MovieChat Forums > Alpha Dog (2007) Discussion > Alpha Dog vs. Bully.

Alpha Dog vs. Bully.

posted 13 years ago by Cant1968
23 replies | jump to latest

They are both based on real stories and are very similar sorta, but which do you prefer?

I liked Alpha Dog better.

[–] Born_Tomorrow 10 years ago

Alpha Dog is waaaaay more disturbing, IMO. I guess because the victim was so young, innocent and just totally naïve to the danger that he was in. I was able to feel sympathy for not only him, as the victim but also his family, especially his poor mother. Although I liked the movie, I have a really hard time watching it. The movie was so haunting to me that even though I bought the DVD, I've only watched it twice. I just keep picturing this poor kid begging for his life and it's completely heartbreaking. However, watching Bully, to me, was like watching any other movie with a group of stupid teenagers. Not that I'm an evil or cruel person but I just had no emotion for the victim. I'm sure that the real life story would make me feel differently but the movie painted the guy out to be such an azzhole that I really can't understand anyone even comparing the two, let alone feeling more sympathy for him.

All typos and misspellings courtesy of a public educational system.

[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

I only saw these 2 films once so I mix them up, I need to rewatch both.

[–] charliekelly (1018) 7 years ago

I've only seen "Alpha Dog" once; maybe parts of it another time. I've seen "Bully" many, many times. I definitely like it more. I really liked Nick Stahl, growing up, and this is one of his finest performances IMO. Also, man, Bijou Phillips was definitely a huge crush in my teen years, forget about it.

[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

I really like Stahl as well, especially since I first saw him in Gibson's first directed fil 'Man without a Face.'. That film resonates so much with me, someone destroyed because of rumors and Stahl was fantastic.

[–] charliekelly (1018) 7 years ago

I saw that once, several years ago. I remembered Mel, but I had forgotten who had played the boy. I do that all the time - forget who played the child in movies. They often turn out to be stars later, leading me to look at their filmography which leads to several "oh yeah!" moments. Thanks for reminding me of that film.

[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

That happens to me as well unless the kid was around my age or older or really impressed me like Stahl did in MWAF, or Christian Bale did in The Empire of the Sun, or like Anton Yelchin in Hearts in Atlantis.

[–] charliekelly (1018) 7 years ago

I used to tell people about Yelchin before his career really took off. I loved "Heart in Atlantis" and "House of D", even "Along Came a Spider" in which his role was small but important.

[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

I agree. He was a really really good actor so I was very happy he was cast in Star Trek. I just saw House of D earlier and was a bit melancholic watching it knowing he has passed.