Customer Reviews

Australia [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First hour was a bit slow, but the remainder was terrific! Scenery, background, authenticity - fabulous. Had a cross-section of people watching and everyone stayed to the end and enjoyed it. Will watch it again, definitely.

I may be biased but I loved this movie. I loved the panoramic scenery, the somewhat corny/stuffy 'Upper Crust' Lady Ashley character and the locals reaction to her. And the last part of the story was so emotional. I see that other reviewers didn't care for this movie but for me it had everything and I could watch it over and over.

Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):

1. Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) heads off Down Under to find out what her hubby is really doing when he says he's mustering cattle.
2. Kidman's performance is her best since Far and Away, and the cattle ranch Down Under is named Faraway Downs - coincidence or lingering sentiment?
3. Super hot Aussie all-rounder and hoofer Hugh Jackman heats up the screen as Drover, the Crocodile Dundee-type chappy who rounds up the cattle on the hoof.
4. Turns out that Lady Sarah ends up in the middle of a cattle war with the reigning King Carney (Bryan Brown) and his slimy sidekick Neil Fletcher (David Wenham)
5. Some of the story is narrated by Nullah (Brandon Walters) a young half-caste boy who sends Lady Sarah's heart over the rainbow
6. No prizes for guessing who else sets her heart aflutter
7. When droving cattle towards a billabong, never say Never Never
8. Still about two hours to go for this epic romance/adventure/drama that highlights the fate of half-Aboriginal children known as the Stolen Generations with the backdrop of the Japanese bombing of Darwin during WWII
9. You won't notice how long you've been sitting there

After watching this movie you'll want to know why it hasn't been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture. (It's up for Costume Design) You'll find that it's both a heart-breaking and heart-warming memorable epic movie with big sets, gorgeous scenery, award-worthy costumes, magic and mysticism, humor, and yes, great acting.

Caution: Watching this movie may give one the urge to:

1. Load up a tucker-bag and head off on a walkabout
2. Throw another shrimp on the barbie
3. Tie a kangaroo down, Sport
4. Watch Judy Garland movies

Amanda Richards, February 14, 2009

This is the best picture I have seen in a long time.
I can't understand why it was not nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture.
A very emotional story. It was two hours long but seemed like half that time.

This movie has it all. It is truly an Epic. Superb cast, incredible story, amazing acting all around, cinematography that will take your breath away, and will cause you to feel every emotion possible. The cast could not have been more appropriate. Jackman and Kidman.... what a team!! Just magnificent. Unfortunately this movie did not get as much advance advertising and publicity as it should have. Apparently it was a box-office bomb, so the film critics claim. It was also not well received by the critics. I can't figure that out!! This movie absolutely should have been nominated for MANY Academy Awards, not just one. It should have been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Sound Editing, etc. If you haven't seen this movie you MUST see it. You will NOT be disappointed. Previous reviewers are quite correct... it is a long movie but you won't notice how long you've been watching. I haven't seen a movie this good in years.

I saw this movie in the theatre and was very impressed with the magnificent setting in the Outback, the multi-layered story, and the acting of a superbly chosen cast. It was a move back to when I could expect to be treated to the unfolding of a good plot in an interesting part of the world, and could emphasize with the characters as they revealed themselves when they dealt with the problems that cropped up. A bonus was that I learned a lot of history too, about the Japanese invasion of Australia during WW2. I enjoyed this movie so much that I ordered the DVD for my daughter's family in B.C.

Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge did not work for me at all, causing me to view him as an "over the top" director. Therefore this film surprised me, as I found it much more balanced and measured. Perhaps the huge scope of the cinematic theme gave Luhrmann room to spread out without going to excess. In my view, this film could best be taken as the story of Nullah, the young protagonist played by Brandon Walters. Walters' portrayal of his character is so engaging that everything else almost has to work - and it does. This is one of the great epic films of our era. One of the best films I have seen in years. I will now take Luhrmann's work more seriously in future. And yes, Kidman, Jackman, et al did absolutely fine.

I have only a few words to describe this wonderful movie. The story was
excellent, the scenery breathtaking, and best of all it wove a magic spell
around you. In other words, it was Smashing!

Many of us have seen our fair share of `great' Aussie movies that tend to scour that country's landscape from head to toe and side to side in an incredible search for a national identity in history. A few titles come to mind: "Gallipoli", "The Story of the Kelly Gang", "The Man from Snowy River", The `Mad Max' series, and "The Cowra Breakout". All these and more were massive affairs that engaged the viewer in powerful human drama that blended in with the unique Australian terrain as their backdrop. This year's "Australia" is no different. The rugged outback is still there in all its supremacy and the story that accompanies it is just as heartfelt as the many that have gone before it. The problem with this performance is that while it doesn't take much to warm up my generation to sentimental romances such as told in this one - Lady Ashley's heroic efforts to save her late husband's ranch from the clutches of the unscrupulous Carney family - it probably does little to attract the fickle and disdainful moods of the X and Y generation. After all, they were the ones who got off on the `Crocodile Dundee' spoofs of the middle nineties where Australia was being showcased to the world as a place for crazy outbackers who liked to cavort with crodiles and other weird reptilia. Try and take them back in time to when the Australian white population was forcefully assimilating aboriginals into its culture and you might lose them. Having said that, there is plenty in this film to entertain and instruct: the adventure of moving 2000 cattle across the wilds of Arhem Land; lots of raucous scenes comng out of the port town of Darwin; a very strong presence of the aboriginal sprituality; many close shaves with nature and a compelling story that cleverly mixes fact with fiction. Some of the background setting was a little contrived when it came to creating the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942 but, so what, when you consider the magnitude of this film to begin with. I rather suspect this film took a couple of hundred million dollars to make and might be hardpressed to recoup it all at the box office. It was nice to see Brian Brown still performing after all these years. Nicole Kidman was undoubtedly the star in her role as the `Boss Lady' with Hugh Jackman playing a very adequate role as her faithful `Drover'.

I was disapointed with this film and blu-ray version.
The movie scenario is poor at best. Acting is not too bad.
Scenery is marvelous. Not any extras that are worthwhile.
Blu-ray too expensive. Wait a few years before buying, price will drop.