Summer City

Everyone has to start somewhere and this was where Mel started. Plot is alright,the acting quality is variable, certainly John Jarrett, Steve Bisley (and Mel) have done better but I found the movie entertaining and watchable - just don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

Whoever wrote the last review simply doesn't get the film.

While there's a happy-go-lucky veneer to everything, like the surfing, the sex and "larrikin" behaviour (wild young lads basically), that's mostly on the surface. The scenery is actually far from cheery... in fact, it is used on some occasions in ways that could have been straight out of "Twin Peaks" (especially the shots of the sun rising over the sea), if it wasn't for the climate. The menacing Bush (no pun intended) is a common feature in Aussie films, perhaps too much so.

As for "slurred slang", this is how Australians speak. Sorry! There is only one part where I couldn't make it out, which is a rude remark Boo makes to a girl in a greasy burger joint. If Americans really need subtitles to work out Australian dialogue, I suggest they go and study the language at night class.

Mel Gibson is indeed wrongly touted as the star of the film on the packaging, but he is by no means a "very minor role", in fact he is one of the group of four young men on whom the action is centred, and who witnesses (and keeps quiet about) certain things which are integral to the plot.

Also the last reviewer is wrong about it being set in the seventies - it was made then, but from the title sequence, and the music which gets played it's clearly meant to be the sixties! So, I reckon the film has its flaws, but it's an interesting piece - if only to see Mel in his "introducing" role.

The star of the film was John Jarratt, who freaked a lot of people out a few years ago as Mick Taylor, the psychopathic killer in "Wolf Creek", as well as playing the Sergeant in "Australia".

"Summer City" was one of the films made in the 1970s as Australia tried to get back to rebuilding a film industry that collapsed before World War II as the cinema chains found it cheaper to import films than to pay for local films to be made. Up until the late 1960s Australian Governments had no real interest in films, more important things had to be done. We did not get television until 1956 and if Melbourne had not held the Olympics in that year it probably would have been later.

With all due respect to the previous reviewer, Mel Gibson is not the star of this 1977 Australian drama, sometimes known as "Coast of Terror." He is, however, very good in his film debut as Scollop, one of four young men on a weekend jaunt set sometime during the early 60's, judging by all the long surfboards and rock music of the era. The real stars are John Jarrat as Sandy, a quiet, introspective young man who is shortly to be married, and Steve Bisley as Boo, whose only focus in life seems to be having a good time, including a brief fling with Sandy's intended. It is the contrast of these two characters and the events that lead to the violent, tragic climax that make the film worth a view.

This is a very low budget film that suffers quite a bit from poor sound recording and inconsistent editing. The poor sound, coupled with very thick Australian accents will prompt American viewers to ask "What did he say?" throughout the film. On the plus side, the acting is very good for a low budget film and the Australian locales really add authenticity.

In addition to Gibson, this was also Bisley's film debut. They would re-team for George Miller's first "Mad Max" film as fellow police officers. In the United States, their Australian accents were dubbed into "American."

I couldn't believe how bad this movie was. It was like a rude surprise of a movie. It moves along the lines of Palm Beach or Pure S..t which is one of the worst Oz flicks I've seen. This movie done in the same trashy vein, where dialogue is like conversation, and scenes and clips are stung together, actors suddenly in different spots of scene. It is as though, it has all been done as a film student project, which in hindsight, scarily couldn't be far from the truth. The film again deals with the surf scene, again like in Puberty Blues, the male characters aren't that likable, especially Bisley's, rooting anything in sight, who suffers a tragic demise near the end, for knocking up a girl. SC gets so trashy at times, it almost borders on unwatchable, where from an appreciative style, manifests itself, at being so bad. Jarratt, the film's star is the only likable lad out of the foursome, cause he's not a pig like his mates. Even Mel is hard to warm to in this, only half likable if best. Jarratt's character is more adult and respective of women, while he's a conservative type too. The performances are only standard in this, and the high point, if you can call it that, rests in the last ten minutes, when the film takes a tragic and dramatic turn, conveying a consequential message about being young, insensitive and reckless. Check out Mel's dialogue take on surfing. This really bad, trashy pic, won't go down as one to remember, only for it's really trashy style, which is in abundance.