Gallipoli (1981)

Today's movie of the day = Gallipoli. I had seen this one many years back but didn't remember too much of it. It stars Mel Gibson which makes me not want to watch it even more but I did for the sake of keeping with my Australian film marathon.

This one is kinda the Australian take on Erich Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. It follows two Australian boys who are both high speed runners. The first half is more about the main character (not Mel Gibson) and then they join up for the rest of the film as good friends from Western Australia.

Much like All Quiet, this one also sends a message about war. It's also set in World War I and ends up in the trenches. In this case it's the British and Australians fighting the Ottoman Empire in Turkey.

It was a little slower than some war films but they had plenty of character development. My problem is that I didn't connect with the characters so there was no sense of intensity with either.

Yes, I'd recommend this one but I might suggest seeing the original All Quiet film instead as it pretty much comes to the same conclusion but is a tighter story.

P.S. I do have bias in my less than enthusiastic recommendation as Mel Gibson is a complete tool.