Australia

Name: Australia
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History, Romance, War
Released: November 14, 2008
Duration: 165 min
Rating: 53

2008

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 241 Ratings

See All

6.7

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.7	Your Score
6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 241 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Australia

Now Playing: Australia

Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: November 14, 2008 | PG-13

Summary: Australia is an epic and romantic action adventure, set in that country on the explosive brink of World War II. In it, an English aristocrat travels to the faraway continent, where she meets a rough-hewn local and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited. Together, they embark upon a transforming journeyAustralia is an epic and romantic action adventure, set in that country on the explosive brink of World War II. In it, an English aristocrat travels to the faraway continent, where she meets a rough-hewn local and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited. Together, they embark upon a transforming journey across hundreds of miles of the world's most beautiful yet unforgiving terrain, only to still face the bombing of the city of Darwin by the Japanese forces that attacked Pearl Harbor. [Twentieth Century Fox]… Expand

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, History, Romance, War

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 165 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Cammila Albertson

Australia goes for the absolute limit in terms of scope. And let's not be coy -- size may not matter, but it still helps. Read full review

David Ansen

Australia is a shameless—and shamelessly entertaining--pastiche. It works because Luhrmann, a true believer in movie-movie magic, stamps it all with the force of his own extravagant, generous personality. Read full review

Manohla Dargis

A testament to movie love at its most devout, cinematic spectacle at its most extreme, and kitsch as an act of aesthetic communion. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

You know something's amiss when you're in the middle of a picture that runs under three hours and you're tempted to whip out your cellphone and send friends a text message that reads "Send food." Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

Really should have been made 60 years ago. It would have been timelier, with its tale of life in the remote north of that country during World War II. The juicy overacting, stereotypes and dramatic exaggerations would have been more in keeping with the style of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Read full review

Liam Lacey

All in all, Australia is so damnably eager to please that it feels like being pinned down by a giant overfriendly dingo and having your face licked for about three hours: theoretically endearing but, honestly, kind of gross. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Australia shows all the signs of having been a labor of love for director Baz Luhrmann. One problem: It's his love, and the audience's labor. Read full review

SEE ALL 38 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

curdey

Dec 2, 2010

Unashamedly epic. Unabashedly romantic. Unforgettably touching. Baz Luhrmann delivers THE underrated film of the noughties. Due to the enormous hype following the movie-musical extravaganza of Moulin Rouge!, Australia suffered a case of critic tall-poppy syndrome, in which it seemed theUnashamedly epic. Unabashedly romantic. Unforgettably touching. Baz Luhrmann delivers THE underrated film of the noughties. Due to the enormous hype following the movie-musical extravaganza of Moulin Rouge!, Australia suffered a case of critic tall-poppy syndrome, in which it seemed the film was doomed for universal criticism before anyone had laid eyes on it. However, if one watches this with an openness and emotion availability, they'll find an unforgettable journey. Luhrmann's direction is impeccable and unique, and Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman's chemistry is electrifying. The character of Nullah is one of the absolute standouts, rounding out a stellar cast. I can not stop the tears from flowing every time I watch this film - Australia should be up there with the best of them!… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

AlexK.

Dec 19, 2008

The critics have dropped the ball on this one. Australia is epic and beautiful and best of all is fantastically entertaining. Follow your heart and watch it!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

TomS.

Mar 16, 2009

As my wife told me, "it's a World War II western romance, what more could you ask for?" I loved it.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JonG.

Dec 7, 2008

I've seen plenty of epics and feel very comfortable saying this rates with the best of em.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

notsolittlejon

Feb 12, 2013

An overall decent film, but I felt that the film tried to squeeze far too many elements in, and the almost-3-hour-long film left me feeling like each scene was far too rushed. It was definitely more of a cowboy-type movie that I was expecting, but that didn't detract from the film for me atAn overall decent film, but I felt that the film tried to squeeze far too many elements in, and the almost-3-hour-long film left me feeling like each scene was far too rushed. It was definitely more of a cowboy-type movie that I was expecting, but that didn't detract from the film for me at least. It was not at all what I expected, however, just from seeing a trailer for it--for better and for worse.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a historical drama, covering themes including racial inequality, acceptance, trust and determination. The first thing I noticed about it was the clear stereotypes of both the Australians and aristocratic/upper class English people. Kangaroos feature within the first twenty minutes as well, plus there's the clear sound of everyones favourite Australian musical instrument, the wobbleboard! so it would be wrong to say that this film doesn't carry a number of obvious cliches and panders to set stereotypes but then you may well have expected this to be the case, given the rather critical reception I believe it received on its release.

