Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 205
Fresh: 113 | Rotten: 92
Built on lavish vistas and impeccable production, Australia is unfortunately burdened with thinly drawn characters and a lack of originality.
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 21
Built on lavish vistas and impeccable production, Australia is unfortunately burdened with thinly drawn characters and a lack of originality.
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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
PG-13, 2 hr. 45 min.
Nov 26, 2008 Wide
Mar 3, 2009
$49.4M
20th Century Fox
All Critics (209) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (119) | Rotten (94) | DVD (17)
There's a lot to admire here, but not enough.
It's trying so hard to be epic instead of just being epic.
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.
Luhrmann is drawn to kitsch as inevitably as a bear to honey.
The massive panoramas of wild Australia suddenly make Luhrmanns wild flourishes look puny.
A wildly ambitious, luridly indulgent spectacle of romance, action, melodrama and historic revisionism, Australia is windy, overblown, utterly preposterous and insanely entertaining.
Throw out the beefcake, the Stilton cheese, and the sub-Dynasty empire-building bushwah.
A funny frankenstein that's worth seeing just to point and laugh at.
"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.
Australia is an enchanting throwback to an era of filmmaking which strived to entertain its audiences with dazzling spectacle and melodrama.
Luhrmann just piles quotation mark on top of quotation mark
Whilst it's not the masterpiece we so desperately wanted it to be, Australia still manages to be a good time at the cinema.
It's a bit overloaded, though I love Luhrmann's obvious enthusiasm.
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.
It is a huge film - in scale, scope, look and feel, and of course budget. It is also a huge disappointment.
Extras on the disc include a whole load of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
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.
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.
The best part of Australia is the cinematography, which is epic on the big screen and probably looks fantastic on the BluRay.
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
December 2, 2008Super Reviewer
I thought this was an epic 'Dances With Wolves' type film so I was alittle disappointed to discover it isn't, its more of a romantic comedy/epic in the same vain as 'Gone With the Wind'. That's fine and for what it is its a good film but its not quite my cup of tea.It is very well made and in fine 'Gone With the Wind'
February 20, 2009Super Reviewer
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