Gallipoli

Rating:
Summary: MEL, do I need to say more?
Review: Very cool, often forgotten about, Mel Gibson film. Very worth having. The story is also a painful, forgotten one. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Moving story of loyalty, sacrifice and friendship
Review: I first saw this film years ago and was deeply moved by the sacrifice made by the young men who volunteered to fight for what they considered the Mother country. The fact that these men were very much the best of their generation makes their loss even more poignant. I defy anyone not to be moved by the final scenes as the lads going over the top.

The film is slightly marred by the rather cliched depictions of the British. The impression given that the Aussies were being slaughtered while the British quaffed tea is an insult to the many thousands of young working class men from Britain who died with their ANZAC allies at Gallipoli. Some may say this is a minor point but I have met more than one Aussie who takes the films story as fact and believes only ANZACS died at Gallipoli.

Rating:
Summary: Moving and powerful.
Review: This is a movie that packs a powerful emotional punch. It follows the introduction of two young Australian "mates" ("pals" to us Americans) from their ordinary lives back in Australia to their introduction to the Army and ultimately to the reality and waste of battle. The time is World War 1, the place: the Gallipoli invasion, which was a disastrous British attempt to invade Turkey. Australian youths are being recruited for service in Europe as part of the British Army. As the lads say: "England needs a hand so here we are."

Mark Lee and Mel Gibson play the two youths. Both do a fine job. About my only criticism of the movie is that it drags a bit in the beginning, while the lads are still in Australia, but otherwise the story line moves along reasonably well. The conclusion is deeply moving--the film's ending packed an emotional wallop that is hard to describe. I am no anti-war activist, but I've never seen a movie that showed the futility and waste of war and its squandering of promising young lives in a more effective way.

One of the wonderful things about this movie is that it lacks the pretentiousness and dishonesty of films like "Platoon" which are out to send a blunt political message. This movie does not do that. It has a wonderful authenticity and even innocence. It is beautifully done. Anyone who ever served will recognize that the inevitable miscommunications and mistakes that the film ultimately centers on are always with us to some degree in the military. The film does send a message, but it does so in a way that respects the viewer.

This one is highly recommended. It's great fun to see Mel Gibson in his early youth.

Rating:
Summary: No less than Five Stars surely
Review: The battle at Gallipoli is, and will remain, for Australians a pivotal moment in that new nations history...and whichever way around one looks at it the fact remains that it was British commanders who ordered the futile push...though I doubt they would have altered their command whoever the fighting force so ordered was comprised of. The British army is in many ways the most ruthless of them all...you ask our enemies...you ask our friends.
This is a testament to the courage and sacrifice of the peoples of such far away places. That Australia (and let's not forget New Zealand or any major Commonwelath country for this point) cared enough about those things that we in Britain think fundamental demonstrates a clear meeting of minds that I doubt will ever fundamentally change...it was an act of friendship as ever much it may have been an act of loyalty.
Though the consequences of this battle was to bring about such strained relations within the Commonwealth that there was a real danger of it's disintegration (a danger that never leaves us really)...nevertheless...when the cry of battle joined in Europe once more was heard around the world and against such horrific evil as I hope I may never encounter, there they were again as freedom loving and as brave and steadfast in that as any nation ever was or could be at any time in any history.
In my opinion that is what this film captures and that it was Peter Weirs debut makes it even more astounding and vital.

Rating:
Summary: Not anti-war, but shows stupidity of the first world war
Review: Eh, this movie is just okay. It was entertaining at times but is not the classic everybody here seems to think it is. The music if just funny and when the movie is trying to tug at heart strings the synthesizers start playing and I just start laughing.

If you can get by that, the story isn't bad. It's not that great either. It's really slow, and I never really cared for the characters that much, except for Mel's pals who he leaves in the infantry. Mel comes off as not a very likeable guy.

This is not necessarily an anti-war movie. Just because a movie shows the horrors of war doesn't mean its anti-war. Otherwise why isn't Saving Private Ryan an anti-war movie? After watching Schindler's List I dare anybody to say that war wasn't worth fighting. That being said, I would say World War One was a stupid war and this movie shows the stupidity of it. As for it being anti-british, it seems accurate to me. Commander's on both sides where stubbornly attached to old style tactics and many lives were wasted because of it. Showing the callousness and stupidity of British commanders isn't anti-british, it's the way it was.

A real WWI movie to watch is All quiet on the Western Front.

Rating:
Summary: Unfairly Anti British
Review: I'd just like to start by saying that this is probably one of the best Anti War movies that i have ever seen and that i noticed that a couple of the scenes from this film were so good that they have been copied in other films.But for me i have to agree with another reviewer and say that it is just too anti british.The Gallipoli campaign was a disaster as were most of the campaigns in WW1.The Anzacs fought bravely and lost a lot of men and 1 in 4 people from New Zealand fought in the The Great War showing their courage and willingness to fight for their mother country and of course New Zealand itself.
But it angered me when i heard the line 'The British are on the beach drinking tea' I think the Director and Writers of this film should visit every single grave of the 50,000+ British soldiers that died at Gallipoli and repeat that line and see how it makes them feel.Your anger should be directed at the British Generals,Colonels etc who planned these massacres not at the British in general.Just as the French and Germans will blame their officers and rightly so.So when you think about Australias Sacrfice of around 30,000 men try also to think about the 450,000 British who died at The Somme and The Brusilov Offensive where the Russians lost 1 Million men.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: To a previous reviewer (from Australia): I respect your point of view (such as it is) but was a history lesson really necessary? Yes, I'm sure you are quite correct in all you say, however this forum is for reviewing films! You did not say one word about the film itself, about the acting, the cinematography, etc. In my opinion, this is some of the best cinema Australia has to offer!

