Australia (2008)

★ 6.6 2h 45m 2,432 votes IMDb
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Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces firsthand.

Australia

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Cast

Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley Age 58 · Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among t...
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman as The Drover Age 57 · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine, playing it across the ...
Essie Davis
Essie Davis as Katherine Age 56 · Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Essie Davis is an Australian actress. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, she is the daughter of locally famed artist George Davis. She emerged from the Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania...
David Wenham
David Wenham as Neil Fletcher Age 60 · Marrickville, Sydney, Australia David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in movies, television series and theatre productions. He is known in Hollywood for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the...
Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown as King Carney Age 78 · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Bryan Neathway Brown (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable fil...
David Gulpilil
David Gulpilil as King George Died 2021 · Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu AM, known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously for cultural reasons as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Aboriginal Australian (Yolŋu) actor a...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Jan 12, 2020
King George angry at them white fellas. King George say them white fella bad spirit. Must be taken from this land.

Australia is directed by Baz Luhrmann and Luhrmann co-writes the screenplay with Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, and Richard Flanagan. It stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown and Brandon Walters.

It took a bit of a kicking from the pro critics upon release, where the consensus is that at a cost of $130 million this intended sprawling epic is an ambitious flop. For the record at the box office it practically made double its outlay, so certainly wasn't a financial flop.

It's a mixed bag for sure, a film of two differing halves. First half sends Kidman's English aristocrat to Northern Australia after she inherits the sprawling Faraway Downs Ranch. Here she finds herself in the middle of a dirty take over plot and reluctantly makes a working pact with Jackman's stock-man Drover. Seeds are sewn here for a bit of a screwball relationship, all while a cattle feud brews and the Aborigines at the ranch - particularly young Nulllah (Walters) - are in fear of racial tension. Pic then flip-flops into a love story, a war story (as the Japanese attack Darwin) and the bile strewn historical strand that features the "stolen generations" of half-white/half-Aboriginal children.

With all this going on, as Lurhman nods to classic epics from classic era past, the vistas are stunning and the hard work of cattle ranching is given genuine credence (helps having the rugged Jackman leading the way). Set pieces are exciting, the Japanese aerial attacks realistic for dramatic worth, while the chemistry between the leads, a worthy child performance from Walters and a quality weasel villain turn from Wenham ensure performances don't harm the pic in that department. There's even the likes of Ben Mendelsohn and John Jarratt in secondary support slots.

It isn't all it can be, and tonally it feels like there might have been some behind the scenes interference (three co-writers probably didn't help). Yet there are some genuine moments of fun and beauty here, mixed with some heart string tugs and reflection of an historical time that should never ne forgotten. Luhrman reached for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and didn't quite make it, but it's honourable and has some damn fine craft for entertainment purpose. 7/10

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