john-1952

I must start by saying I am not the slightest bit interested in motorcycles, so do not let the fact this concerns a bike put you off. That this movie can be, to a large part, about a motorbike yet non-bike people like myself barely notice it, is just one of the things that makes this a remarkable movie. Anthony Hopkins proves again he can tackle almost any role. Everyone know the immortal Dr Lecter yet you can watch Hopkins playing the amiable Burt Munro without thoughts of The Lambs ever crossing your mind. As others have pointed out, this movie has no fancy FX, no computer generated anything, no fights, no shootouts and yet in many ways it is an action movie. It is also a road movie, a travelogue, even a love story. It is a movie that will have the guys reaching for a hankie as much as the girls, and have the girls cheering on the motorbike as much as the guys. Don't miss this one.

The single most obvious problem with this film is that you have to go so far down the credits before actually finding an Aussie. The four leads, the old lady, Bubba, even the boxing promoter are all foreign actors. I can vaguely picture a big dumb Yank as played by Mr Borgnine doing some work as a canecutter, but John Mills just doesn't look the part. I have watched him in so many movies and this is probably the first I have ever thought him miscast.

If you are from Sydney there is some great footage of Luna Park in its former glory, the old ferries, Central Station and so on. I believe the play is a mix of humour and drama but there is very little humour in this film. Anne Baxter is probably the best of the four leads, playing a rather desperate sweetheart. Vincent Ball's character is a little too smarmy and one is left wondering why anyone would find him appealing.

It would be very interesting to see a remake with Australian actors in it, although it's doubtful whether the era could be captured as well again. Watch the movie for the locations but don't expect too much from the performances.

A basically good plot is damaged by casting Stacey Keach, who to this Aussie is just totally unbelievable as a long distance truck driver, who happens to bump into yet another American in Jamie Leigh Curtis standing on the roadside in the middle of nowhere. Why is i every time she appears it is in the middle of nowhere? Not at a truck stop or roadhouse. Not even at an intersection. Who hitches a ride and then gets out in the middle of a desert? Throw in the ubiquitous dingo in the back seat and make every actual Australian in the movie seem like a half-wit and you end up with something that rather makes me cringe. Maybe non-Australian viewers can find the concept plausible but it's one movie I can happily avoid watching again.

Just sometimes you turn on a movie and are surprised. In this case I was surprised it ever got funding. It takes me back to the days of shows like Kingswood Country when the only humour was saying a rude word and making a fart noise. It is movies like this that make the TV stations want to show nothing but reality and talent shows.

The basic premise that the movie is based on doesn't even work as the main two characters would never had even gotten admission into the police academy to begin with, and this continues with the rest of the players. IMO to have a good comedy you must have 'normal' people against whom the comedy players can bounce the humour off. If you make every character ridiculous you end up with just a ridiculous movie, and here it is.

Typical American sitcom, without the slightest trace of subtlety. It's as if they believe that 99% of viewers are so dumb that unless the joke hits you in the face you won't understand it. Well, I understood it all but the attempted forced humor just isn't funny. Such a shame as I love Anna Faris. But any family with as many flaws and faults as this one would in reality be without redemption and certainly not worthy of empathy. Alcoholism, drug addiction, debauchery, rudeness, unwanted pregnancies, lack of discipline. Yes, this is a family that you'd really want living next to you. Ijust find nothing funny about a family of pathetic, self-absorbed lowlifes "trying to find their way". Being a fan of Big Bang I expected better from this, being another Chuck Lorre creation, but where most of the BBT cast are likable and the humor is well rounded, this one just misses the target completely.

How can people like this? I guess if you find crime, drugs, vandalism, constant swearing and a bunch of unlikeable morons funny then please feel free to watch this movie. The really sad thing is that there are far too many people who are like the characters in this movie but that does not make them funny. The movie tries to somehow turn a bunch of bludgers terminally sponging off welfare and ensuring their kids will continue the chain, into endearing people and at least in my opinion just reaffirms that society is not heading in the right direction when things like manners, honesty and respect for law are shown as things to be despised.

As romcoms go I rather like this movie. Kylie was young and inexperienced but showed some talent. Bruno Lawrence is a great 'wise old man' figure> If anything Chalie Schlatter lets the side down a bit. As an Aussie I know the chances of their being a yank teen living in Bundaberg in the 50's were pretty scarce, about the same as finding an Aussie in Wichita. But its a pleasant feel good movie. I've watched it half a dozen or more times and keep watching so it must have something. And it does bring back an era much changed since, where people get arrested for simply not having enough money in their bank account, and police could give folks a good smack in the chops and get away with it. A time of a lot more innocence than now. These days Brownie would get Lola pregnant and then shoot through leaving her to cope with her heroin addiction. Its nice to believe there was a time when love conquered all.

I spent some time finding a copy of this movie, having enjoyed the original movie quite a bit. The original is crass and rude but humorous and rather charming, but this sequel is really dreadful. It gets two points for its total lack of political correctness, noting that something like 90% of this movie would be cut these days due to the racist, ethnic and sexist slurs in it. Beyond that, it's just left with dreadful acting and an unintelligible plot. How on earth they got people like Donald Pleasance and John Le Mesurier into this is beyond me. Its a movie I waited some time to see, but having seen it, its unlikely it will ever be drawn out of the CD drawer again.

Once again Baz Luhrmann proves himself to be one of the most pretentious directors around. This is close to being a really good movie but Baz's continual slow-mo scenes, 'dramatic' camera angles and overdrawn images fail it. It was extremely pretentious calling it Australia in the first place, as if this movie somehow sums up the entire country, rather than just being a bush love story.

Nicole Kidman drew quite a lot of criticism here in Australia for her performance, however I thought she coped quite well with a role that really should have been given to an Englishwoman. We Aussies winge when Americans play Aussies in films yet Baz apparently has no problems with an Aussie playing every English person in this film.

The other main characters did quite well. Hugh Jackman almost single handedly made this a bit of a chick flick with his shirt off every chance possible and dinkum Aussies in the Territory would be drinking beer and not spirits. Bryan Brown, my favourite Aussie actor, was a bit listless in his role but Jack Thompson surprised me with a good if short performance.

Without Baz at the helm and with a more realistic title, this could have been a much better film, about 40mins shorter and $50million less expensive.

To enjoy this movie you must ignore that most of the 'Chinese' are played by obviously English actors. That was how it was done back then. Hammer worked with limited budgets but almost always came up with suspenseful and colourful movies.

Christopher Lee plays his role with his usual aplomb, whilst the rest of the cast made up of many familiar faces keeps the movie rolling along.

I first saw this movie over thirty years ago and it took me quite a while to track down a copy on VHS but to this day I still enjoy it immensely. Don't regard it as a piece of art. It's an adventure film in the same vein as Big Trouble in Little China, done very well for the small money and time they had to make it.