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| Paths of Glory (0%) |
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| Gallipoli (100%) |
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Plot: Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
Meet Other Fans
Recent Reviews
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MCT:May 26, 2008
One of the most powerful anti-war films ever made. On par with Paths to Glory and Gallipoli. Not to be missed.
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MCT:March 23, 2008
Tough Guy in the Boer war, the Aussies had a bad habit of showing up as cannon fodder in a lot of Brit follies
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MCT:November 8, 2007Darn near perfect film about friendship, honor, war, and politics. The spare directing style lends itself well to the non-linear editing used throughout.
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MCT:October 30, 2007
Synopsis
In the Boer War in South Africa in 1901, three Australian ?irregular? soldiers are tried by a British military court for the murder of 12 prisoners and a German missionary. The accused are Lieutenants Harry Morant (Edward Woodward), Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown) and George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald). Morant, an English-born adventurer who has spent years in Australia, maintains he was following unwritten orders. Their inexperienced Australian lawyer (Jack Thompson) struggles to have his case heard.
Curator?s notes
The trial of Morant, Handcock, and Witton was enormously controversial at the time and remains so, more than 100 years later. The film rekindled the debate in 1980, but was itself attacked over accuracy. The script, based on a play by Kenneth Ross, argues that their trial was fixed from the outset. Lord Kitchener, head of the British forces, is shown agreeing that the soldiers must be sacrificed, in order to keep Germany from joining the war on the Boer side. At the same time, the film shows that the soldiers did kill the prisoners and the missionary. The question is whether these constituted war crimes and whether they got a fair trial.
With the recent war in Vietnam fresh in the public mind, these questions still had strong resonance in 1980. Debate still rages about whether Kitchener ever issued verbal orders to kill prisoners. The film represented Australia in the competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival in 1980. Jack Thompson won the festival?s best supporting actor award. -
MCT:October 8, 2007
cunts! THE BRITISH EMPIRE! who? i aint heard of 'em. heard of a bunch of cunts that sent some aussies in to get the shit smothered end of the stick just like in gallipoli... but fuck.. they're only aussies right? mate with a kangeroo an all that! the british make me so fucking angry sometimes. well the english. kitchner? wanker! "battle for freedom wherever you can, and if not shot of hanged, you'll get knighted" - byron. fuck war. make love..... to chicks with big tits
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MCT:September 3, 2007
A compelling, engaging Australian war drama based on real life events during the Boer War in South Africa. In 1901, three Australian lieutenants are put on trial for executing Boer prisoners of war. Though the Australian lieutenants were acting under orders following the death of a captain, they are being used as scapegoats by their superior officers who had commited war crimes themselves and hope that they will distance themselves in the abnormal practices of war. The trial does not run as smoothly as they expected as the lieutenants put up quite a fight in the courtroom. The film is engaging and quite powerful, but it ends on a tragic note. My only few complaints regard how the film tends to bog, and it seems that it can be hard to follow in some places (although that is probably more of a reflection on the transfer I watched it on). The film garnered international acclaim and swept the AFI awards in Australia (which it thoroughly deserved). The film was based on a true story, and for those who know the story well, it is still a shocker when you see what happens at the end. One of the best Australian films to date.
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MCT:June 25, 2007
Three Australian soldiers are tried for war crimes during the Boer War of the early 1900s. Brilliantly-directed and acted. The "heroes" do not reflect the real characters, who were not nice people at all.
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MCT:June 18, 2007
Bryan Brown and Edward Woodward are really soemthing special. An historic Australian film up there with Gallipoli, before special effects and super violence, when it just came down to a story and your ability to act.
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MCT:June 7, 2007
edward woodward hit gold on the rare occasions he got a script that suited him this is one of them, tells of scapegoats in the boer war ..
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MCT:April 28, 2007
Great film about the potential insanity of mixing war, diplomacy, and politics. Solid plot with good characters that keep you hoping against hope till the end which is very crisp and shocking.
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MCT:March 21, 2007
A true story of injustice and horror that surrounds wsar when The British & the Boers in South Africa in 1901 had deteriorated into bitter guerilla warfare.."Breaker Morant" has been acclaimed the best Australian movies ever made.See it & you'll understand why it has won 5 stars from me.No "Aussie" critic would give it less.Stars Jack Thompson,Edward Woodward & Bryan Brown.Shot around the "old" mining town of Burra & in the Norwood Studios of the South Australian Film Corporation in 1978.
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MCT:February 25, 2007
Portrayal of the ignorance of the brits the world over.
This and incidents like it lead to the AUstralian Diggers being under the control of Australian officers in WW1. Brutal and senseless waste of life. -
MCT:February 21, 2007Totally under-rated Aussie movie with great performances by Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson and Brian Brown
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MCT:June 30, 2006
Oh my, this is a good film. The Boer War never gets a lot of publicity, so it was good of them to do a movie on it to bring it to people's attention. It's odd to see Australians being so British, but you get used to it after a while.
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MCT:May 22, 2006
what a fantastic film to study for school... hehehe- those poor suckers this year that are studying some piece of a crummy movie. this was sooo good to write on, and, after a while i began to see some really funny bits in it....... like when denny is saluting to everyone when they enter the court - there's nothing like the stiff-arm salute, unchanging everytime he does it. what about the part when handcock doesn't fit in his coffin after he ironically says beforehand 'they could have the decency to measure us'. and there's the completely unnoticeable signal between the boer woman and the boer singer at dinner - how could we miss that?? then, of course, there are all the other classic quotations: 'Vot is your nom?', 'They lack our alturism sir... Quite', 'something, something... awaiting crucifixion', something about 'stinking refugee camps'.............. and the best one 'they mutilated him. they mutilated him with knives while he was still alive'. oh, and if i ever forget the song 'soldiers of the queen' - i dunno if that's a good or bad thing. well, here we go, it's in my head again...
