Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010)

When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight unlikely teenagers band together to fight.

Director:

Stuart Beattie

Writers:

John Marsden (novel), Stuart Beattie

Stars:

Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis

8 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Caitlin Stasey	...	Ellie Linton
Rachel Hurd-Wood	...	Corrie Mackenzie
Lincoln Lewis	...	Kevin Holmes
Deniz Akdeniz	...	Homer Yannos
Phoebe Tonkin	...	Fiona Maxwell
Chris Pang	...	Lee Takkam
Ashleigh Cummings	...	Robyn Mathers
Andrew Ryan	...	Chris Lang (as Andy Ryan)
Colin Friels	...	Dr. Clements
Don Halbert	...	Mr. Linton
Olivia Pigeot	...	Mrs. Linton
Stephen Bourke	...	Police Officer
Kelly Butler	...	Mrs. Maxwell
Julia Yon	...	Mrs. Takkam
Dane Carson	...	Mr. Mathers

Storyline

In a small Australian town, seven teenage friends go on a camping trip to be with nature. During their trip, they see military aircraft fly overhead. What they don't know is that their country is being invaded. Returning home, they discover that they are at war. With no training, they band together to fight the enemy.

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Plot Keywords:

australian | military | insect cage | exploding airplane | knocked unconscious | 

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Taglines:

Where Were You When Everything Changed?

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The language spoken by the invaders in the film is a totally made up language, sampled from many languages worldwide and then scrambled.

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Goofs

When Lee is getting worked on by the doctor his pant leg is cut off, but later as he climbs into the dump bucket he has a full length pant leg again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ellie Linton: We're not going to hold back. Recording it like this, it's um, it's so important to us. I guess it's our way of telling us that things matter. That we mean something. Maybe... some of the things we've done... The friends that we've lost, hopefully it all makes a difference somehow.
[regaining her composure]
Ellie Linton: There's only one way to do this. And that's to go back to where this all began.

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Connections

Featured in The 7PM Project: Episode #1.274 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Restaurant Piano
Written, Produced & Performed by Guy Gross

User Reviews

Tripped over a Gem!

OK so this was one of those films that I tripped over. It was amongst a list of supposedly "worthy" sci-fi action films in the SMH one day about three months ago. Now I pay to go see films in the cinema that I know I want to see. But films that I couldn't be bothered seeing or paying for but still have a curiosity over - I download using bit torrent. And so it was that this film (along with some of the others) came my way.

Now I wish I had paid for it. Because it certainly is worth a proper screening! This film was a welcome breath of fresh air film making in the tradition of Aussie films where character development and story telling mean more than explosions. That's not to say that the explosions weren't good - they were - but this film brings back a rare thing nowadays in feature films - emotion.

Give this film a go. It's under rated, very delightful to watch and quintessentially Australian. Watching it, you begin to truly believe that "hey that could be my town, my son, my house". It challenges and yet entertains. And most of all, it's simple to watch. You don't need an arts degree to enjoy it - it flows over you.

Be patient with the beginning (like many Aussie films and old cars, it takes a while to get warmed up). In the end, I couldn't fault this film. It's one of the rare recent releases that I know will be watched again and again.

Zordmaker

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tomorrow, When the War Began

Filming Locations:

Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,172, 26 February 2012

Gross USA:

$4,936

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,533,595

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ambience Entertainment, Omnilab Media

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1