Gallipoli (1981)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Dean M

  
  Fantastic Australian story of two champion runners who volunteer as soldiers in 1915 to see the worlds. The result is thrilling and amusing, thanks to the script from playwright David Williamson. Themes of mateship, sports and class warfare cleverly thread the glorious landscape… More
  Fantastic Australian story of two champion runners who volunteer as soldiers in 1915 to see the worlds. The result is thrilling and amusing, thanks to the script from playwright David Williamson. Themes of mateship, sports and class warfare cleverly thread the glorious landscape shots. Really sad for losing one of soldiers through the shoot-out war at the ending.

• Thomas B

  
  One of the greatest Australian films ever made. Full review later.

• Anthony L

  
  Peter Weir made some wonderful films between the mid 70's and the mid 80's, this is one of his best. The perfect anti-war film, it highlights the stupidity of war and the ultimate waste and pointlessness of it all. It's superb and should be on school curriculum's!… More
  Peter Weir made some wonderful films between the mid 70's and the mid 80's, this is one of his best. The perfect anti-war film, it highlights the stupidity of war and the ultimate waste and pointlessness of it all. It's superb and should be on school curriculum's! I also love the soundtrack (The brilliant Jean-Michel Jarre), although it does seem a little odd having electric music playing over a film set during the first world war.

• xGary X

  
  A small town Australian runner decides to join up for WWI and fight for King and country in the company of streetwise competitor Mel Gibson, but they inevitably find that war is not all glory and derring do. Directed by the largely under-rated Peter Weir, Gallipoli is not your typical… More
  A small town Australian runner decides to join up for WWI and fight for King and country in the company of streetwise competitor Mel Gibson, but they inevitably find that war is not all glory and derring do. Directed by the largely under-rated Peter Weir, Gallipoli is not your typical war film. The fact that the combatants are the pragmatic and down to earth Aussies who seem never to lose their sense of humour makes for a different spin in itself, and the fact that the fateful battle is so absurdly-and tragically-shortlived means that much of the film is male bonding and fun and games, set to some beautifully photographed backdrops, from the vast expanses of the outback, to the pyramids of Egypt through to the beaches of Turkey. How ill prepared these boys were is summed up by the amusingly farcical "military exercise" they undertake, the humour counterpointing the horrifying waste of life that the real engagement entailed. Not the film for those looking for gruelling and gritty scenes of warfare, this is more a snapshot of war from a very personal viewpoint made with much warmth and humanity. In other words the antithesis of the bloated, self-aggrandizing gung ho abortion We Were Soldiers that Gibson spewed forth 20 years later.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"From a place you've never heard of, comes a story you'll never forget."</i> Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I. <center><font… More
  <i>"From a place you've never heard of, comes a story you'll never forget."</i> Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Peter Weir has long been one of my favorite directors, and he has had a career consumed by subtle, quiet, lingering films. He can make the most banal concept seem thrilling and suspenseful; a perfect example is the Harrison Ford film "Witness." It could have easily become a stupid, insulting, exploitative "thriller." The ending is, in retrospect, quite ridiculous. But Weir has a strange ability to make anything seem realistic. "Gallipoli" is one of his older films, from 1981, and it stars a huge cast of names - most famous today, of course, Mel Gibson...whose name is now splattered across the front of the DVD case. The story is a true one and follows a group of young Australian men who join the ANZACs in World War I. They are sent to Gallipoli, and amidst personal and emotional turmoil they must learn to band together and fight the Turkish Army. "Gallipoli" is a great film - slow, subtle, low-key. It's a bit like an Australian version of "All Quiet on the Western Front." I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys slower films and can appreciate character-driven dramas.

• Jeremy S

  
  Australian Classic, by great director Peter Weir. Portraying a moumentus moment in Australian history, the tragic event of Gapllipoli and the change in feeling toward Britian. A must see imporant film. Winner of my Top Australian Films.

• Ken S

  
  A tragic homoerotic Australian "Paths of Glory" with a wonderfully haunting final shot.

• Michael S

  
  Outstanding war film from Peter Weir.

• Curtis L

  
  Pretty crazy movie about how Aussies were cannon fodder. Good loyalty movie

• Andre T

  
  Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring a young Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Gallipoli… More
  Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring a young Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli and depicts the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek on 7 August 1915. Gallipoli provides a faithful portrayal of life in Australia in the 1910s ? reminiscent of Weir's 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock set in 1900 ? and captures the ideals and character of the Australians who joined up to fight, and the conditions they endured on the battlefield. It does, however, modify events for dramatic purposes and contains a number of significant historical inaccuracies. In particular, the officers responsible for Entente command of the attack are depicted in the film as being British, when in fact, most historians agree that the blame for the failure falls at the feet of the two Australian Commanding Officers. Explendorous cinematography and music, make this movie a inusitate masterpiece.

• Marcus W

  
  The battle of Gallipoli was a military screw-up that caused the deaths of too many young Australians. And this is depicted brilliantly in the last 20 minutes. The rest of the film is young Australian men larking about stereo-typically.

• Dimitris S

  
  Extraordinary.The true essence of anti-war film and a far away journey of 2 immature at first and throughout the film skeptic creatures prolonging a grueling battling experience and the final outcome.Weir is a captain.Steering a prosperous wheel brimmed with philosophy in addition to… More
  Extraordinary.The true essence of anti-war film and a far away journey of 2 immature at first and throughout the film skeptic creatures prolonging a grueling battling experience and the final outcome.Weir is a captain.Steering a prosperous wheel brimmed with philosophy in addition to liturgy.Frisky business for these governments,neither it's a major conflict or a simple quarrel.Bravo Peter.

• Anthony V

  
  This movie runs as fast as a leopard.

• Sean S

  
  Just damn good. Remind me not to go to war anytime soon.

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