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

The screenplay was written by Luc Besson exclusively for Jet Li.

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Goofs

Set in Glasgow, Scotland. However not a single character in the film has a Scottish accent.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bart: Get 'em!

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Connections

Referenced in Indie Sex: Censored (2007)

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Soundtracks

"The Entertainer"
(Scott Joplin)

User Reviews

Triumphant mixture of action and drama

DANNY THE DOG

(USA/UK: Unleashed)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS

Raised as a fighting machine by thuggish Glasgow loan sharks, a young man (Jet Li) finds happiness after falling into the care of a kindly old piano teacher (Morgan Freeman) and his musical-protégé granddaughter (Kerry Condon). But Li's past catches up with him, threatening the safety of his newfound family...

Terrific combination of heartfelt drama and bone-crunching action scenes (choreographed by Yuen Wo-ping), anchored by strong performances (including Bob Hoskins as Li's brutal 'mentor') and a finely-tuned script by French action maestro Luc Besson. Grainy filmstock and an excess of closeups (typical of the ghastly Super 35 'widescreen' process) render it less cinematic than it ought to be, and the narrative is predictable, but the movie works on a visceral level whilst simultaneously pulling the heartstrings. Li's best non-HK film since KISS OF THE DRAGON (2001).

(English dialogue)