La chevauchée de feu

Despite the ubiquitous appearance by Sigrid Thorton, and my having to eat crow over my previous comments on Anthony Andrew's acting ability (no scenery chewing or hamming it up here), I very much enjoyed this outstanding Aussie film.

Simon Wincer has directed a wide variety of films, some bad (like the Cheryl Ladd waste of celluloid "Bluegrass" and the turkey "Pharlap") and some very good (like the intense "Harlequin" and the great A&E mini "PT Barnum"). I find this one to be particularly special due to it containing one of the best war sequences on film.

Wincer and his crew have excellently interwoven a beautifully done drama with incredible special effects. The battle sequence at the end if the film is so powerful that even seen on video on an average size home TV it is astounding. Not only is the Lighthorsemen's assault wonderfully choreographed, but the reaction shots of the cast are well performed. You can see the private struggles going on in the face of the big one.

This is not a movie for the faint of heart nor should it be dismissed as just another war movie by those a little leery of the genre.

I saw only the last half of this one, appropriately enough on Anzac Day, tuning in just as the delicious Nurse Siggy Thornton is writing a love letter that intelligence Major Anthony Andrews is going to mislead Johnny Turk with. So I missed the alleged tedium of the first hour. The film is no doubt best viewed on a big screen, but what I did see in the last hour was the Australian Light Horse attack on Beersheba, brilliantly staged and filmed, with hundreds of horses and extras and tonnes of dramatic tension.

The actual battle was an Aussie military success, due in large part to their opponents, especially the Germans, underestimating them. It was a change from Gallipoli, where some of the horsemen had fought a couple of years earlier. It was terribly thoughtful of the Australian commanders to order the attack an hour before sunset when the light is best, and Dean Semler the cinemaphotographer takes full advantage of it. The close camera shots in the battle really give you the feeling you're right in it - there is nothing particularly original about "Saving Private Ryan" made 10 years later.

Yes, it's a cliché-ridden and chauvinistic script. The real villains are the Germans, all from Central Casting's Nazi division, despite this being a movie about the FIRST World War, but the British officers are also portrayed as pretty perfidious - the guys who made snobbery an art form to cover their incompetence. The Turks, though, are shown as brave and worthy opponents, if a little under the Germans' thumb. No doubt John Ford would have done it differently (I'm not sure he would have handled the horses any better) but this is the Australian point of view. A Turkish version would be interesting.

Anyway, worth it for the final battle.

Historically accurate and meticulously researched, this is one of the genre of "federation-era" war productions in the 1980's by the Australian film industry. The high-quality movies and mini-series of this collection included such titles as "Breaker Morant", "Gallipoli" and "ANZACS", and one can see obvious similarities in the techniques and methodology used in their production. This, however, does not detract from their appeal or their entertainment value; quite the reverse, in fact. The formula for this genre was to take an historically-documented campaign and translate it as faithfully as possible to the big screen, with emphasis on characterisation, accuracy of detail and background.

The formula works, because the characters are believable, and the situations, events and settings have been faithfully re-created. Much of the background and information for this genre came from personal diaries and military archives preserved over the years, which adds credence to the plots, the action and the stories.

"The Lighthorsemen" highlights the campaign of the Australian mounted rifles in the North Africa battleground of the Great War, and culminates with the last successful action of horse-riding troops in combat. Without giving away the story too much, the taking of Beersheba in the closing days of 1918 was a decisive event in military history, and the screen portrayal of this action will have you on the edge of your seat.

Masterful performances by Jon Blake, Shane Briant and Bill Kerr (all veterans of this movie formula,) the attention to detail, the drama, and the occasional humour make for a very entertaining movie. It's recommended viewing.

This is an excellent film with surely the finest cavalry charge ever filmed. In this movie the horse is King and the care taken to illustrate the vital interaction between these magnificent animals and their riders is great to behold. The acting and direction are good without the need for big names. It has had a number of releases, the best being a 2.35 wide screen laser disc version in the USA. Australia has released a DVD version but it is dreadfully truncated being cut to 1.78 from the vastly more meaningful aspect ratio of the laser disc. On the big screen this film makes a fantastic impact and every effort should be made to see the original wide screen version in this way. Highly recommended.

This is a story about some episode British-Turk campaign in Palestine in 1917. Very important role in this campaign was played by Australian forces. The key to conquer the Holy Land is city of Gaza. British general wants however to throw his forces to bypass the city and capture another one - Beersheba. To take them both it is necessary to keep his plan secret.

As a person who is interested in all WWI history I was waiting for this movie. I find it very good. All equipment seems to be very accurate, however, I've never heard about use of tanks in this front. There is a nice scene of air attack by German biplane, cars from that times, uniforms, and so on -- it all seems to be historical correct. The final charge is worth waiting for. I think that anyone who is interested in this campaign would be satisfied.

Because of Australian point of view the role of British army seems to be a little underrated. I especially mean British commander -- general Allenby. I think it would be good to say at the very end that after capturing Beersheba, Gaza fell as well a week later, and the road to Jerusalem was opened. This was what was lacking for me.