80's Month Day 22: The Man from Snowy River

 

 

Well, '80's Month' is quickly coming to a close and the last 'Western Wednesday' of the month is the 1982 Australian-Western The Man from Snowy River.

 

After his father dies, a young man named Jim Craig (played by Tom, Burlinson) leaves the mountains and heads to the lowlands for work. Jim then meets up with a one-legged miner named Spur (played by Kirk Douglas) and soon gets a job at Spur's brother's ranch (Spurs brother Harrison is also played by Kirk Douglas). One day a man named Clancy (played by Jack Thompson)  who used to be a friend of Jim's dad arrives at the ranch to lead a cattle drive alongside Harrison and some of the other ranch hands while Jim stays back. While Harrison is away, the beginnings of a romance start to form between Jim and Harrison's daughter Jessica (played by Sigrid Thornton).  Eventually when Harrison returns he get gets into an argument with Jessica, threatens to send her to a woman's college and tells her that he's going to fire Jim. Impulsively, the defiant Jessica rides off into the mountains where she is caught in a storm, only to be rescued a short time later by Jim.

 The film then explains the backstory of why the two brothers Harrison and Spur don't get along, which isn't anything too interesting. Jim then brings Jessica back to the Harrison ranch and, initially Harrison is grateful. That is until Jim tells Harrison that he loves Jessica,  something that naturally angers him. Well, Jim rides off and meets up with Spur who informs him that he struck gold and that Jim will receive the share that would've gone to Jim's father. Soon after, Harrison puts up a big reward for some horses that ran off and, of course Jim retrieves them, refuses the reward, tells Jessica he'll return for her someday, then he rides off back to the mountains.

Overall, it's a pretty well made film and the acting is ok, but it's kind of dull and you definitely feel every minute of the 1hr 40min runtime. It's fine but I don't recommend it.

I give it a 2 out of 5

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A Look Back At Australia (2008)

The film is kind of a mixed bag so let's get right into it.

Lady Ashley (played by Nicole Kidman) travels from England to Australia to sell a cattle ranch her husband owns. Upon arriving in Australia she meets the Drover (played by Hugh Jackman). This is part of the movie's strength as well as part of it's problem. They're both likable and their on-screen chemistry is good but, the characters are pretty thinly written. He's the rugged, loner, cowboy type and she's a proper, well-off, British woman. It's fine but nothing special.

From there they have to go on a cattle drive. Then there's a stampede. Then Lady Ashley decides she wants to adopt a half-White half-Aboriginal boy. Then, of course, Lady Ashley and the Driver fall in love. Also there's this weird Aborigine guy that keeps showing up. Then Japanese planes bomb the port. Then Hugh Jackman has to rescue some kids off an island...

There is a lot crammed into this film. as a result, the runtime is about 3 hours, which is probably bout 20-30 minutes too long for this particular film. As grand and vibrant as the film is, there are a few scenes that could've been cut and the movie wouldn't have suffered.
That being said, this movie does look incredible. It's one of those movies that even if the plot doesn't sound that interesting to you, it's worth watching at least once just for the cinematography.

As stated earlier, it is a mixed-bag but overall it's enjoyable.

I give this one a 3.5 out of 5

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