Australia
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown, David WenhamDirector: Baz Luhrmann
Studio: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 165 minutes
DVD Release: March 3rd 2009
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DVD Review
A romantic action-adventure epci set in australia prior to wwii that centers on an english aristocrat who inherits a large ranch. When english cattle barons plot to take the land she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover to proctec the ranch. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 03/03/2009 Starring: Hugh Jackman Run time: 165 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Baz Luhrmann
User Reviews
Lazy rainy day flick - Rating: 3/5
If you like old-fashioned (1940s-50s) epic movies then kick back on the sofa and enjoy the morning, afternoon or evening with Australia. This movie is long and ambitious. A lot of it is cornball but it works for this retro-movie. It is a big drama and suspenseful at times. Very sentimental, I did tear up a couple times. The cinematography is often gorgeous. I thought Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman had plenty of chemistry. And the Aboriginal boy is a doll! Effective villains, well played by the actors. I paid $9 and it's worth that. I was torn between giving it 3 or 4 stars. May watch it again and amend.
"AUSTRALIA" IS A MARVEL TO BEHOLD - Rating: 5/5
Don't let the naysayers get to you; AUSTRALIA is riveting, enchanting, block-buster entertainment. YES it is lengthy; plan in advance to give it the time it deserves. I found myself so thoroughly engrossed by the unfolding drama I didn't want it to end. The stunning and breathtaking views of the Australian outback punctuated by an equally stunning score will remain with you forever. AUSTRALIA is a keeper; you'll want to pass it on to your grandkids.
A salute to past epics - Rating: 4/5
Despite the flair for the overdramatic moments, an overly earnest approach, and guilty sappiness, Australia is spirited, has charm and has plenty of heart. There is solid chemistry between Kidman and Jackman as a pair of opposites who have to take a herd of cattle through difficult Australian terrain and ultimately become familiar with the Aboriginal oppression. I guess I have a bit of a biased view since I am a fan of Baz Luhrmann's work. I loved Moulin Rouge and his modern take on Romeo and Juliet, and thought that those films had such a "larger than life" feel about them. Luhrmann can take a very simple story and build it up to a grandiose scale, and he does that with Australia, with lush scenery, wonderfully crafted landscapes, and classy storytelling and cinematography. Anyone who enjoys Luhrmann will also love his use of music and songs amid the story, and he does so also in this one, employing a kind of Wizard of Oz theme to it. The song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" comes to be associated with the plight of young Aboriginal boy Nullah, and although it may seem a tad over the top to some, it comes to be the "song" that that Nullah sings to Lady Ashley to keep their spirits up. The director seemed to be paying homage to the big epic films of the past, and there is a nostalgic feel while Australia that made it "work", at least to me.
If there is one knock against the film, it was its length. At two hours and forty minutes, there are some scenes that just tend to drag on a little too long for effect. For this reason, and while I still liked this film, I would rank it lower than other Luhrmann films. Still, I thought it was a solid rendition of past epics, and overall was a solid production.
Showtunes, Racism, and Melodrama - Rating: 4/5
Better than the reviews it got, Australia is a charming if quirky portrayal of love and rebellion in World War II northern Australia. Nicole Kidman plays a British widow who takes over her husband's cattle ranch, the only surviving competitor to the nasty monopolist King Carney. Jackman's The Drover is the rugged individualist and friend of Aborigines who helps her fight. David Wenham is the embodiment of pure evil that's the result of capitalist oppression, and the narrator (a "half-caste" Aboriginal boy who is learning his grandfather's shamanism) is beautiful both to watch and listen to.
Luhrmann exhibits his quirky directing style in eliciting an almost melodramatic acting style that works under the circumstances. Less successful is his penchant for randomly injecting anachronistic popular music into the action). But he persuasively illustrates the evil of the lust for profit, Marxist class struggles, racism and colonialism that remain part of the Australian heritage.
A very long string of hackneyed cliches, bad acting, and melodrama so thick you could cut it with a knife - Rating: 2/5
Admittedly, Hugh Jackman is really sexy in a beard, but that wasn't enough to hold a 165-minute film together. (Mostly because Nicole Kidman is about as sexy as a Mouskateer. It takes two to tango.) The plot was so relentlessly predictable, I spent most of the movie groaning in pain. (The neighbors called to ask if I needed a doctor.) Add over-acting, under-acting, bad writing, melodramatic death scenes that were so overdone they seemed like spoofs, plot holes the size of Kansas and, in spite of supposedly being about Australia, very little genuine feel for the country, and you've got another sure-fire Academy Award.
