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(Mike Nichols, 1973)
Release date: 19 July 2021
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK Blu-ray premiere)

Pre-order here

The third and final collaboration between director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry, following The Graduate and Catch-22, The Day of the Dolphin is a true one-off. A science-fiction thriller filmed in the Bahamas, and adapted from Robert Merle’s best-selling novel, the film concerns a scientist (George C Scott, Hardcore) who is teaching dolphins to speak but finds himself embroiled in a shadowy government plot to assassinate the US president.


INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K restoration
• Original stereo audio
• Selected scenes commentary with academic and film historian Sheldon Hall (2021)
• New interview with actor Jon Korkes (2021)
• Archival interview with screenwriter Buck Henry (2003)
• Archival interview with actor Leslie Charleson (2003)
• Archival interview with actor Edward Herrmann (2003)
• Original theatrical trailer
• Larry Karaszewski trailer commentary (2016): short critical appreciation
• Radio spot
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies
• Extras subject to change

#PHILTD213
BBFC cert: PG
REGION B
EAN: 5060697920994

Mike Nichols is so overrated (as a film director) I can't even f-ing believe it. There's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to sort of justify his acclaim, but..The Graduate? Phbbbbbbbhbhbhbphtbt. Working Girl? Closer? PhHHhhhhhbttttttt. There's something sort of soullessly careerist and conformist about the story of his directing career that I find somewhat dislikable--after his fourth box office bomb in a row with The Fortune, which he ruined himself it sounds like, he went into a cocoon for 8 years, and emerged neatly shucked of most of the appealing and distinctive things about his filmmaking personality, nevermind the quality or lack thereof of those early films themselves. But that's just my two centimes.

Counterpoint: I like The Graduate.

I like a lot of Mike Nichols films, but not this one

domino harvey wrote:I like a lot of Mike Nichols films, but not this one

I also like a lot of Nichols' films. Haven't seen this one yet because it always sounded, well, stupid.

My writeup from the 70s List

domino harvey wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:13 pm the Day of the Dolphin (Mike Nichols 1973) No film could ever live up to the premise here-- "George C Scott trains dolphins to talk and inadvertently learns of a dolphin-aided plan to assassinate the president"-- but Nichols appears to have been so concerned with being taken seriously that the film is a cinematic no man's zone of dead weight, one scene of dramatically inert nothingness after another. I thought there were so many ways a film that sounds this crazy could come off, but "boring" wasn't one I considered (and that's a word I studiously try to avoid), especially with Buck Henry penning the script. What the heck happened here?

I think this film is just plain terrific and can’t bear to hear criticism of it. It probably made a mistake in pitching itself solely as conspiracy thriller in its iconic poster but I find it really, properly affecting and think back on it often. Delighted to get this great looking release in addition to the previously pretty good Kino one from last year. This is one I’m way, way, way more positive then the zeitgeist on and it thrills me when something like this appears for something I think of as only a personal favorite.

Sorry to be part of the zeitgeist on this one, but the best I can say for it (or for Nichols' other consensus low points, like Regarding Henry or What Planet Are You From) is that it's a very professionally polished turd, it looks great and has the lovely Georges Delerue score but is still a fundamental bad idea executed as dully respectable. And I'm not sure if this was intentional on Indicator's part, but it's very funny that they're releasing Nichols and May movies on the same day with such a vast quality difference in May's favor.

The Narrator Returns wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 5:28 pm Sorry to be part of the zeitgeist on this one, but the best I can say for it (or for Nichols' other consensus low points, like Regarding Henry or What Planet Are You From) is that it's a very professionally polished turd, it looks great and has the lovely Georges Delerue score but is still a fundamental bad idea executed as dully respectable. And I'm not sure if this was intentional on Indicator's part, but it's very funny that they're releasing Nichols and May movies on the same day with such a vast quality difference in May's favor.

If this were a published review, I can see it tweaked for an advertisement: "...very professionally polished..." - TNR

I’m standing with Chris where I’ve always been curious about the film although I doubt it will be good by usual measures. Still can’t be as bad as The Fortune which has to be a career lowlight.