Rating:
Summary: The [worst] Movie Ever Made But I'll Still Write About It
Review: And just before i start...i was forced to rate this film with one star...if i had my way i would be going into negative values...ok ill start now...

The Gallipoli campaign was largely a result of the tangled web of mutual suspicions and distrust expressed between the five Imperial Powers of Europe. As a result of this ongoing tension, a war climate developed and two major alliance systems emerged, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The alliances offered some comfort to the nations, but it also added to the overall conflict of the European powers. The most unstable and unpredictable area in Europe was the Balkans. These regions were conquered, traded off, resettled and ethnically manipulated. Serbia, a strong Balkan state, had a vision of forming a larger Slavic nation, made up of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and parts of the Austrian Empire. Austria was strongly opposed to the nationalism proposed by the Balkan state. In response, a Serbian secret society was formed, called the 'Black Hand'. The society aimed at capturing Bosnia-Herzegovina to get all Slavic people to return to Serbia. Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, the heir to the Habsburg throne was in favour of giving the Slavs an equal voice in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. To counter this problem, the 'Black Hand' assassinated Franz-Ferdinand in Sarajevo to stop the deal to help the Slavs, allowing them to return to Serbia. This assassination was the immediate cause of the First World War. Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary (Triple Alliance) were now at war with France, Britain and Russia (Triple Entente). The outbreak of the First World War was met with great enthusiasm in Australia and many men signed up to travel to Gallipoli to fight the Turks. The Australians intended to capture the tactically important Dardanelles Straits. If the Australian troops defeated the Turks, they would be able to open up this vitally important area and travel quickly and freely. This placed a major importance on Gallipoli and its campaign.

In response to the overwhelming number of Australian volunteers, strict regulations and exacting physical standards were set for recruits to ensure that only the best men were selected into the AIF to fight in the war. As a result of this, all of the Australian troops were fit, healthy and most had knowledge of how to ride a horse prior to their enrolment. At the end of the testing period, it was discovered that six percent of the Australian population enlisted to be participants in the Great War. Some Australians wanted to fight for their ally, Britain, whereas, others found it very socially acceptable to join the war. They were following the lead of so many others.

The Australian troops were faced with unique problems at the desolate Gallipoli Peninsular in Southern Turkey, including the evacuation of wounded and sick soldiers. The medical team the AIF were supplied with suffered from a lack of training, lack of sufficient knowledge as to what to what to expect and the type of casualties that they would experience. Problems developed as the men fell prey to dysentery and respiratory diseases. The principal problem was the great distance and the difficulty of transporting patients from the front line to the base hospitals. Several important events took place during the Gallipoli campaign such as the Battle of the Nek.
The end...if you have never seen this movie before...don't...it is ...the biggest waste of film in the world...ok...thank you...bye

Rating:
Summary: A Meditation on Youth, Friendship, War and Death
Review: Let's get this straight right now: this is a truly great film! But it is not a "war film" in the old fashioned sense. It is a film about war and a touchingly beautiful meditation on how it affects people's lives. This film is magnificent in every way: from acting to directing to dialogue to plot. The story of the Australians and New Zealanders who were massacred at Gallipoli is heartbreaking in and of itself, but Peter Weir created a cinematic masterpiece of this tragedy. I can't say enough about this! PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND WATCH THIS FILM...

Rating:
Summary: Gallipoli
Review: Although Mel Gibson's on the front cover of the DVD, he actually co-stars with the very blonde Mark Lee (who was on the original poster), one of those actors who you might have expected to be much more famous nowadays than he is. The DVD itself is fine, although it's a shame there aren't many extras - it's in widescreen and there's an interview with Weir, but there isn't a director's commentary, which is a shame.
The film itself leads up to the famous battle of 'The Nek', one of the most pointless assaults in a wasteful campaign. The first two-thirds of the film are essentially character-building (and, whisper it, a little dull), and most viewers will be waiting for the final battle. Although it doesn't have the blood-and-thunder approach of 'Saving Private Ryan', it's just as memorable, and played out almost in real time. The actual attack was over and done with within forty minutes, with the eventual loss of over 300 ANZAC soldiers in an area the size of a tennis court - a small total compared to the tens of thousands killed at the Somme and Passchendaele, but just as horrific for being essentially futile.
The soundtrack seems to be causing some controversy in these reviews - for some reason, Weir chose part of Jean Michel Jarre's synth opus 'Oxygene' to go over the top of the bits where the main characters are running, an odd choice which, although not massively distracting, seems a bit old-fashioned nowadays. Apart from that, the rest of the film hasn't dated.