Customer Reviews
Beautiful-looking Guff - By: Reimer, 29 Mar 2008 
On paper this should be great but I couldn't even get past two thirds of the way through, so pointlessly drawn out was it in some attempt at the quality of an epic. The setting & some of the detail is great but the plot lacks the resonance with me to carry off the portentous tone of the film. The gang of Whites'n'Abos outlaws being sought by Ray Winstone seem to represent some model of raciallly-integrated cohesion whose brand of ruthless brutality trumps (at least for a while) the nasty racist unhip colonial authorities represented by Ray. I suppose this kind of romantic view of malign outsiders is one that would be held by the writer, that darling of the quality colour supplements, Nick Cave.
Get the soundtrack record instead - magnificent stuff.
Lyrical Aussie Western - By: Willie Meikle, 23 Mar 2008 
Bleak, brutal & yet strangely lyrical... a bit like Cave's own music. It looks great, the score is mean & moody, & it's got a huge emotional impact. Ray Winstone is as solid & steady as ever, & Guy Pearce adds the bearded cowboy to his CV.
Not for the squeamish, but I loved it, & would heartily recommend it to any Sergio Leone fans.
Does not live up to the hype - By: T. A. Underwood, 09 Feb 2008 
I had heard great things about this film & as a fan of Westerns & Australian movies in general thought it would be excellent - plus Winstone & Pearce are both great actors. However, this film was a let down & only entertained in patches. The ending is good & rescued the film from being a dour, slow-driven, plot-lacking spectacle. Emily Watson, who plays Winstone's wife, is completely average & gets far too much screen time - the way her personality changes after seeing Mike Burns (the youngest of the brothers) get whipped is unconvincing to put it mildly. Danny Huston is excellent & there are some scenes, such as when Pearce goes into the outback pub to meet the bounty hunter, which are reallly good. Although, as a whole, the film is a disappointment. Winstone's character is not very interesting & there is not enough plot to back up what is at times a good narrative combined with tender moments & a decent score. The ending of this film saves it from being distinctly average - Pearce deserves a lot more screen time.
Excellent! - By: lostunderthestars, 09 Jan 2008 I bought this film for my boyfriend for christmas as he had heard good reviews & we weren't disappointed. I thought the imagery was amazing & felt that the lack of constant dialogue reallly worked. I will be recommending this to everyone!
Destined to be a cult classic - By: Hugh Garske, 30 Sep 2007 Not many films take nearly ten times their box office takings in rentals in just one year. This fact is either testament to the poor initial marketing of this feature or that it is already developing into a cult classic.
The cast is absolutely superb; an ensemble of Ray Winston, John Hurt, Guy Pearce, Danny Huston, Emily Watson & David Wenham alll gelling superbly to produce one of the finest movies made in Australia & which has been a major cause of the spate of Westerns we've seen produced over the last 18 months. It seems as though half of Hollywood wants to try & outdo what was done in this movie.
The movie is centred around a manhunt for a criminal that has committed an unspeakable atrocity. The officials kidnap the man's younger brother in an effect to pit the two remaining brothers against each other. The methods used by the officials to entice the remaining brothers out of hiding become more brutal with unforseen consequences.
This movie is harsh, violent, tender & thought-provoking without overdoing anything. The idea of the police captain trying satisfy himself & his wife with an oasis of well-watered flowers & sumptuous dinner in the middle of the outback draws paralllels with the idea of cultivating peace & harmony in one of the most violent periods of Australian history.
If you want a Western that doesn't fit the mould & has inspired Hollywood to re-invent the genre this is the one.