The pre-order price (£15.99) is too high for me, but I'll be replacing my 16-year-old HVE DVD when/if the Indicator price drops a bit or it features in a sale.
I'm not a fan, but I have 12 Mike Nichols films in my collection, including the excellent (IMO) Carnal Knowledge and Wit.

I think Mike Nichols is a good solid director, with at least a few fine and decent films under his belt although also quite a number of duds, but what I meant is that I can't tell you the number of times I've seen mainstream-y things on Facebook and elsewhere call him one of the greatest film directors of all time and include him right smack in the middle of a list or something that includes Kubrick (who I don't exactly love either but has more business being on such lists than Nichols), Kurosawa, i dunno....Hitchcock?, and lots and lots of other people who have (much) more business being on things like that. Maybe I should remember who more of those other people were, but... I mean, he's a good solid technician (and a great comedian with Elaine May, and a great actor), although I think the dud ratio in his filmography is high, but one of the greatest film directors of all time? There is a middle-brow self-importance and sanctity that clings to some of his later films, and his reputation in general (see especially the carefully and meaninglessly literary nothingness of Postcards from the Edge). I feel like its mostly that and the strength of how much people love The Graduate, which I don't get either. My opinion of that film is pretty much a bit less harsh version of John Simon's take. Somewhat pretentious and overdone direction (which I still kind of enjoy, and all of Nichols's early films have fabulous visuals), two or three scenes that have a subtly pleasing and poignant and yummy human flavour (especially Benjamin's bed scenes with Mrs. Robinson), and for the rest of the screenplay, i suppose it has a totally meaningless "big"-ness to a bit of it and those moments of sixties iconography, but basically its a pretty functional, indifferent, not funny, even somewhat flat experience for me. Benjamin's (and Elaine's) intelligence and idealism and sympathy? No, not really!

Final specs:

The Day of the Beaver.

The real reason Ishtar was cancelled is because it was incompatible with the "replace one word in the movie title with 'Beaver'" format.

Beavtar could have worked.

None of them work

knives wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:46 pmStill can’t be as bad as The Fortune which has to be a career lowlight.

I just watched this, and I don't really know what to add to the criticisms except that it is in fact even worse than The Fortune

therewillbeblus wrote: Tue May 12, 2026 11:13 pm

knives wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:46 pmStill can’t be as bad as The Fortune which has to be a career lowlight.

I just watched this, and I don't really know what to add to the criticisms except that it is in fact even worse than The Fortune

I’m in agreement with Ethan Coen and find The Fortune to be wonderful

Regarding Henry is easily Nichols’ worst

therewillbeblus wrote: Tue May 12, 2026 11:13 pm

knives wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:46 pmStill can’t be as bad as The Fortune which has to be a career lowlight.

I just watched this, and I don't really know what to add to the criticisms except that it is in fact even worse than The Fortune

In the meantime I have watched it and I found it only okay which means that I technically liked it more than The Fortune.

Wow, I just watched this week's John Oliver episode which just happens to go over the history of the U.S. using dolphins for military purposes and references this movie. Surreal.. I rented it last week without any awareness of the content of this episode!

I'm compelled to mention the most entertaining use of the militarized dolphin: as a playable unit in the real time strategy game, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. You can command dolphins equipped with a sonic pulse weapon and use them to sink Russian ships. A perfectly ludicrous idea in a game assembled seemingly out of every nonsensical cold war fantasy you can think of. Later discovering that the Americans had actually tried to implement this as a real world thing blew my mind.

swo17 wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 6:30 pm None of them work

Just like the actual movie! I recently watched this. The most disappointing thing is that Nichols and Henry take a dumb, silly, premise and just play it straight but not in a fun way.

The topic of military trained dolphins came up on John Oliver's show this past Sunday night. My son was watching with me and I mentioned this movie and how I'd be disappointed if it didn't come up in the episode, and sure enough, Oliver didn't disappoint.
Edit: I missed that therewillbeblus also brought this up.

The most disappointing thing is that Nichols and Henry take a dumb, silly, premise and just play it straight but not in a fun way.

Agreed. There isn't any sense of fun in this film. It has scenes where George C. Scott is literally talking to a dolphin and it's all so deathly serious.