Main Cast: Tippi Hedren, Noel Marshall, John Marshall, Melanie Griffith, Jerry Marshall
Release Year: 1981
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Wildlife activist and actress Tippi Hedren starred in this comic family adventure written, directed, and costarring her producer husband Noel Marshall and inspired by the surprise success of Born Free (1966). Hedren is Madeleine, a woman who brings her children (including real-life daughter and future movie star Melanie Griffith) to the African jungle for a visit with her long-estranged husband Hank (Marshall). An eccentric scientist, Hank has dedicated the past several years of his life to fighting for the preservation of endangered species. A snafu results in the family being met not by the environmentalist, however, but a pride of ferocious felines. Roar (1981) managed to pull in just $2 million at the box office, a fraction of its $17 million cost. The production was better known for its accident-prone, behind-the-scenes drama, which included a fire, a flood, and a disease that took the lives of several big cat performers. Resulting schedule delays turned the motion picture into an 11-year labor of love for Hedren, whose real-life commitment to protection of big cats extended to the establishment of her own California game preserve called Shambala, later to be the subject of a book by Hedren and a television documentary. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Roar is a 1981 film starring Tippi Hedren and Noel Marshall. In addition to starring in the film, Marshall also directed and wrote the film, producing it with entirely with his then-wife, Tippi. Tippi's real-life daughter Melanie Griffith plays her on-screen daughter, also named Melanie. Noel's real-life sons John and Jerry also starred in the film. On IMDb it's defined "the most expensive home movie ever made". The film cost $17 million and made only $2 million worldwide.[1] Hedren co-wrote the book Cats of Shambala (1985), about her experience of filming Roar.
Hank (Noel Marshall) and his wife Madeleine (Tippi Hedren) live contentedly with their wild animals: four tiger cubs, two elephants and 110 tigers, lions, leopards and cheetahs. All is peace and tranquility until one terrible day when two mercenary game hunters are viciously mauled.
As the lions and tigers fight for supremacy, Hank and his family, terrified of the danger they now face, seek refuge in their ranch house. Their only means of escape is blocked by the now savage pets they once loved...
