The Lighthorsemen (1987)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writer:

Ian Jones (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 1988 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

They did what they were told...They didn't know it was impossible

Plot:

Palestine, 1917. The British advance has been stopped by the Turkish line running from Gaza to Beersheba...

Plot Keywords:

Palestine | Male Nudity | Nude Horseback Riding | WWI | Independent Film

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Peter Phelps	...	Dave Mitchell
Nick Waters	...	Lighthorse Sergeant
John Larking	...	Station Master
John Heywood	...	Dave's Dad
Di O'Connor	...	Dave's Mum
Shane Briant	...	Reichert
Ralph Cotterill	...	Gen. Friedrich von Kressenstein
Bill Kerr	...	Gen. Sir Harry Chauvel
Grant Piro	...	Charlie
Tony Bonner	...	Col. Murray Bourchier
Serge Lazareff	...	Rankin
Gary Sweet	...	Frank
John Walton	...	Tas
Tim McKenzie	...	Chiller
Jon Blake	...	Scotty

Also Known As:

The Light Horse Men (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
The Light Horsemen (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
The Lighthorse Men (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

131 min | Canada:115 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Belgium:16 (video rating) | Australia:PG | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Corryong, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

Lead Actor Jon Blake was injured in a car accident near Nectar Brook, South Australia after shooting had wrapped on the last day of filming, 1 December 1986.

Quotes:

Dave: Hey, Scotty, you're not Scotch, are you?
Scotty: No.
Dave: Then, why do they call you Scotty?
[Scotty thinks]
Scotty: Cause I'm Irish.

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Daredevils of the Desert (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

AUSTRALIA WILL BE THERE

Clichéd but impressively mounted

The Lighthorseman was a film I hated when I saw it years ago, but which I was overly harsh about. It's not a great film by a long shot, but it is extremely well directed by Simon Wincer in the days when he was the go-to guy for anything with horses, extremely well edited and quite beautifully photographed by Dean Semler in vivid colour. Retelling the Australian Light Horse's famous charge on Beersheba in WW1, the subject of the earlier and generally superior propaganda picture 40,000 Horsemen, it desperately wants to be another Gallipoli, but despite lavish production values is let down by a script that covers the history well enough but doesn't give us particularly well-drawn characters to care about – the mates the film focuses on may well be based on real people, but they play as pure stereotypes. As a result there's not much emotional pull. Indeed, the most touching scene is when Sigrid Thornton fakes a letter to a non-existent soldier to add a touch of credibility to some false documents to be 'captured' by the Turks. However, the pre-CGI carnage of the final charge is genuinely impressive stuff and well worth waiting for.