Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a cattle driver (Jackman) in order to protect her new property from ...( read more  read more... )a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.

Flixster Users

70% liked it

51,587 ratings

Critics

54% liked it

190 critics

PG-13, 2 hrs. 45 min.

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Release Date: November 26, 2008

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DVD Release Date: March 3, 2009

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Stats: 15,391 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (15,391)


  • May 30, 2009
    What could have been 2008's great epic romance is instead another Pearl Harbor. Gorgeous cinematography and generally excellent production values fail to convince a jaded viewer that the fairy tale is real, because Luhrmann does not treat it that way. He attempts to recreate the ...( read more)sweeping emotion of Hollywood's golden age, but it rings false because he tells the story like a fable, a tall tale. An audience is only swept up if they believe, and Luhrmann's approach is almost tongue-in-cheek in its gaudy, clichéd melodrama and disregard for subtlety or reality. We're not in Kansas anymore, we're not in 1939 anymore, and old tricks only work on more gullible viewers.
  • May 24, 2009
    Baz Luhrmann's long awaited follow up to Moulin Rouge! is a bright, bold, epic adventure with sumptuous cinematography. Lady Sarah Ashley's life is forever changed when she travels to Australia to deal with a cattle farm that her philandering husband bought, and meets up ...( read more)with the rugged cattle drover assigned to help her. Meandering drama is so lavishly mounted, so cheerfully old-fashioned, one is inclined forgive its excessive length and just bask in its grandeur. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman make an appealing couple and newcomer Brandon Walters is memorable as Nullah, a young Aboriginal boy.
  • April 16, 2009
    Once in a while there is a love story that comes along and sweeps us off our feet, this is definately one of those stories. This is a film that will definately take your breath away. A bold, lavish, wildly funny, stylish, outstanding and absolutely beautiful romantic epic of the ...( read more)finest kind. It tops anything on the bar with the Titanic. It's spectacular, extroadinary, unforgettable and exhilerating. A deeply moving, stunning and breathtaking vision showing the beauty of the outback and brining it to glorious life. A blistering, thrilling and very exciting adventure. It's definately an astonishing work of superb art by Director, Baz luhrmann crafting his finest film yet. A masterpiece. A powerful and enthralling movie. Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are absolutely magnificent, showing wonderful passion, dazzeling star power and compelling chemistry. Kidman is still great. Jackman is incrediable, giving a performance that strips him down to bare bones and shows undeniable star power. It's filled with amasing landscapes, action, drama, humor and dazzeling scenery.
  • April 5, 2009
    Only Baz Luhrmann can make cattle driving interesting!
  • April 4, 2009
    ok I adore Baz but this movie could have ended after they got the cows across the desert! or it could have been a whole other movie with the WW2 theame!
  • October 30, 2009
    A beautiful sweeping (if not extremely long) epic, with a dream cast that is phenomenal to simply watch. Set in pre-WWII and during the war, it reminds be of Oklahoma mixed with Pearl Harbor, however each backdrop feels as if it could have been a different movie. Still, drama, ...( read more)romance, action, and tragedy are to be had throughout.
  • October 29, 2009
    Loved this film although it was slow to get going but worth the watch. This film has the epic feel of bygone age in cinema which may not be to the tastes of everybody. Hugh Jackman is excellent in every scene he's in and proves that the is more to him than playing Wolverine. Nico...( read more)le Kidman is great as always and you find yourself rooting for both of these characters. Great cast and directing which the right mix of romance, action and history
  • October 27, 2009
    A pretty good film... Kidman and Jackman play really well with each other
  • October 26, 2009
    This is just an amazing story. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman does a great acting job, along with the rest of the cast. A movie just in my taste.
  • October 24, 2009
    cute very longggggggg

Critic Reviews


January 5, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

The photography is a knockout. All Australia needed was a script with a sustained story and a stronger sense of where, and how, tragic drama should take over from camp seriocomedy. full review

November 26, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Australia tries to be a sprawling, romantic epic. Instead, it's a melodramatic exercise in tedium. full review

November 26, 2008
Armond White, The New York Press

Baz Luhrmann's Australia isn't a history of the penal colony turned commonwealth, but Luhrmann's absurd, cliché-ridden filmmaking ought to be a jailable offense. full review

November 26, 2008
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

Comedy and tragedy, action and melodrama, full measures of quirk and swoon: It's just a plain good time at the movies. full review

November 26, 2008
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Australia is so damnably eager to please that it feels like being pinned down by a giant overfriendly dingo and having your face licked for about three hours: theoretically endearing but, honestly, ki... full review

November 26, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What a gorgeous film, what strong performances, what exhilarating images and -- yes, what sweeping romantic melodrama. full review

November 26, 2008
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

This almost three-hour epic keeps shooting for the stars but usually crash-lands with a thud. Someone should have told co-writer/director Baz Luhrmann that just because you call your movie Australia d... full review

November 26, 2008
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Australia strains to do it all, and finally all you can see is the strain. full review

November 26, 2008
Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun

Australia, set in Australia's Northern Territory, a land of romance and adventure, should have been a terrific epic, but instead is a lavish family time-killer. full review

November 26, 2008
Kimberly Jones, Austin Chronicle

Luhrmann wants it all -- comedy and tragedy, bombast and wet-eyed sentimentality. When it works, his kid-in-a-candy-store giddiness is infectious. When it doesn't, he punctures Australia's proportions... full review

View more Australia reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • zaed406
    April 13, 2009
    he what sub
  • whatshappen2000
    March 6, 2009
    i love kidman n jackman..so chemistry
  • harpreetjuly
    January 5, 2009
    it is great romantic drama
    much awaited

    watch and enjoy
  • sugercandey
    December 22, 2008
    I love this movie.
  • MsRj
    December 17, 2008
    Very adventured in life and love life...I love this movie..
  • maybe912
    December 10, 2008
    i saw Kidman and Jackman at opra's show
    it seems 2 B a good one
    can't wait 2 see it..
    allso Nicole Kidman is so great in her movies
  • kristyann1
    November 30, 2008
    Very Good!!!!
  • wisalhawaij
    November 30, 2008
    omg ima bout to go watch it! hugh jackman is sooo damn sexyyyy,and n. kidman is awsome
  • sneezer07
    November 7, 2008
    can't wait to see this one. love both of them sooo much. its going to be wonderful.
  • lilcutiepie033
    March 30, 2008
    baz lurham is a genius...hello? he made moulin rouge..only possibly the best movie ever made..and he made the new romeo and juliet..another creative movie..this movie therefor sounds promising

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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