Opening

87% Star Trek Into Darkness May 16
22% Erased May 17
91% Frances Ha May 17
44% The English Teacher May 17
42% Black Rock May 17
77% Pieta May 17
—— Populaire May 17
21% 33 Postcards May 17

Top Box Office

78% Iron Man 3 $72.5M
50% The Great Gatsby $50.1M
47% Pain & Gain $5.0M
37% Peeples $4.6M
77% 42 $4.6M
56% Oblivion $4.1M
69% The Croods $3.6M
98% Mud $2.5M
8% The Big Wedding $2.5M
60% Oz the Great and Powerful $1.1M

Coming Soon

—— The Hangover Part III May 23
77% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
—— Epic May 24
94% Before Midnight May 24

Australia (2008)

tomatometer

55

Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 206
Fresh: 113 | Rotten: 93

Built on lavish vistas and impeccable production, Australia is unfortunately burdened with thinly drawn characters and a lack of originality.

48

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 44
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 23

Built on lavish vistas and impeccable production, Australia is unfortunately burdened with thinly drawn characters and a lack of originality.

audience

69

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 244,117

My Rating

Movie Info

Set against the scenic backdrop of pre-World War II Australia, Baz Luhrmann's romantic period adventure stars Nicole Kidman as an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch, and Hugh Jackman as the rough-and-tumble cattle driver who helps protect her property from greedy English cattle barons. As the pair attempt to herd 2,000 head of cattle hundreds of miles across the treacherous Australian outback, they are stunned to bear witness to the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces -- who just

Mar 3, 2009

$49.4M

20th Century Fox - Official Site External Icon

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (210) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (119) | Rotten (95) | DVD (17)

It's a fine romp, epic in both ambition and visuals if not narrative - and if director Baz Luhrmann had stopped at the end of the love story's trajectory, the audience would have left entirely happy.

January 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comments (2)
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's a lot to admire here, but not enough.

December 2, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment (1)
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's trying so hard to be epic instead of just being epic.

December 2, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comments (2)
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Sometimes Luhrmann seems to be living in a Dreamtime of his own; his movie is all over the map. But what a gorgeous map it is.

December 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Luhrmann is drawn to kitsch as inevitably as a bear to honey.

December 1, 2008 Full Review Source: New Yorker | Comments (5)
New Yorker
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The massive panoramas of wild Australia suddenly make Luhrmanns wild flourishes look puny.

November 26, 2008
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Throw out the beefcake, the Stilton cheese, and the sub-Dynasty empire-building bushwah.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express
East Bay Express

A funny frankenstein that's worth seeing just to point and laugh at.

March 24, 2011 Full Review Source: What Culture
What Culture

"Australia" occasionally stumbles into corny sidesteps like Hugh Jackman's "Oh, crikey" catchphrase. But Baz Luhrmann mythologized his homeland as American directors like John Ford did with Westerns - dramatic-license exaggerations that pay off in droves.

September 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com
Suite101.com

Australia is an enchanting throwback to an era of filmmaking which strived to entertain its audiences with dazzling spectacle and melodrama.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews
Matt's Movie Reviews

Luhrmann just piles quotation mark on top of quotation mark

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion
CinePassion

Whilst it's not the masterpiece we so desperately wanted it to be, Australia still manages to be a good time at the cinema.

July 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Moviedex
Moviedex

It's a bit overloaded, though I love Luhrmann's obvious enthusiasm.

April 8, 2009 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies
Window to the Movies

Here's a film you probably sneered at as its ads played for its mega-plex roll out. I beg you not to let you keep that from now buying the DVD.

March 31, 2009 Full Review Source: Blunt Review
Blunt Review

It is a huge film - in scale, scope, look and feel, and of course budget. It is also a huge disappointment.

March 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Screenwize
Screenwize

Extras on the disc include a whole load of behind-the-scenes featurettes.

March 22, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

Sometimes seems to be overwhelmed by Baz Luhrmann's excess, but the strength of his vision, the appeal of his visuals and the skill of his actors keep the film from capsizing.

March 22, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

Much like Scorsese's Gangs of New York, it's a film that has been long labored over, and the artist's love of the material is clear, but the inspiration has been lost along the way.

March 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide
Decent Films Guide

The best part of Australia is the cinematography, which is epic on the big screen and probably looks fantastic on the BluRay.

March 16, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

Audience Reviews for Australia

It's not awful, but it certainly lacks the tongue-in-cheek spark of other Baz Luhrmann films, thus rendering the emotion quite melodramatic. I wouldn't say the movie could've ended three times (in that it was too long and repetitive), but new plot points just kept building on and on. There's always more.

This must have been when Nicole Kidman was Botoxing it cuz her face is a bit plasticky, and she overmugs to compensate. Brandon Walters as the half-Aborigine boy, Nullah, is plucky and exuberant. Hugh Jackman is rough and gruff on the outside, marshmallows and puppy dogs on the inside.
December 24, 2012
aliceinpunderland

Super Reviewer

Somewhere beyond "good," but not quite "really good." I've always been a Luhrman fan, so some of the more airy or mystical qualities of this film didn't bother me, and I was often swept away by the bright, beautiful visuals. The two stories (Jackman and Kidman as the lovers in a dangerous time, and the spirit quest Kidman's adopted Aboriginal child must go on) don't exactly dovetail, but they make for a film in which multiple perspectives are presented, sometimes thoughtfully and other times laboriously. In all, I thought it an entertaining and somewhat unfairly panned film. It's either the most or the least ambitious work Luhrman's ever done, and it's worth seeing once to decide for yourself.
December 2, 2008
danperry17

Super Reviewer

    1. Nullah: I sing you to me, Mrs. Boss.
    2. Lady Sarah Ashley: And I will hear you, my darling.
    – Submitted by Rachel S (6 months ago)
    1. Drover: Need a drink?
    – Submitted by Roger M (14 months ago)
    1. Lady Sarah Ashley: Poppy-cock poppy....cock!
    – Submitted by Matt B (14 months ago)
    1. Neil Fletcher: It's been a pleasure working with you, a real pleasure! [with a sinister voice]
    – Submitted by Matt B (14 months ago)
    1. Drover: Welcome to Australia! [spits on the ground]
    – Submitted by Matt B (14 months ago)
    1. Nullah: We gotta get those no good bloody cheeky bulls to the big bloody ship!
    – Submitted by Matt B (14 months ago)

Discussion Forum

There are no discussion threads for Australia yet.

Latest News on Australia

March 2, 2009:
RT on DVD: Exclusive Australia Scene, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and More!
This week on DVD we've got a sweeping historical epic from Down Under (Baz Luhrmann's Australia,...

January 8, 2009:
Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics' Choice Winners
The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest...

January 6, 2009:
Academy Names Shortlist for Visual Effects Oscar
The Academy has narrowed its choices for this year's visual effects Oscar, naming "Australia," "The...

Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile