| "Crocodile" Dundee | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Faiman |
| Produced by | John Cornell |
| Screenplay by | John Cornell Paul Hogan Ken Shadie |
| Story by | Paul Hogan |
| Starring | Paul Hogan Linda Kozlowski |
| Music by | Peter Best |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Editing by | David Stiven |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures 20th Century Fox (in some European countries) |
| Release date(s) | 26 September 1986 |
| Running time | 104 minutes (Australia)[1] 97 minutes (international)[2] |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ $8.16 millon USD |
| Box office | $328,203,506 |
"Crocodile" Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee and Linda Kozlowski as Sue Charlton.[3]
Inspired by the true life exploits of Rodney Ansell, the film was made on a budget of under $10 million as a deliberate attempt to make a commercial Australian film that would appeal to a mainstream American audience, but proved to be a worldwide phenomenon. Released on 30 April 1986 in Australia, and on 26 September 1986 in the United States, it was the second-highest-grossing film in the United States in that year and went on to become the number-one film worldwide at the box office.
There are two versions of the film: the Australian version, and the American/international version, the latter of which had much of the Australian slang replaced with more commonly understood terms, and was slightly shorter. The international version also changes the title to "Crocodile" Dundee, adding the quotation marks. The film was followed by two sequels: "Crocodile" Dundee II (1988) and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001).
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Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski), a feature writer for Newsday engaged to marry her editor, Richard (Mark Blum), travels to Walkabout Creek, a small hamlet in the Northern Territories of Australia to meet Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee (Paul Hogan), a bushman reported to have lost a leg to a Saltwater Crocodile. On arrival, she finds his leg is not missing, but has a large scar.
At first Sue finds Dundee less legendary than she had been led to believe, being unimpressed by his uncouth behaviour and clumsy advances towards her; however, she is later amazed when in the Outback, she witnesses "Mick" (as Dundee is called) subduing a Wild Asian Water Buffalo, taking part in an Aboriginal tribal dance ceremony, killing snakes with his hands, and (at her request) scaring tourists from their sport of shooting kangaroos. Offended by Mick's assertion that she is incapable of surviving the Outback alone, Sue goes out alone to prove him wrong, but is attacked by a crocodile and rescued by Mick. She finds herself becoming attracted to him.
Sue invites Mick to return with her to New York City on the pretext of continuing the feature story. There he is perplexed by New York behaviour and customs but is still able to overcome problematic situations including attempted robberies and two encounters with a pimp. When Richard proposes marriage to Sue at a dinner party, Mick is upset and decides to go 'walkabout' around the USA; but Sue, having refused Richard, follows him to a subway station. There, she cannot reach him through the crowd on the platform, but has members of the crowd relay her message to him, whereupon he walks to her on the heads and raised hands of the jubilant crowd and embraces her.
The film has a rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.[4][5] James Berardinelli of Reelviews.net gave the film three stars out of four stating, "What the storyline lacks in ambition, it makes up for in sheer, unfettered likability."[6]
The film was a worldwide box office hit.[7] The film grossed $47,707,045 at the box office in Australia,[8] which is equivalent to $104,001,358 in 2009 dollars.
The film was released theatrically in the United States by Paramount Pictures in September 1986. It grossed $174,803,506 at the domestic box office.[9] It was the second highest grossing film that year for both the studio and the United States box office.[10]
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