There are some lovely landscape, panoramic style shots featured in between scenes and the like and I imagine it would do well being viewed from as large, or wide, a TV screen as possible. This is one of those films that would have been well worth seeing at the cinema for this reason. There is narration during the film, provided by a young boy, a native Australian (Aborigine). He gives a strong sense of naivety and innocence to the plot in his descriptions during said narration. I felt that it was a relatively immersive film, with a decent use of incidental music at key moments helping to make viewers feel confused and concerned about what may happen next, as the characters involved would have at that point.

It is quite dramatic in parts although overall the plot pace was relatively slow to moderate I suppose. This is a particularly long film, with a running time of approximately 2 hours and thirty five minutes and so its clearly hardly a case of a 'short and sweet' film, both in plot and in actual running time.

I felt that the main letdown of this film was the aforementioned caricatures that were the main characters. The cast provided decent performances but I can't ignore the fact that both Drover and Lady Sarah Ashley sounded like cliched stereotypes of the countries their from. I did enjoy watching the film and I felt that as far as the visuals and some of the cast are concerned, their pretty good but I found myself struggling to take it entirely seriously. Drover is played by Hugh Jackman, who is your typical macho type true adventurer Australian (think of, perhaps, a mix of Crocodile Dundee and the late Steve Irwin perhaps), while Nicole Kidman plays Lady Sarah Ashley, someone who frankly I'm surprised wasn't shown as passing out under what surely was a very hot summers day on her arrival, given her fragile stature and delicate skin (remember that she is English of course). The fact that Nicole herself is Australian and yet she plays the English character in this film I found to be rather ironic, although she does well (as usual) in portraying her character. I should perhaps also mention that Hugh Jackman is also Australian. I suppose, due to this, I can't entirely accuse him of putting on an overly fake Australian accent as such as I presume it to be his mother tongue as it were but still the dialogue and accents, certainly at times, didn't quite sit with me entirely well, make of that what you will.

Some scenes I felt were quite touching, scenes featuring Lady Sarah Ashley spending time with the native Australian for example. For the most part, the music is quite theatrical, classical in style and it accompanies the wide shot panoramas quite well. It definitely helps make it seem more of a cinematic classic type film, although I find it hard to ignore the more lazy aspects of the characters, accents and all. I couldn't quite get away from the feeling that some aspects of the film were rather 'convenient' shall we say but equally I don't think it would be fair to completely slate it for that reason alone. I did find it surprisingly watchable overall, given my doubts based on what I've heard others say of it. I do try to be open minded when watching films in general.

I noticed the ocassional scene featured fairly mumbled dialogue, which may be slightly difficult for those who are hard of hearing to entirely follow but this is only an issue now and again and not constantly throughout the film. There was also what I felt to be an amount of cheesiness present, due to the way the plot panned out but I won't say anymore so as not to spoil the film. Its definitely not an entirely positive or negative film plot wise.

The cast do a pretty decent in their roles and I liked the narration used but I did feel that some plot aspects seemed slightly 'convenient' and its not the sort of thing I'd make time to watch very often, mainly as I don't usually watch films much over two hours long but thats a personal thing. Its not really awful and I feel it could have been better, so overall I suppose I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you'd like to see it and I'll go for a 5 out of 10 rating overall and select undecided, as far as recommending it is concerned.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Tricklas

Nov 29, 2008

This is tied for worst movie ever with The Aviator. Melodrama in the hands of Tarsem or Darren Aronofsky is refreshing and gorgeous. In the hands of Lurhmann it's a train wreck of epic proportions. Lurhmann essentially wanted to make Gone With the Wind for Australia's stolen This is tied for worst movie ever with The Aviator. Melodrama in the hands of Tarsem or Darren Aronofsky is refreshing and gorgeous. In the hands of Lurhmann it's a train wreck of epic proportions. Lurhmann essentially wanted to make Gone With the Wind for Australia's stolen generation and failed horribly on all fronts. Why couldn't we just keep Rabbit-Proof Fence as the feather in our collective cap? See The Fall or The Fountain instead. Stay far away from this heaping pile of abnormal, unoriginal kangaroo sh*t.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

SEE ALL 91 REVIEWS

47	#47 Most Discussed Movie of 2008
37	#37 Most Shared Movie of 2008