The Cinema of Australia and New Zealand
by strangefishdesign | created - 16 Aug 2022 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicA list of movies from Australia and New Zealand which I have seen
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1. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
108 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
After suffering racist abuse throughout his life - which intensifies following his marriage to a white woman - a half-Aboriginal farmhand finds himself driven to murder.
Director: Fred Schepisi | Stars: Tommy Lewis, Freddy Reynolds, Angela Punch McGregor, Ray Barrett
Votes: 2,532
2. The Last Wave (1977)
PG | 106 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Frederick Parslow
Votes: 11,037
3. Wake in Fright (1971)
R | 109 min | Drama, Thriller
After a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay
Votes: 13,971 | Gross: $0.05M
4. Walkabout (1971)
GP | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
Two city-bred siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback, where they learn to survive with the aid of an Aboriginal boy on his "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Luc Roeg, John Meillon
Votes: 27,356 | Gross: $0.02M
5. Mad Max (1979)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
Votes: 222,524 | Gross: $8.75M
6. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 193,828 | Gross: $12.47M
7. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After being exiled from the most advanced town in post apocalyptic Australia, a drifter travels with a group of abandoned children to rebel against the town's queen.
Directors: George Miller, George Ogilvie | Stars: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence, Adam Cockburn
Votes: 147,725 | Gross: $36.20M
8. The Proposition (2005)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Western
A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Richard Wilson
Votes: 54,992 | Gross: $1.90M
9. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse
Votes: 41,058 | Gross: $0.23M
10. Animal Kingdom (2010)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A seventeen-year-old navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: James Frecheville, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Bryce Lindemann
Votes: 60,524 | Gross: $1.04M
11. Hounds of Love (2016)
Not Rated | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted from a suburban street by a disturbed couple. As she observes the dynamic between her captors she quickly realises she must drive a wedge between them if she is to survive.
Director: Ben Young | Stars: Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummings, Stephen Curry, Susie Porter
Votes: 13,446
12. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,629 | Gross: $0.01M
13. Long Weekend (1978)
Not Rated | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
When a suburban couple go camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature isn't in an accommodating mood.
Director: Colin Eggleston | Stars: John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, Mike McEwen, Roy Day
Votes: 6,133
14. Sleeping Dogs (1977)
Not Rated | 107 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A New Zealand man recently estranged from his family gets unwittingly caught up in a revolution.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Sam Neill, Nevan Rowe, Ian Mune, Warren Oates
Votes: 1,658
15. Journey Among Women (1977)
93 min | Drama, History, Western
In colonial Australia, daughter of a judge helps a group of female convicts living in inhuman conditions escape. Aboriginal girl teaches them how to survive in the forest. One of them gets raped and killed. The group seeks revenge.
Director: Tom Cowan | Stars: Jeune Pritchard, Martin Phelan, Nell Campbell, Lillian Crombie
Votes: 148
16. Chopper (2000)
R | 94 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo, Renée Brack
Votes: 41,529 | Gross: $0.23M
17. Romper Stomper (1992)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
Director: Geoffrey Wright | Stars: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Alex Scott
Votes: 41,623 | Gross: $0.18M
18. The Nightingale (I) (2018)
R | 136 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Aisling Franciosi, Maya Christie, Baykali Ganambarr, Addison Christie
Votes: 35,670 | Gross: $0.39M
19. Upgrade (2018)
R | 100 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when the world of Grey, a self-labeled technophobe, is turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant.
Director: Leigh Whannell | Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden
Votes: 206,889 | Gross: $11.98M
20. Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988)
93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: David Field, Mike Bishop, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey
Votes: 1,959
21. Wolf Creek (2005)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Votes: 78,386 | Gross: $16.19M
22. Wolf Creek 2 (2013)
Not Rated | 106 min | Horror, Thriller
The outback once more becomes a place of horror as another unwitting tourist becomes the prey for crazed, serial-killing pig-hunter Mick Taylor.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: John Jarratt, Ryan Corr, Shannon Ashlyn, Philippe Klaus
Votes: 22,713
23. Rogue (2007)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Horror
An American journalist on assignment in the Australian outback encounters a man-eating crocodile while trapped on a rapidly flooding mud island.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington, Caroline Brazier
Votes: 33,430 | Gross: $0.01M
24. Crocodile Dundee (1986)
PG-13 | 97 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
An American reporter goes to the Australian outback to meet an eccentric crocodile poacher and invites him to New York City.
Director: Peter Faiman | Stars: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil
Votes: 115,518 | Gross: $174.64M
25. Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
PG | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Australian outback expert protects his New York love from gangsters who've followed her down under.
Director: John Cornell | Stars: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, Ernie Dingo
Votes: 60,849 | Gross: $109.31M
26. The Babadook (2014)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney
Votes: 247,401 | Gross: $0.92M
27. Son of a Gun (2014)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Drama
JR busts out of prison with Brendan Lynch, Australia's most notorious criminal, and joins Lynch's gang for a gold heist that soon pits the two men against one another.
Director: Julius Avery | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander, Brendan Kerkvliet
Votes: 29,574 | Gross: $0.00M
28. The Horseman (2008)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When Christian finds out his runaway teenage daughter, Jesse has been sexually attacked, the suburban father loses it. Setting out to find Jesse's attacker, Christian goes on a violent rampage.
Director: Steven Kastrissios | Stars: Peter Marshall, Caroline Marohasy, Brad McMurray, Jack Henry
Votes: 5,397
29. Red Hill (2010)
R | 95 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A young police officer must survive his first day's duty in a small country town.
