Unleashed (2005)
"Danny the Dog" (original title)

A man enslaved by the mob since childhood and raised into behaving like a human attack dog escapes his captors and attempts to start a new life.

Director:

Louis Leterrier

Writer:

Luc Besson

Stars:

Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	Danny
Morgan Freeman	...	Sam
Bob Hoskins	...	Bart
Kerry Condon	...	Victoria
Vincent Regan	...	Raffles
Dylan Brown	...	Lefty
Tamer Hassan	...	Georgie
Michael Jenn	...	Wyeth
Phyllida Law	...	Distinguished Lady
Carole Ann Wilson	...	Maddy
Mike Lambert	...	The Stranger
Jaclyn Tze Wey	...	Danny's Mother
Puthirith Chou	...	Teen Danny
Tony Theng	...	Little Danny
Owen Lay	...	Baby Danny

Storyline

A man treated like a dog and raised as a fighting machine his entire life, ends up in a coma and is taken in the care of good people, but his sinister owner is looking to retrieve his most prized possession: a non stop human weapon triggered by the collar leashed on his neck.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | collar | fight | fighting | piano | 

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Taglines:

On April 8th, The Collar Comes Off

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violent content, language and some sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Rogue

Country:

France USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Unleashed

Filming Locations:

Blackfriar's Bar, Merchant City, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$227,728 (Brazil) (4 November 2005)

Gross:

$381,492 (Brazil) (11 November 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, Danny the Dog Prods Ltd., TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bob Hoskins actually cut Jet Li's hair at the start of the movie, as his character would have done it in the movie.

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Goofs

When Danny sits in the car with Bart and the other companions he pulls the steering wheel and they flip over. While they are flipping over you can see a plate on the bottom of the car (possibly for the stunt), but in the next scene you see the car on its back missing the plate.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bart: Get 'em!

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Lindsay Lohan/Coldplay (2005)

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Soundtracks

"L'amour est enfant de Bohème"
from "Carmen"
(Georges Bizet)

User Reviews

Drama, not an action movie

Unleashed is the touching story of Danny (Jet Li) who as a young boy was brought harshly by a loanshark (Bob Hoskins) and was trained to kill once his dog collar is removed. Although Danny was brought up as a dog, he is human, and through the intervention of music and the care and love of a blind piano tuner (Morgan Freeman), and his stepdaughter (Kerry Condon), Danny discovers another side of life.

Unleashed is not an action movie. There certainly are some spectacular fight scenes, but the emphasis is put on the relationship between Morgan Freeman and his stepdaughter, and Jet Li, and on the development of Danny's "humanity". Danny yearns for more than just killing; he discovers music and is saved by it. Music also plays a key role in his self-discovery as it awakens long-lost memories of his childhood.

For the first time, the audience are treated to Jet Li's true acting capabilities. Jet Li seems genuine and earnest--perhaps this is because the actor openly acknowledges that this film is close to his heart: as a Buddhist, Jet Li is against violence, and this film portrays the fight between humanity and violence.

This drama is a surprising break from usual martial arts movies. The fact that the number of action scenes is limited is counter-balanced by Yuen Wo Ping's masterful choreography; do not expect a fight-fest. Do however expect an unpretentious touching story featuring good actors with a few spectacular action scenes.