Rating: 
Summary: Amazing and Inspiring
Review: With so many fine reviews ahead of me, I will make this one short. This is a film that had the impact of a life changing influence on me. As a white, middle class American woman, I deeply identified with Molly's plight, though she was an Aboriginal girl from Australia. I walked with her through the harsh Outback landscape, after escaping the oppression of the internment camp. I strained with her as she carried her sister on her back for hundreds of miles, longing to get home, I felt her faith return when she found the rabbit proof fence, and felt her strength return when she woke up by hearing the call of her hawk, her spirit bird, helping to guide her. Very few movies in my life have given me such inspiration, and told a true story with such dedication, care and artistry. After seeing the movie, I am now reading more about the experiences of other indigenous cultures who suffered the terrible impact of colonization and still suffer today the current dominant culture's exploitation. I have been reading the books of Doris Pilkington (Molly's daughter) and other indigenous women writers who have reclaimed their dignity and spirituality in telling their stories. Rabbit Proof Fence opened my eyes and took me out of my comfort zone, yet in such a beautiful, uplifting way. Another quick note: it is worth watching the documentary called Following the Rabbit Proof Fence. It is fascinating because it shows us how the children were discovered for the roles, and how challenging it was for all involved. Bringing different cultures together, along with bringing Aboriginal children together who had never acted before from remote parts of Australia presented a bold task, but resulted in a remarkable feat of film making.
Rating: 
Summary: Insubstantial plot for some adults | a good children's movie
Review: This is a disappointing escape / road movie. No-one, save the cinematographer and the lead child actress, seems totally committed. Peter Gabriel, composer of the soundtrack, was the attractor for me, but I have to say that, by his standards, the music is nothing special. As a statement, it adds nothing to what Gabriel contributed over a decade ago to BIRDY and PASSION. Kenneth Branagh, as the enforcer of the eugenics programme, seems to be acting on cruise control. And the two younger girls just didn't act with conviction. The initial grab-the-kids-and-bung-them-in-the-car scene was utterly unconvincing for me. What worked dramatically was a) the use of an aborigine to track down the three half-castes, and b) the frequent conflict between accounting budgets and the cost of fidning the girls. But as a road movie, this is no Thelma and Louise Go Walkabout. Branagh quickly works out that the girls are following the rabbit-proof fence, and you know that even if he doesn't catch them on the fence, he simply has to wait at Jigalong with the girls' mother. That's the big flaw in Molly's plan, and it makes you wonder whether they wouldn't actually have benefited from the education on offer at Moore River. What I like about the film is its moral ambiguity. It really isn't clear that Moore River is a terrible place, that Branagh is a bad or misguided man, or even that the girls shouldn't be part of this programme. Back at Jigalong, the girls are shown lying in the dirt, and in dilapidated camps. When Molly tells the other two they are going to escape from Moore River, they initially say, "No, we like it here." T oday in the UK of the 00s, we still have to contend with a government that says it knows what is best for us: "50% of you WILL go to university." So there are some parallels, and for me, that is the strength of the movie. But ultimately this feels like a B-movie, or a made-for-TV movie, or perhaps a children's film.
Rating:
Summary: Heart Wrenching
Review: To describe this movie in a word, I would call it "heartwrenching". Why would the Australian government think that the Aborigines couldn't take care of themselves? What a sad movie. I have heard about the movie earlier, and when I finally got to see the movie, as a mother, it hurt me. But what a great scene in the end. To have met the actual young girls who went through it. Great movie
Rating:
Summary: breaks and warms the heart at the same time
Review: Describing this movie is difficult, but watching it is not. In Austrailia, up until 1970, mixed children(Aboriginal mother/white father) could be taken away from their mothers and trained in the ways of the white Austrailians and then adopted by a white family. This is the story of a family divided by this policy and the struggle to reunite.
Rating:
Summary: Great lesson for kids
Review: My 9 and 10 year old daughters were shocked and disturbed by this movie. What a great lesson for them to learn about how some children suffer. Children who live coddled lives can benefit from seeing the reality of other children's struggles to stay alive.
Rating:
Summary: so wonderfully done
Review: Love foreign movies, u will love this one.
Movie of courage, smarts, mixed emotions and victory!
A must see for true stories
Rating:
Summary: Touching, Wonderful DVD Extra
Review: There is probably nothing I can say about the Movie itself that hasn't already said - engaging, sad, inspiring, entertaining and beautiful. What I particularly loved about this DVD was the "Special Features" documentary "Following Rabbit-Proof Fence" that showed the process the director and his team went through traveling by small plane across much of Australia and landing in small towns to have quick interviews with dozens of 8 - 12 year old Aboriginal girls. The selection process of three young girls without any acting experience was shown, then their accelerated training as actors and finally the emotional filming of the movie itself. While the movie itself is "5 Stars" the addition of this documentary to the DVD makes the whole experience 5+ stars.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie about an amazing group of women
Review: Amazing movie about an amazing group of women. Molly is officially my hero. After being kidnapped (with two other members of her family) she escaped a reprograming camp and walked for 9 weeks along the rabbit proof fence carrying her little sister on her back. I had not known that the native australian were treated in such an awful way. As a person of color I can identify with the tragedy they faced from the white Austrailians as well as by their own people. I will say a prayer for all the families torn apart by misguided ideologies.
Rating:
Summary: I Felt Everything
Review: My range of emotions just about covered the gamut. Anger at the white paternalistic institution and the people that implemented this barbarism; devastation for the mother and grandmother at the separation from their children; awe at the sheer grit of the girls; fear that they wouldn't make it back home without something else happening; and admiration for the young neophyte actresses who turned in a beautiful performance with the help of a talented director and editor. It must have been a very unforgiving environment to work in; there is nothing pretty about the topography of western Australia. In fact, it reminds me a lot of western Oklahoma! Token A-list actor Kenneth Branaugh did his job well; he really had me believing that he really was a despicable, pompous bastard who actuallythought he was doing right by these native families. The music during the end credits is gorgeous, haunting, evocative -- this from the man who gave us Sledgehammer and dancing fryers! I was grateful for my stereo TV and headphones as I found myself replaying the end credits repeatedly, and you can bet I'll keep an eye out for the soundtrack. As usual, the DVD extras make a good package that much better. Having the voiceover of the director, screenwriter and cast members enhanced the viewing experience, but I do wish they would consider parallel captioning for the audio presentation. It's not fair that the hearing-impaired would miss this information, but even those of us with perfect hearing who may not be well versed in Australian dialect would benefit from it. I hate what was done to these kids and others like them. I love that their story was told by independent filmmakers; thank God for Miramax. I love the story, I love the music, and I WILL be buying the DVD for my own collection.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Superb!
Review: This was a thoroughly engaging film about three young "half-caste" (half white/half Aboriginal) girls in Australia who are torn apart from their tribal family by white people who are attempting to halt all interracial breeding. Much like the white people did to the Native Indians of the North Continent, the white Australians attempted to acclimate these children into their society to control everything that goes on in their lives. It is a harsh reality, one that will grip you in the gut. The girls are taken to a school for "half-castes" 1200 miles away from their home to learn how to fit in with white society. There they are forced to attend church and learn the white man's ways. The story revolves around their harrowing adventure back home on foot by following a rabbit-proof fence - built by farmers to keep rabbits from their farms - all the way home. This movie is based on a true story. I would be depriving you of the complete effect if I didn't mention how outstanding the musical score is. Peter Gabriel was nominated for a Golden Globe at the 2002 awards for this effort.
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