Top Dog (1995)

The Worst Film Ever

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I want to spend as little time writing about this as the screenplay writer did on the movie. So, please bear with me for just a few seconds.What you'll find here: animal abuse in front of and behind the scenes, an adult action trying to disguise itself off as a kiddie/doggie movie, an incredibly unlikeable "hero," zero chemistry anywhere, poor excuses for cliché stealing, unintentionally hilarious baddies that didn't even make the Austin Powers cut and a dog that, after unbelievably saving a baby from a fire, gets a severe punishment.This was only viewed by me due to the assume How Did This Get Made? podcast that covered it. And even if you, too, listen to that, it's still not recommended. It's just an awful dud with no one on screen to root for, like or show any depth. Skip it. * * *Final thoughts: Incredibly, a Ron Swanson wrote this movie. Had the fictional Ron Swanson from Parks & Rec wrote this, I'd probably give it 10/10 stars. At least in that fantasy, it would've been made with heart.

(Plot) Reno's (The Dog) partner (Carmine Caridi) gets shot and killed when he decides to snoop around some terrorists. The duo is replaced by a moody cop who can't keep his house clean, and doesn't like company very much. Can Chuck get along with Reno to save everyone from the baddies?Lame jokes in the summary aside... This is it. The movie that officially knocked Chuck off of his throne; he was already beginning to show cracks with Hellbound, The Hit-man, and a couple others, but this is the one that did him in. Chuck should have known better to go the James Belushi route here. I dig Chuck for what he is, but he doesn't have the funny personality to pull this off. The movie looks and feels extremely cheap, even though it somehow managed to get a theatrical release. There isn't a whole lot of action to speak of, other than a few explosions here and there, and a rather lame shootout & chase scene at the end. It also has all the antics you would expect from this movie. The dog steals the show from under Chuck Norris, even though he's a rather unlikable little thing. The villains have no character to speak of, and are just there, so Chuck has someone to overcome. I love action movies, but this just reeked of laziness. Chuck Norris was always a bit of a risk when it came to his movies, but at least he made a few good ones. It feels like he's not even trying here. He puts on a phony tough guy act that I didn't buy for a minute, and effectively put the final nail in the coffin of his career. Final Thoughts: if you wanna see Chuck succumb his standards to James Belushi's K-9 series, then be my guest. Be prepared to wallow in misery for most of the duration, though. It's pretty awful stuff. This killed Norris's action movie career. He does some DTV films once in a while, and most recently had a glorified cameo in The Expendables II2/10

A disappointment. For the first time Chuck has betrayed me. I was ready to roll on the floor laughing for Aaron's unmeaning comedy with my buddies, but no. The only effect was a disgrace and a voice in my head saying "Oh no, you can't really do that.." There was only one scene that made us really laugh, (again one with some unmeaning comedy so typical to the Norris brothers) the one where Reno is driving a car with some leather helmet in his head. We were reversing it again and again wondering w h a t on earth they were thinking. From where did that vision flash into the head of Aaron "the Vision" Norris?In the end there's nothing funny, and nothing good in this flick. If you want to chuckle for Chuck then I absolutely recommend Forest Warrior. Perhaps Aaron needed to do this, on the road to Forest Warrior. Top Dog was a step on his way to blossom in Forest Warrior.

Not a nail in Chuck Norris' career, as one reviewer put it. I come to the defense of this nice little film for the strong message it carries. Anyone who was a fan of "Walker, Texas Ranger" can certainly see the core values of Chuck Norris in this film. Mister Norris is a man of great integrity and strong human values. He accepts diversity and from watching him, tolerates no bigotry at all. That's the message I appreciated so much in watching top dog, although the vehicle used could have been better executed. In a world where diversity should be the rule of the day, and learning from our past a virtue, Mister Norris, like a lot of us, sees the need to remind people of our past and what we should strive for in the future. It's one of the reasons I regularly watched Walker, to see the triumph of good over evil. More films like this, with a strong message are needed. Film is a medium, not only to entertain, but to educate us. That education could be for good or bad. Mister Norris chose the good, and I applaud him for that, and his integrity.