock solid foundation. The movie continues with a good pace, without any moments of dullness. These storylines set up a brutal, climatic ending.

There are several uncomfortable scenes and shocking ones as well. This is not for everyone. That includes a rape scene. The film overall is well done. I think Marsden/Bosworth/Woods/Skarsgard are excellent in the film. There are some well filmed scenes in this one. Including a few with a deer. Although many will compare this to the 1971 classic, this movie has a different setting and an updated story. I like both movies. For me, they're both good in their own way. I would give it 4 1/2 stars, so I picked 5- because it entertained throughout.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly good October 27, 2011

By Ms.Starshine

Format:DVD

I debated seeing this at the theater because the original was so dark and the critics had been so tough on this remake. I was surprised by how good it was. Friends with me also enjoyed seeing this film. Solid thriller type of story with a couple better than average acting performances from James Woods, Alexander Skarsgard, Dom Purcell.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good December 25, 2011

By zombie phreak

Format:Blu-ray

Okay so I know a lot of people are comparing this to the original version saying it's no good in comparison. I've never seen the original so this review is going to be specifically about this movie. I liked it.

Seriously I liked it. The characters are good, the motivation of each character is believable, and the situations are realistic enough that it could actually happen.

My only complaints about this movie are about the two female characters. The cheerleader girl and the wife of the main character.

***SPOILERS***

The cheerleader flirts with the mentally retarded guy even though she knows it'll get him in trouble and he'll get the crap beaten outta him by her father and the other washed up football guys. It's like she gets off on seeing him get his ass kicked. Also it's kinda confusing as to if he kills her by accident when he puts his hands over her face to stop her from screaming. I know her feet stop moving, but is that cuz she passed out or because she died? It's just a minor point of confusion but still I'd like a little clarity.

Also the wife is just plain annoying. In one scene she tells her husband that the former football heroes were drooling over her outside and that it was making her uncomfortable and asked him to do something about it. Yet then she goes upstairs and flashes her breasts to the same people who were just making her feel so uncomfortable. You can't have your cake and eat it too, either you're not comfortable with them starring at you, or you are.

Then later they rape her and she yells at her husband calling him a coward and that he's not a real man. He wasn't even there when she was raped, and if she's mad at anyone, why isn't she mad at herself for flashing them, and mad at the people who actually raped her rather than be mad at someone who wasn't even there when it happened? Also the football guys had taken the husband out "hunting" to get him away from his wife. She grew up in the area and she should have said, "Ummm, honey, it's not hunting season and you don't have a hunting license, plus I'm not comfortable with you being with them, please stay home with me."

***END SPOILERS***

Even with those minor complaints, this movie is still worth seeing.

Check it out!