Australia at the end of the nineteenth century a barren and hostile place where people have little respect for human life. Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) captures two well know crooks and rapists the Burns brothers Charlie and Arthur (Guy Pearce and Richard Wilson) after a shootout. The two men have a third brother who is part of the gang who Captain Stanley also wants to capture. Therefore, he lays a proposition onto the table that if Charlie kills his brother he will let Arthur go on his return. Charlie accepts and begins to seek out his brother, but will he return with the proof that he has fulfilled his part to the proposal?
I expected far more from this, it had been built up a great deal in advertising and had got favorable reviews so I had high expectations. Unfortunately this was a slow and dull picture that brought nothing new to the Western genre, it was a million miles away from matching the excellence of Sergio Leone Westerns. The film plodded along, coming to a very predictable end without satisfying at all. The acting was fine although John Hurt's fine acting skills were wasted on a stupid part and Pearce was 'safe' as ever in his role. The cinematography was good and shots of landscapes were nice to look at but thats not why I go to see a film. I wanted a unique story, diverse and idiosyncratic characters, a good score and something to remember that stays locked in your mind for a couple of days after. This was certainly not it, a boring conventional film that was a waste of time, I wish I had re-watched a decent Western like the 'Good the Bad and the Ugly' instead.
I expected far more from this, it had been built up a great deal in advertising and had got favorable reviews so I had high expectations. Unfortunately this was a slow and dull picture that brought nothing new to the Western genre, it was a million miles away from matching the excellence of Sergio Leone Westerns. The film plodded along, coming to a very predictable end without satisfying at all. The acting was fine although John Hurt's fine acting skills were wasted on a stupid part and Pearce was 'safe' as ever in his role. The cinematography was good and shots of landscapes were nice to look at but thats not why I go to see a film. I wanted a unique story, diverse and idiosyncratic characters, a good score and something to remember that stays locked in your mind for a couple of days after. This was certainly not it, a boring conventional film that was a waste of time, I wish I had re-watched a decent Western like the 'Good the Bad and the Ugly' instead.