In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 12 wins & 37 nominations total
Jamal Sydney Bednarz
- Mission Boy
- (as Jamal Bednarz-Metallah)
Nathin Art Butler
- Carney Boy #1
- (as Nathin Butler)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn an interview that aired October 16, 2008, Hugh Jackman told 60 Minutes Australia (1979) that Nicole Kidman agreed to star in the film without reading the script. According to Jackman, she told him at a Super Bowl party that she had to be in the movie. When Jackman told her he didn't even have a script, Kidman told him to forget the script, because Baz Luhrmann was directing.
- GoofsWhen discussing Nullah's future, Sarah mentions "a wonderful School of the Air." School of the Air is a correspondence course that uses shortwave radio (and, now, the internet) to teach children in the Outback. The Alice Springs School of the Air covers over a million square kilometers. School of the Air started in 1951.
- Crazy creditsThe Bazmark logo features a watermill wheel which the emu knocks to move it around a little, revealing the words "Darlinghurst-Sydney-Australia" on it.
- Alternate versionsBaz Luhrman shot so much "extra" footage that he turned all of it into the miniseries "Faraway Downs" (2023).
- ConnectionsEdited from Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
- SoundtracksBy the Boab Tree
Music by Felix Meagher, Baz Luhrmann and Angela Little
Lyrics by Baz Luhrmann, Felix Meagher, Anton Monsted, Angela Little and Schuyler Weiss
Performed by Angela Little
Produced by BLAM (Baz Luhrmann & Anton Monsted), Felix Meagher and Angela Little
Mixed by Eden Martin
Featured review
Uneven, hulking monster of a film
This film struggled throughout its epic length to stay upright. Unfortunately at the end it stumbled and fell like a pile of bricks.
It tried to juggle so much but in the end, it all turned out to be too little. The film starts like a corny slapstick comedy, turns into a romantic fantasy, then into an outback adventure, then into a war movie, a heartfelt drama, a comment on the stolen generation, a comment on racism... etc, etc. It's just too much. Yes, it's supposed to be an epic, but things like this need to be handled with finesse. Unfortunately, it isn't in this case. The themes were too muddled, the script too stretched - it's a mess. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the acting is over the top and cheesy, the pacing is off, the bizarre use of Somewhere Over the Rainbow... It's just a broken film.
Being an Australian, I did hope that this movie would be alright, but it turned out to be almost 3 hours of wankery that disgracefully cost our taxpayers over $40m.
On a more positive note, on the whole it wasn't BORING, and it was aesthetically and aurally pleasing - even though it made use of countless, shameless green screen shots which were simply unnecessary.
There was ONE great scene in the film, and that's when Hugh Jackman and his Aboriginal friend enter the ruined pub. That was absolutely excellent. Too bad the rest of the film couldn't live up to that in the slightest.
It tried to juggle so much but in the end, it all turned out to be too little. The film starts like a corny slapstick comedy, turns into a romantic fantasy, then into an outback adventure, then into a war movie, a heartfelt drama, a comment on the stolen generation, a comment on racism... etc, etc. It's just too much. Yes, it's supposed to be an epic, but things like this need to be handled with finesse. Unfortunately, it isn't in this case. The themes were too muddled, the script too stretched - it's a mess. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the acting is over the top and cheesy, the pacing is off, the bizarre use of Somewhere Over the Rainbow... It's just a broken film.
Being an Australian, I did hope that this movie would be alright, but it turned out to be almost 3 hours of wankery that disgracefully cost our taxpayers over $40m.
On a more positive note, on the whole it wasn't BORING, and it was aesthetically and aurally pleasing - even though it made use of countless, shameless green screen shots which were simply unnecessary.
There was ONE great scene in the film, and that's when Hugh Jackman and his Aboriginal friend enter the ruined pub. That was absolutely excellent. Too bad the rest of the film couldn't live up to that in the slightest.
Helpful•16897
- NonSequiturL
- Jan 24, 2009
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Chuyện Tình Nước Úc
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $130,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $49,554,002
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $14,800,723
- Nov 30, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $211,788,761
- Runtime2 hours 45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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