The Legend of Ben Hall

When we think of Australian bushrangers it's highly likely that the first name that springs to mind is Ned Kelly.

The armour wearing Irish outlaw that to this day remains one of Australia's most well-known figures has had his fair share of the spotlight when it comes to feature films, documentaries and countless other iterations, so it's about time we are treated to another bushranger fuelled local production and up and coming director Matthew Holmes is here to answer our call.

Based on the true story and inspired by Holmes work on the short film The Last Days of Ben Hall, The Legend of Ben Hall sees us transported to the dangerous and violent lands of a burgeoning Australia in the 1860's were wanted bush bandit Ben Hall and his various band of fellow trouble makers are hunted through the thick surrounds of the bush as they try and secure themselves fortune by various robberies, hold-ups and other dastardly deeds.

I for one must admit to not knowing about Ben Hall and his tribulations as an outlaw of the local lands but Holmes captures the time and place in our history fantastically to give us a first-hand insight into the later life of this everyday man turned hunted criminal.

The film looks great, filmed with a steady hand and a keen eye; there really aren't many local productions that feel this polished. From gun fights, hand to hand brawls, through to simply capturing the rugged natural wilds of a yet to be civilised Australia, Holmes and his production team have nailed the setting completely but Legend's failure to connect us emotionally to Hall, some disappointing acting and a runtime that needed some extra trimming all hold the film back from becoming the truly great experience it could've been.

While he certainly looks the part, in the lead role of Hall, actor Jack Martin struggles to convey the necessary range we needed to invest ourselves into Hall as our central figure and he remains a somewhat mysterious figure throughout, as we're never shown his early beginnings or real reasoning behind becoming the figure he became and while the man never took a life as far as we know, it doesn't exactly make him a likable persona.

The other notable downfall of this otherwise cut-above local production is the supporting turn of Jamie Coffa as Hall's outlaw sidekick John Gilbert. Coffa's turn is at times nigh on unbearable as his Gilbert cackles and crazies his way through various scenarios and it feels like a turn dialled up to 11, when it needed to be dialled quite a ways back and while it's nice when actors try and liven up dramatic proceedings, Coffa's turn feels way out of place here.

The Legend of Ben Hall shines a light on a little known piece of Australian history and showcases Holmes often impressive skill as a director, that should make local and international audiences excited for his next outing, the horror tinged Territorial, that hopefully will be finding its way into cinemas sometime in the near future.

Not always on the mark and frustrating in some of its execution, particularly within its performances, The Legend of Ben Hall is however a finely put together independent local production that deserves a larger audience on home video formats than it was afforded in a brief cinematic run towards the end of last year.

3 trigger happy officers of the law out of 5

A mildly interesting story about an Australian bush-ranger that runs about half an hour too long. Very slow moving and not-engaging. By halfway through I'd completely lost interest in finishing the film, much less the "history". Apparently, for a review to be valid, it requires 5 lines of text, but I'm not sure that there are 5 lines worth of useful thoughts on a movie where almost nothing happens in 2 hours.

This is a true story.

In Australia 1864, Ben Hall (Jack Martin) wants to give up being a Bush-ranger (A bandit), but is convinced by his friend John Gilbert – aka Happy Jack – (Jamie Coffa) to give it one more go to make enough money to go to the United States. John Dunn (William Lee) joins them and together they rob mostly travelers. Ben Hall has unfinished business with his wife Biddy (Joanne Dobbin) who left him and he wants to take his son Henry (Zane Ciarma) away from her. The government is in the process of passing The Felons Apprehension Act which would make Ben, Happy Jack and Dunn OUTLAWS and could be shot on sight by any citizen.

This movie is about the last 9-months of Ben Hall's life. Before that he and his gang robbed at will and then Ben's gang was disbanded and he led a quiet life until John Gilbert came after him to continue the life of crime.

This is a very good western, and some may compare him to Jesse James although all we saw was Ben, Happy Jack and Dunn only robbing travelers and not trains and banks as Jesse James did. Later we did see an attempt to rob a mail coach with a lot of money, but it was not successful. Ben Hall was known all throughout Australia and was known to never have killed a man.

The cinematography was stunning, the dialogues were spot on, the acting by all was very good, and the music was low key, but okay. The shooting scenes were carefully done and were impressive. The movie may be a little too long, but very engaging.

Ben Hall played by Jack Martin seems to have been a reasonable man who wanted no part of killing. He even allowed a lady he was robbing to keep a necklace she wanted badly. Jamie Coffa as John Gilbert aka Happy Jack was a bit of a clown and a loose cannon sometimes. William Lee as John Dunn was simply a good follower and loyal to Ben Hall.

You keep asking what happened to Ben Hall at the end. Ben Hall was betrayed by his good friend Mick Coneley played by Adam Willson and was ambushed by the police Mick's wife Mary (Erica Field) always had a thing for Ben.

At the end of the movie there are statements what happened to all. (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: Yes. Language: Some F-bombs, but not many,.

What a beautifully shot film!! Excellent cinematography, it almost out shone the stars!

After reading copious amounts of Ben Hall literature in my youth this is the best historically accurate telling without adding the usual 'Hollywood' style fluff to pad it out and make a more 'interesting' movie to the detriment of the real tale. It shouldn't, and didn't need it. Well done Mathew and crew!

Jack Martin bought to life the best portrayal of Ben Hall yet, as did the rest of the gang and support cast. Even though Jamie Coffa's John Gilbert, with his 'boyish laugh', was a bit over the top and sometimes annoying, I reckon the real Gilbert probably was too.

The costuming and set detail is one of the best I've seen to recreate an accurate picture of the period. That's something that's usually goes astray. Even right down to the accurate detail of the weaponry used which would have maybe even impressed the late bushranger historian Edgar Penzig. A hard man to please.

The great music score only added the majesty of the scenery and the use of traditional music off the period, always a must, added to the authenticity. The song Ben Hall as the end piece was beautifully haunting. The stunning work of Ross Morgan's portraits during the credits must also get a mention.

The gun battles were excellently and excitingly shot while the last scenes of Ben's demise were very moving to say the least. Those bastard traps!

And the most amazing thing? It was crowd funded and shot on a very limited budget …but you wouldn't know.

This is a mostly forgotten history lesson that needed telling. Move over Ned!

Sadly, the distribution of this film is patchy, to say the least, and it will not be found in most mainstream cinemas. That is a real pity, as it is far better than many "big name" films (I'm tempted to write a spoiler here about the one we saw a few days ago) and deserves to be seen more readily. We had to travel to another town to see it.

For a film made on, essentially, a shoestring budget, the quality on all scores is excellent. The Australian bush is captured beautifully, the casting and acting is entirely credible as are the sets and production values. The script brings out good character development in the main characters and the story itself is historically accurate to the point that it could almost qualify for documentary status.

Trying hard to look for negatives, the most I could suggest is that there could have been slightly tighter editing of some of the "moody pensive" shots and horse riding. But that was a minor consideration. I also should mention the great musical score.

Definitely worth seeing to visit the Australian bush of the 1860s and to learn of one of the most legendary of our bushrangers.