Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - S 2 Mins Read

    Sleeping Dogs (1977)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    This Kiwi film features a reclusive pacifist named Smith (Sam Neill) who is ripped from his hermit’s life on an idyllic Maori island and drawn into a revolutionary struggle between leftist guerillas and a fascist New Zealand government.

    The rightist party have taken over as a result of a rigged shooting at a street demonstration in Auckland and the prime minister has called for a referendum to set up a dictatorship to fight “the communist forces and the senseless destruction to law and order”.

    Overnight, a police state has been set up and a counter-revolutionary force of freedom fighters starts hitting back.

    Recently separated from a cheating wife, Smith is framed by the revolutionary forces who hide a radio transmitter and a cache of arms at his home.

    Then he’s set up by the government and dragged off to Kafkaesque solitary confinement by the Special Police which offers him freedom if he confesses to his supposed revolutionary crimes or condemnation to a firing squad if he doesn’t.

    Sam Neill brings a charm and intensity to his role, vividly bringing across the horror and helplessness of his situation as he’s made a pawn of both the secret police and the guerillas. American Warren Oates appears as a Vietnam veteran turned soldier of fortune.

    This was the first New Zealand produced film to attain general release in the USA. Amazingly, the NZ army and air force cooperated as the heavies, supplying on-camera helicopters, rocket attacks and napalm for the production.

    Smith
    Sam Neill
    Gloria
    Nevan Rowe
    Bullen
    Ian Mune
    Colonel Willoughby
    Warren Oates
    Dudley
    Ian Watkin
    Jesperson
    Clyde Scott
    Mary
    Donna Akersten
    Cousins
    Bill Johnson
    Taupiri
    Don Selwyn
    Elsie
    Davina Whitehouse
    Melissa
    Melissa Donaldson
    News Reader
    Dougal Stevenson
    Prime Minister
    Bernard Kearns
    Reporter
    Raf Irving
    Cass
    Cass Donaldson
    Glorias Mother
    Dorothy McKegg
    Gloria’s Father
    Tony Groser

    Director
    Roger Donaldson

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Sorority Girl (1957)
      Sorority Girl (1957)
      Rich girl Sabra Tanner (Susan Cabot) is a sadistic, neurotic college student who is unhappy because her mother (Fay Baker)…
    • Solaris (1972)
      Solaris (1972)
      Based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem, Solaris is a film that takes on some very big issues: the nature of self-awareness,…
    • Summer of '42 (1971)
      Summer of '42 (1971)
      For 15-year-old Hermie (Gary Grimes) and his friends, life on a tranquil New England island is untouched by the harsh…
    • Salò (120 Days of Sodom)  (1975)
      Salò (120 Days of Sodom) (1975)
      Relocating the Marquis de Sade's notorious novel, 120 Days of Sodom, to wartime Italy - specifically the short-lived Republic of…
    • Big Wednesday (1978)
      Big Wednesday (1978)
      Quentin Tarantino once said that surfers don't deserve Big Wednesday. Perhaps this was a hangover from his days working in a…
    • Newsfront (1978)
      Newsfront (1978)
      Set in Australia in the late 1940s, before the coming of television, Newsfront opens with a spectacular montage of newsreel footage which…
    • Albino (1975)
      Albino (1975)
      Recently retired Rhodesian police officer Terrick Handel (James Faulkner) turns vigilante to hunt down an albino terrorist called Whispering Death…
    • Optimists (Of Nine Elms), The  (1973)
      Optimists (Of Nine Elms), The (1973)
      A wonderfully warm film presenting the flipside view to the Swinging Sixties dream as it fades into the Sour Seventies.…

    New Zealand
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleBobby ‘Boris’ Pickett & The Crypt Kickers
    Next Article Challenge for Robin Hood, A (1967)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975)
      When fellow narcotics agents (and brothers) Matthew (Albert […]
    • Trumpton Riots
      On Christmas Day 1995, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a short documentary […]
    • Col Joye
      Veteran Australian entertainer Col Joye was born Colin Frederick […]
    • Kraütrock
      For those who were there in 1971, the shock of […]
    • Great Buildings
      With their seamless harmonies and carefully constructed, […]
    • 633 Squadron (1964)
      Lieutenant Erik Bergman (George Chakiris), a Norwegian […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.