Roar (1981)

A family goes to Africa to meet their father who lives with wild lions.

Director:

Noel Marshall

Writers:

Noel Marshall, Ted Cassidy (additional script material)

Stars:

Tippi Hedren, Noel Marshall, Melanie Griffith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tippi Hedren	...	Madelaine
Noel Marshall	...	Hank
Melanie Griffith	...	Melanie
John Marshall	...	John
Jerry Marshall	...	Jerry
Kyalo Mativo	...	Mativo
Frank Tom	...	Frank
Steve Miller	...	Prentiss
Rick Glassey	...	Rick
Lenord Bokwa	...	Airport Personnel
Shamasi Sarumi	...	Airport Personnel
Will Hutchins	...	Committee Member
Eve Rattner	...	Committee Member
Peter Thiongo	...	Committee Member
Zakes Mokae	...	Committee Member (as Zakes Moakae)

Storyline

Ravening jungle beasts assemble in flocks to invade an otherwise quiet home where they terrorize the visiting family of their keeper.

---

Plot Keywords:

giraffe | jaguar | ostrich | motorboat | bath | 

---

Taglines:

There's never been a film like ROAR - and there never will be again!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1981 (Australia)

Also Known As:

El gran rugido

Filming Locations:

Acton, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The script was originally titled "Lions, Lions and more Lions"

---

Goofs

After Hank goes to the airport to get his family, on his return trip, he picks up Mativo and the tigers. Mativo's bike is placed in the trunk with the front wheel hanging out. Further down the road, the trunk is closed with no bike hanging out. Still further, the bike is again hanging out.

---

Quotes

Hank: It's just playing, I'm tellin' ya!

---

Connections

Referenced in The Good Wife: Hearing (2016)

User Reviews

See it to believe it

ROAR is one of those rare films where the behind-the-scenes story is more interesting than the one up on screen. It's a would-be animal movie along the lines of BORN FREE about a normal American family coping with a house full of big cats, but the whole thing is so ridiculous in both execution and planning that it's a film which has gained infamy as one of the most dangerous in history.

The problem lies with writer/director/star Noel Marshall, he of the wild hair and dubious acting talents. Marshall thought it would be a good idea to mix together a ton of different big cats, including a number of male lions, and throw them in with unprepared actors, including his wife Tippi Hedren and stepdaughter Melanie Griffiths. The resulting shooting schedule saw over 70 injuries to cast and crew, the most infamous of which was the director of photography, Jan De Bont, getting scalped.

The enjoyment factor of this one is of the 'car crash' variety. Marshall is obviously a zealot who acts and sounds a lot like Timothy Treadwell, the doomed star of the Herzog documentary GRIZZLY MAN, who got a bit too close to the grizzly bears he was obsessed with and paid with his life. Nobody died during ROAR, but they came close. There isn't really a script here, just characters reacting to the big cats, and the only decent bit is the tense mid-section in which Hedren and her screen children attempt to evade the cats which are chasing them around the house (which is far better than the whole of the tiger-in-the-house thriller BURNING BRIGHT). Otherwise, it's just a case of watch and endure it.