Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.
In northern Australia at the beginning of World War II, an English aristocrat inherits a cattle station the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn stock-man to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.Written by
Anonymous
Russell Crowe was attached as the lead during pre-production. He left when 20th Century Fox executives tried to stay within budget by reducing Crowe's salary. See more »
Goofs
When Copper Callahan first arrives at Fareaway Downs, he introduces himself as "Northern Territory Police". On the map in King Carney's office, which is shown during Lady Ashley's arrival, Faraway Downs is entirely located in Western Australia. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Nullah:
My grandfather, King George, he take'em me walkabout, teach me black fella way. Grandfather teach'em me most important lesson of all. Tell'em story. That day I down the billabong. King George, he teach me how to catch'em fish using magic song. See, I not black fella. I not white fella either. Them white fellas call me mixed-blood, half-caste, creamy. I belong to no one.
King George:
That day I see'em them white fellas. They were pushing them cheeky bulls across the river onto Carney land.
Nullah:
[...] See more »
Shapeless epic with a shifting center. Everything feels fake even the real magnificent scenery but it's really the script that tried to be about a lot of things but ends up being about nothing. The potential poetry in the plight of the Aborigines smells of opportunism, at least, it wasn't filled with the honesty of Philip Noyce's "Rabbit Proof Fence" for instance. On a personal, and maybe shallow perspective, I'm truly upset about Nicole Kidman for whatever she's done to her face, I was so aware of the swelling in her upper lip that it distracted me away from any sort of emotion. Hugh Jackman is gorgeous but his acting here is so exterior that I couldn't believe him for a moment. He is the new Rock Hudson and I think he'll be at his best in bright feel good, sexy comedies. Buz Lhurman's "Australia" seems filmed by a foreigner. There is not a hint of the Australia I got to know and be fascinated by of the films of Peter Weir just to name one great Aussie director. Buz Lhurman has been a lucky director with lots and lots of of chutzpah. Let's see what happens next.
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Shapeless epic with a shifting center. Everything feels fake even the real magnificent scenery but it's really the script that tried to be about a lot of things but ends up being about nothing. The potential poetry in the plight of the Aborigines smells of opportunism, at least, it wasn't filled with the honesty of Philip Noyce's "Rabbit Proof Fence" for instance. On a personal, and maybe shallow perspective, I'm truly upset about Nicole Kidman for whatever she's done to her face, I was so aware of the swelling in her upper lip that it distracted me away from any sort of emotion. Hugh Jackman is gorgeous but his acting here is so exterior that I couldn't believe him for a moment. He is the new Rock Hudson and I think he'll be at his best in bright feel good, sexy comedies. Buz Lhurman's "Australia" seems filmed by a foreigner. There is not a hint of the Australia I got to know and be fascinated by of the films of Peter Weir just to name one great Aussie director. Buz Lhurman has been a lucky director with lots and lots of of chutzpah. Let's see what happens next.