dog·fight / ˈdôgˌfīt/ • n. a close combat between military aircraft. ∎  a ferocious struggle for supremacy between interested parties: the meeting deteriorated into a dogfight. ∎  a fight between dogs, esp. one organized illegally for public entertainment.• v. engage in a dogfight: [intr.] resplendent model airplanes dogfighting in the updrafts. DERIVATIVES: dog·fight·er n.

Dogfight ★★★ 1991 (R)

I t's 1963 and a baby-faced Marine and his buddies are spending their last night in San Francisco before leaving the U.S. for a tour of duty in Vietnam. They agree to throw a “dogfight,” a competition to see who can bring the ugliest date to a party. Birdlace (Phoenix) chooses Taylor, a shy, average-looking waitress who dreams of becoming a folk singer and realizes too late that she doesn't deserve the treatment he's about to subject her to. This quiet film didn't see a wide release, but is worth renting due to an above average script which is held up by the splendid performances of Phoenix and Taylor. 94m/C VHS, DVD . River Phoenix, Lili Taylor, Richard Panebianco, Anthony Clark, Mitchell Whitfield, Elizabeth (E.G. Dailey) Daily, Holly Near, Brendan Fraser, Margaret “Peg” Phillips; D: Nancy Savoca; W: Bob Comfort.