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Overrated

Captivating movie !

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Baz Luhrmann's epic film is gorgeous to look at with Australia's superstars Nicole & Jackman at their peak-best. Forget the knockers - this is a quality film, although flawed, it is hugely entertaining and emotionally connecting

I'll make a list of things, that I think was making this film unwatchableTerrible acting from terrible actors. I don't know who was in charge of the casting for this film, but who ever it was needs to be firedThe movie is at times very hard to understand, and the plot is pretty stupid and obviousThe little half aboriginal kid, is the most cringe worthy little kid i have ever seen in any movie. His accent is terrible, and his English is even worse. His vocabulary is just about big enough, for small children to like him. Making him " a magic man" by giving him "speciel abilities" was over the top for me. This film could have been a realistic, funny and probably also good movie, if this kid wasn't in it.There were so many brain dead unnecessary dialouges that could easily been removed.The movie turned from a "action film?" to a romantic movie to the end, a war movie of some sort i believe. 1/100 stars from me. Don't bother buying this stupid piece of crap movie. Save your money, and buy yourself a rope and hang yourself with it, because you probably get more enjoyment from hanging yourself, than watching a mere minute of this garbage excuse for a movie.

It's 1939 Australia. Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) comes all the way from England to force her husband to sell his cattle station Faraway Downs. She suspects her husband of cheating. He sends Drover (Hugh Jackman) to drive her. Before she gets there, Lord Ashley is killed and Aboriginal elder King George (David Gulpilil) is blamed. She befriends Nullah (Brandon Walters) who is revealed to be King George's grandson. The station manager Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) has been trying to undermine Lord Ashley and working secretly with Lesley 'King' Carney (Bryan Brown) who has all the surrounding lands. King Carney is trying to negotiate with Australian Captain Dutton (Ben Mendelsohn) who needs the beef from Carney's near monopoly. When Fletcher is discovered, Drover and Sarah must lead a ragtag group to drive the cattle to market against Fletcher and his men.The movie starts off horribly broad. The overacting is annoying. The broad comedy isn't funny. Kidman is annoying and Jackman is trying to be Crocodile Dundee. The movie improves markedly once they get to Faraway Downs. The Aboriginals improve the tone by adding some seriousness. Baz Luhrmann is using the landscape like Monument Valley in the old westerns. He's making an Australian western epic. The old style doesn't always work. The characters are too broadly written. None of the comedy is actually funny. And the movie is about an hour too long. It could have been a good action adventure if it wraps up after the cattle drive. Instead, the movie keeps on going with a lot of melodrama and a Japanese attack.

It seems like this movie is one of those that people hate with a passion or is one of the best movies they have ever seen. Now while I don't belong to either of those groups, I did enjoy this movie a lot. This is a modern day "Gone with the Wind," and it shows the mystical side of Australia as well as address the racism issues native Aborigines dealt with until fairly recently. This is a lavish, gorgeous epic that explores the realm of romance and the legend of Australia. The cinematography is gorgeous as well as the costume design and music. There are some continuity issues, but that is only minor.Baz Luhrmann's film is about an English aristocrat named Lady Sarah Ashley who inherits a cattle ranch after her husband's death. She travels to Australia where she meets this cattle rancher named Drover. Together they must drive the cattle 2000 miles against an unforgiving terrain in order for their cattle not to be monopolized. However, they gain a firsthand look at the Japanese savagery as they bomb the port of Darwin.The acting is pretty good. I wasn't too fond of Nicole Kidman's performance at first, but she did get better as the movie went on. Hugh Jackman was excellent as Drover. I think the real performance was Brandon Walters as the young bi-racial native, Nullah. He was the narrator, but he's a bright and innocent kid who suffers from the racism prevalent in Australian society.Overall, Australia is a sweeping, modern-day version of "Gone with the Wind." It tackles issues of family, romance, and racism and it's a part of history that people do not know too much about. There are some flaws, but the movie is just too beautiful to resist. It hovers around the 3-hour mark, but the movie of this epic nature makes that time fly by. It's better than what people give it credit for. I rate this film 9/10.