Australiens (2014)

Extra-terrestrials launch a nation-wide assault on Australia, much to the bafflement of the rest of the world.

Director:

Joe Bauer

Writers:

Rita Artmann (story), Joe Bauer (story)

Stars:

Rita Artmann, Tamara McLaughlin, Lawrence Silver

5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rita Artmann	...	Andi
Tamara McLaughlin	...	Cam
Lawrence Silver	...	Keith
Doug Hatch	...	Elliot
Joe Bauer	...	John
Emma Randall	...	Alien Commander
Rob Jenkins	...	Crowe
Paul Adams	...	Dennis
Kyle McCallion	...	Stix
Caroline Bell	...	Kylie
Zac Kelty	...	Presidential PA
Jacinta Tynan	...	Anchorwoman
Murray Shoring	...	Radio Announcer
Jack O'Brien	...	Alien Leiutenant
Carmel Savage	...	English Teacher

Storyline

At the age of 10, Australian-born Andi Gibson had what she describes as a close encounter with a flying saucer. Naturally, everyone assumed she was bonkers. That is until one notable evening, 17 years later, when an airborne extra-terrestrial armada launches a nation-wide assault on Andi's home country and at the same time, for unspecified reasons, kidnaps her mother. To add to the debacle, it seems the other nations of the world are far too insulted by their exclusion from the attack to come to Australia's aid. Now it is up to Andi, her hypochondriac brother Elliot, retired boxer cousin Keith and documentary filmmaker friend Cam to stop the attack and rescue Andi's mum. Enlisting the help of Andi's equal-parts mysterious and cringeworthy father, the gang must battle car-chasing spaceships, martial-arts aliens, giant killer robots and, perhaps most frighteningly, a deluge of family secrets in their fight to save Australia. Bloody hell, this is gonna be a long night.

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Plot Keywords:

australian science fiction | australian horror | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Page Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 2015 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 20,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ArtSpear Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Australiens won Best International Comedy Feature and was nominated for Best Comedy Feature and Best Visual Effects at Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival in Buffalo, New York - 2015

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Connections

Referenced in Australiens: Monster Fest Q&A (2016)

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Soundtracks

Waltzing Matilda
Original music by Christina McPherson, revised music by Marie Cowan and lyrics by A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson
[Incorrectly credited as written by Banjo Paterson]
Arranged by Andrew O'Sullivan
Performed by Andrew O'Sullivan & Rita Artmann

User Reviews

They invaded the wrong nation....

Without even having heard of this movie prior to finding it, I decided to give "Australiens" a chance after I happened to find it by sheer, random luck. I read the synopsis, and it did sound like it could be a fun movie, sort of the likes such as "Black Sheep", "Shaun of the Dead" or "Undead".

Sure, there were great elements and funny moments to "Australiens", but it didn't have that great quality like other movies of the same genre had, and as such then it wasn't an outstanding movie. It was a watchable and hilarious enough movie, but it just wasn't a movie that left a memorable impression.

The story is about a group of fairly odd people living their ordinary, routine lives in Australia, when aliens happen to come to Earth to take over the planet. The group of unlikely heroes take up arms and make a stand against the alien invaders.

This was a low budget movie, there was no doubt about it. Even a blind man could tell that from a mile away. But even as such, then they managed to get it all to work here in the movie. Even though it was low budget and questionable props and worse CGI, then it was just all comical enough to actually work in favor of the movie.

The acting in "Australiens" was good. You know what you are getting yourself into essentially when you sit down to watch a movie such as this. But I will say that people were doing good jobs all around, and it was clearly visible that the acting talents were having a blast making this movie.

As for the CGI effects and special effects. Let's just give them a thumbs up for trying. But getting down to business, then the CGI were laughable and very, very fake. The practical effects in the movie were adequate, albeit not the best of practical effects. But again, taking the movie and its budget into consideration, then what was to be expected in terms of effects here?

"Australiens" is the type of movie that will appeal primarily to a specific target audience, and you must be a fan of low budget Sci-Fi movies and comedies in order to get some kind of enjoyment from "Australiens". I was adequately entertained by the movie, although my final rating settles on a mediocre five out of ten stars.