|
Australia |  | Director: Baz Luhrmann
Actors: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown, David Wenham
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $9.49
as of 9/3/2010 01:40 CDT details
You Save: $5.49 (37%)
New (42) from $6.91
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  348 reviews
Sales Rank: 1410
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 165 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2256371D
UPC: 024543563716
EAN: 0024543563716
ASIN: B001PPGAIA
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: March 3, 2009
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| | |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Watching the early reels of Australia, there's certainly no doubt who's in charge: this could only be a film by Baz Luhrmann, that wacky purveyor of all things over-the-top. In this old-fashioned, 165-minute hymn to his native continent, Luhrmann travels back to the late 1930s/early '40s, for a scenario that would not have been out of place at MGM in that era. Straightlaced Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) journeys Down Under and is put under the protection of--crikey--a rugged cattle driver known only as the Drover (Hugh Jackman). When the two are forced to team up (along with a motley crew of misfits) to take a herd of cattle through the hostile landscape, their way is challenged by the dastardly plans of the local beef baron (Bryan Brown) and his elaborately evil lieutenant (David Wenham). At some point you realize that this film's main commodity is not cattle, but corn: Luhrmann piles on the melodrama and the old-school climaxes with his usual frantic glee. Employing "When You Wish Upon a Star" and the Japanese air force to make his case is not beyond Luhrmann, and he reaches big here. Those with a taste for un-ironic silliness might just go for this stuff, but even fans of the Baz will have their patience tested by the broad comedy and the absence of discernable chemistry between Kidman and Jackman. Australia does manage to skewer the culture's prejudices against the Aboriginal people, but in this context such a victory comes across as rather tinny. --Robert Horton
Stills from Australia (Click for larger image)
Product Description
A ROMANTIC ACTION-ADVENTURE EPIC SET IN AUSTRALIA PRIOR TO WWII THAT CENTERS ON AN ENGLISH ARISTOCRAT WHO INHERITS A LARGE RANCH. WHEN ENGLISH CATTLE BARRONS PLOT TO TAKE THE LAND, SHE RELUCTANTLY JOINS FORCES WITH A ROUGH-HEWN CATTLE DROVER TO PROCTECT THE RANCH.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
 Two for the price of one August 24, 2010
Chrijeff (Scranton, PA)
"Australia" could almost have been released as a duology: not only is it almost three hours long, but it has two genuine climactic moments (I'll get to that presently). It begins in 1939, just as World War II is getting underway and Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels to Australia to bring home the husband she hasn't seen in an unspecified length of time. Lord Ashley has been developing a stock ranch, Faraway Downs, which is encircled on three sides by the holdings of local beef baron "King" Carney (Bryan Brown), and he turns up dead--supposedly murdered by an aboriginal shaman known as King George--on the very day Sarah arrives. When she realizes that her husband's station manager Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) isn't quite what he claims to be, she fires him, then finds herself crewless and teams up with rough-and-ready Great War veteran Drover (Hugh Jackman) and his two aboriginal riders, Ivan and Magarri (the latter in fact the brother of Drover's late wife) plus a ragtag trail crew--her Chinese cook, an aboriginal woman, a hard-drinking accountant, and King George's 10-year-old half-caste grandson Nalla (Brandon Walters)--to get 1500 head of cattle to the port of Darwin. If she can succeed, she'll nail down a hefty Government beef contract--but Fletcher first stampedes her cattle, then poisons the waterholes on her route. Now the only chance Sarah & Co. have is to drive across the Never-Never desert, guided by King George. Of course they succeed, and thereby hangs the first climactic scene. Then the story shifts from Western/romance to war story/drama as Sarah and Drover struggle to reconcile with each other's very different personalities and priorities, keep Nalla out of the hands of the government assimilation program, and survive the Japanese air attack that follows the Pearl Harbor tragedy--and hence the second.
Many critics seem to consider the movie high camp, but I found it entirely enjoyable (despite a slightly ambiguous and unsatisfying ending) as a serious tale of adventure, jealousy, greed, love (not just the romantic kind: Nalla clearly develops a deep attachment to "Mrs. Boss," as he christens Sarah, and to Drover), and determination, with elements of several major film genres. (It's a great pity no one seems to have done a novelization; I'd have liked to have seen what a good adapter could do with the characters' backgrounds.) It's the kind of movie that makes you realize (much as did Quigley Down Under) that the U.S. wasn't the only country that ever had a Frontier Experience--and that Australia's was in many ways similar.
Fast Delivery August 10, 2010
Affifa A. Rashid
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am very satisfied with my purchase. It came in the condition described and arrived quite early within the time frame provided. Thank you!
 Australia - DVD August 2, 2010
Showmehoosier
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
DVD had skips and locked-up. Amazon accepted a return and sent a replacement, which operated perfectly. Amazon stands behind their product and replacement was timely and hassle-free.
 An epic melodrama which has its moments July 13, 2010
David Long (NJ)
Despite all the poor reviews by critics, I wanted to give "Australia" a try. Overall I enjoyed the movie but it definitely has flaws and I don't feel it has much replay value for me. The visual presentation was well done; however, the writing - and at times the acting - was a little over-the-top.
The movie has three main parts - it starts out as a Western, switches to a romance, then finally becomes a war film. For the most part the transitioning works and the variety makes for an interesting movie. This also helps it not feel like a long movie despite being over 2.5 hours. My favorite part was the Western. Sarah (Kidman) arrives in Australia to see what her husband is up to, only to find him murdered. With the help of the Drover (Jackman) and other outcasts from society, Sarah has to drive the cattle from her husband's estate to the coast for sale. There are dangers along the way, mostly set by Fletcher (David Wenham), who used to work for her husband but really works for "King" Carney, the rancher out to monopolize the cattle industry.
The romance part centers on Sarah's relationship with Drover and Nullah, a half-Aboriginal child whom they adopt as their own. Nullah's grandfather is "King George", the local magic man. Nullah tended to get annoying at times, saying the same things over and over again. Kidman and Jackman do make a nice couple though. Since Nullah is half-Aboriginal and half-Caucasian, he is an outcast and is soon taken from them; Sarah does everything to get him back.
Finally in the third part, World War II comes to Australia in the form of Japanese planes which attack the port where Sarah has stayed to get Nullah back. Drover is off on a long cattle drive related to the war effort when the attack occurs, so his help is late in coming, if at all.
The acting is just okay, nothing outstanding. I think part of this is from the writing, which came across as rather melodramatic and forced at times. The Australian landscape was very picturesque, especially during the cattle drive. It was the proper backdrop for the epic which the movie wanted to be, and sometimes succeeded at. In essence, if you are looking for a beautiful melodrama, this movie is for you.
Surprisingly well done July 5, 2010
MISTER SJEM (CALIF BAY AREA United States)
Surprisingly well done. Interesting take on narration and exposition. The main character is the boy even though others get more screen time. There's some good humor in the beginning that nicely contrasts British Aristocracy with the rough and tumble types in Oz. MY GRADE: A minus (almost five stars but not quite).
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.
 
| |