Director: Patrick Hughes | Stars: Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley, Tommy Lewis, Claire van der Boom
Votes: 9,086 | Gross: $0.02M
30. Van Diemen's Land (2009)
Not Rated | 104 min | Adventure, Biography, History
The true story of Alexander Pearce, Australia's most notorious convict. In 1822, Pearce and seven fellow convicts escaped from Macquarie Harbour, a place of ultra banishment and punishment,... See full summary »
Director: Jonathan auf der Heide | Stars: Oscar Redding, Arthur Angel, Paul Ashcroft, Thomas M. Wright
Votes: 3,429
31. Summerfield (1977)
95 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A teacher discovers one of his students has a rare blood disease, and is drawn into a mystery that culminates in a thrilling climax.
Director: Ken Hannam | Stars: Nick Tate, John Waters, Elizabeth Alexander, Michelle Jarman
Votes: 409
32. Razorback (1984)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
As a vicious wild boar terrorizes the Australian outback, the husband of one of the victims is joined by a hunter and a farmer in a search for the beast.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood
Votes: 7,881 | Gross: $0.15M
33. Relic (2020)
R | 89 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.
Director: Natalie Erika James | Stars: Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Steve Rodgers
Votes: 30,253
34. BMX Bandits (1983)
PG | 88 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A trio of teen BMX enthusiasts become entangled with a group of bank robbers after discovering their cache of walkie-talkies.
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Stars: David Argue, John Ley, Nicole Kidman, Angelo D'Angelo
Votes: 6,027
35. Black Water (2007)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
A boat tour of a mangrove swamp turns into a fight for survival when a group of people are attacked by a ferocious saltwater crocodile.
Directors: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki | Stars: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxenbould
Votes: 16,042
36. The Piano (1993)
R | 121 min | Drama, Music, Romance
In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Votes: 95,207 | Gross: $40.16M
37. Dangerous Game (1988)
R | 98 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A computer expert and his friends manage to disable a department store's security system so they can rob it, but once inside they find themselves stalked by a killer.
Directors: Stephen Hopkins, David Lewis | Stars: Miles Buchanan, Marcus Graham, Steven Grives, Kathryn Walker
Votes: 408
38. Pacific Banana (1981)
R | 82 min | Comedy
The story of a pair of Australian pilots working for a small South Pacific airline. Paul, a wildly successful womanizer, leaving conquests at every port and Martin, sad and lonely in his ... See full summary »
Director: John D. Lamond | Stars: Graeme Blundell, Robin Stewart, Deborah Gray, Alyson Best
Votes: 213
39. Lady, Stay Dead (1981)
95 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A Young woman is looking after her sister's house, unaware that her sister and neighbor have been murdered by their handyman who also happens to be a serial killer.
Director: Terry Bourke | Stars: Chard Hayward, Louise Howitt, Deborah Coulls, Roger Ward
Votes: 514
40. Boar (II) (2017)
Not Rated | 96 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
In the harsh, yet beautiful Australian outback lives a beast, an animal of staggering size, with a ruthless, driving need for blood and destruction. It cares for none, defends its territory with brutal force, and kills with a raw, animalistic savagery unlike any have seen before. Now coming face to face with the giant bloodthirsty killing machine, teens on a hiking trip will have the beast in ... See full summary »
Director: Chris Sun | Stars: Nathan Jones, Bill Moseley, John Jarratt, Steve Bisley
Votes: 3,871
41. Throwback (2015)
Not Rated | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Two treasure hunters, a park ranger and an unhinged ex-cop tangle with a Yowie, the Australian Bigfoot, deep in the jungles of Far North Queensland.
Director: Travis Bain | Stars: Shawn Brack, Anthony Ring, Melanie Serafin, Vernon Wells
Votes: 419
42. Housebound (2014)
Not Rated | 107 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
A young woman is forced to return to her childhood home after being placed under house arrest, where she suspects that something evil may be lurking.
Director: Gerard Johnstone | Stars: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Ross Harper
Votes: 37,582
43. Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The true story of Irish outlaw Daniel Morgan, who is wanted, dead or alive, in Australia during the 1850s.
Director: Philippe Mora | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Frank Thring
Votes: 1,865
44. Savages Crossing (2010)
85 min | Thriller
A motley group of strangers are all forced to seek refuge in a remote outback roadhouse due to severe flooding caused by a fierce torrential downpour. However, one of these people proves to... See full summary »
Director: Kevin James Dobson | Stars: Chris Haywood, Sacha Horler, Charlie Jarratt, John Jarratt
Votes: 294
45. Road Games (1981)
PG | 101 min | Mystery, Thriller
A laid-back American truck driver in south Australia suspects that the driver of a green van is killing young women along his route, and plays a game of cat-and-mouse to catch him.
Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page
Votes: 9,101
46. The Man from Snowy River (1982)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tom Burlinson, Terence Donovan, Tommy Dysart
Votes: 10,033 | Gross: $20.66M
47. Dark Age (1987)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Horror
A park ranger is tasked with dealing with a killer crocodile that appears to have a spiritual connection with the local Aboriginals.
Director: Arch Nicholson | Stars: John Jarratt, Nikki Coghill, Max Phipps, Burnham Burnham
Votes: 1,540
48. Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
TV-MA | 93 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A schoolteacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters take his family and him on a nightmare road trip.
Director: James Ashcroft | Stars: Daniel Gillies, Erik Thomson, Miriama McDowell, Matthias Luafutu
Votes: 7,641
49. Harlequin (1980)
PG | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
An enigmatic faith healer - who appears to possess genuine magical powers - and a political fixer vie for influence over a senator and his family.
Director: Simon Wincer | Stars: Robert Powell, David Hemmings, Carmen Duncan, Broderick Crawford
Votes: 1,709
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