Trailer
Plot summary
Hank, an American naturalist, lives on a preserve in Tanzania with lions, leopards, and tigers. His wife Madeleine and their children John, Jerry, and Melanie are due in from Chicago, and he is to collect them at the airport. Before he leaves, his friend Mativo brings word that a committee is arriving to review Hank's grant. Hank shows him around the ranch and explains that a rogue lion, Togar, quarrels with Robbie, the leader of the pride.
Cast
- Jerry Marshallas Jerry
- Kyalo Mativoas Mativo
- Frank Tomas Frank
- Rick Glasseyas Rick
- Lenord Bokwaas Airport Personnel
- Shamasi Sarumias Airport Personnel
- Eve Rattneras Committee Member
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Roar (1981)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Noel Marshall was bitten through the hand when he interacted with male lions during a fight scene, and doctors initially feared that he might lose his arm; by the time a lion gave him eight puncture wounds in the leg he had been bitten around eleven times.
- During production the cast and crew members faced dangerous situations: 72 people, including the film's stars, were injured in attacks from the untrained animals on set.
- During a promo shoot in 1973, Hedren was bitten in the head by a lion, Cherries, whose teeth scraped against her skull; she was later admitted to Antelope Valley Hospital after Tembo, the five-ton elephant, picked her up by the ankle with his trunk and fractured it.
- Most members of the crew were injured, including de Bont, who was scalped by Cherries while he was filming under a tarpaulin; he received 220 sutures, but resumed his duties after recovering.
- The property was destroyed by a 10 ft flood from which four sound-crew members had to be rescued, and fifteen lions and tigers escaped after fences and cages collapsed; the sheriff and local law enforcement killed three lions, including Robbie the lead lion.
- Roar was conceived by husband and wife Noel Marshall and Tippi Hedren in 1969, after they came across an abandoned plantation house in Gorongosa National Park overrun by a pride of lions and were told that animal populations were becoming endangered due to poaching.
- Melanie Griffith quit during the early stages of production and was replaced by her friend, actress Patsy Nedd, but Griffith later expressed interest in the film again and reshot all of her required scenes.
- Filming began in 1976 and was finished after five years, while the film as a whole was fully completed only after 11 years in production.
