Anzacs

Excellant drama that charts the story of an ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) volunteer regiment from Gallipoli through to the end of the war. It is a story of tragedy and triumph, laughs and tears and is a series I can't wait to get the opportunity to watch again.

This is an interesting chronicle of the ANZACs, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

One reason my fellow reviewer here might not have enjoyed this film is that it was created for an entirely different culture (Australia). To brand it as "bad" simply because it isn't American is patently unfair.

This made-for-TV production is really aimed squarely at the Australian audience, who still revere the memory of the ANZACs, the troops who suffered horrendous losses at Gallipoli in WWI. The heroism of the ANZACs, who fought so bravely and with such determination, was such that the Turkish enemy erected a monument to them.

While it is true that the film (culled from a five-part mini-series), is not riveting entertainment compared to something like "Centennial" or "War and Rememberance", it does outline the feelings, views, and politics of the day faced by the ANZAC forces.

The Australian and New Zealand viewpoints of the Great War are rarely on display, and here we have all of the various sentiments played out before us. The overall feeling (still is tangible today), is that the incompetence and arrogance of British officers (under whom the ANZAC force operated), were directly responsible for the waste of lives in pointless charges against the heavily entrenched Turkish forces.

The mini-series is positively anti-colonial in regards to the portrayal of the British as uncaring, and more interested in saving British lives than that of the Aussies or New Zealanders.

Paul Hogan will most likely be the only familliar face for American viewers. I would recommend the Mel Gibson film "Gallipoli" for those looking for a familliar cast and a relatively big budget look. That film also has more weight to it, and is more stylized.

While "ANZACs" does come off as a bit like "light drama", or perhaps almost a glorified soap opera, if someone is interested in the topic of WWI, and the Australian and New Zealand participation in particular, the mini-series is worth a viewing. For scholars studying the events in this theater of the war, is a must see to examine both the attitudes of the day, and at the time the mini-series was made.

I must premise this review by saying that I was only able to watch the abbreviated video version of Anzacs, which was released in North America. This is a seriously truncated version of the mini-series, and it shows. My suspicion is that all anyone who see's this version is being shortchanged, certainly I felt so and I don't feel it's fair to try to review the series adequately based on a chopped up version.

Therefore, I'll restrict my comments to the premise of the film, and what I could observe of the acting and production. First, the premise. The story of the Anzac's in the First World War is one of the great stories, and tragedies, of that dreadful conflict. Enthusiastic, if only partially trained, the Anzac's were first commited to the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey, an event which matched or exceeded any carnage seen on the Western front. Commanded by British generals whose incompetence exceeded even that of Douglas Haig and his crony's, they were slaughtered in their thousands fighting a useless and ill lead campaign. The Anzac's eventually were forced to surrender their hard won slivers of Turkish soil when the campaign was abandoned. Subsequently sent to the Western Front, they were placed under the command of 'Butcher' Haig and his merry men, where such joys as Paschendale and other acts of carnage ensued. Despite their repeated abuses at the hands of British idiots, the Anzac's gained a reputation as hard and skilled fighters, showing innovation and courage in a war marked mainly by incompetence and slaughter.

Alas, the video version of the movie captures little of the true story of the Anzac's, focussing instead on the quite weak stories of the characters. A tepid love story between nurse and a soldier ensues, various secondary characters die, and most gratingly, Paul Hogan does his interpretation of a WW1 Sgt. Bilko. The combat scenes are poorly portrayed, and little is done to even try to capture the true horror experienced by the Anzac's in both Gallipoli or France.

On the positive side, some effort is made to capture the utter incompetence of the British generals commanding the Anzac's, and there is a recognition in the film of the tragedy of superb soldier's lives being utterly wasted in utterly useless assaults. If more emphasis has been placed on this and the actions of the soldier's in the trenches, it is possible that a very gripping story might have ensued.

Overall, I think that the series would probably be worth seeing, as it does deal with a part of history that has been ignored for too long. It must be remembered that this mini-series is now over 15 years old, and the production values reflect that era. North American audiences should avoid the truncated video, as it does little justice to the subject.

7 out of 10, in acknowledgement of an attempt to honor brave men sacrificed needlessly.

Anzac Day seemed an appropriate day to bring out my World War one movies, and so I arrived home from the Dawn Service, and stuck the first episode of Anzacs starring Andrew Clarke, Paul Hogan, and Jon Blake, into the VCR.

It was an excellent mini-series - or movie, depending on where you live - when I first watched it three years ago, and I was pleased to know that it hasn't lost any of it's filmic brilliance. Excellent performances from perennial Australian actor Andrew Clarke (playing Martin Barrington), legend Paul Hogan (cocky Pat Cleary) and Jon Blake (Flanagan) combined with great special effects, and much attention to historical detail, make this mini series an excellent thing to watch. It's certainly one of the best Australian productions ever.

The thing that sets Anzacs apart from anything else is the way the film begins in Victoria, just before war is declared, and takes the viewer on a journey from the boot camps, to the Gallipoli Peninsula, and on to the hellish battlefields across France and Belgium. The series follows a small platoon, originating in Victoria, and their trials and tribulations throughout the four years of World War One.

Key Australian actions from Lone Pine to the battle at Villers-Bretonneux are depicted with amazing attention to detail, and with great, sweeping battle sequences. The series is also remarkable in the way that it focuses on both the battlefield events, as well as events behind the lines. I like this, especially considering that infantry spent on 30% of their time in the line.

Gallipoli and The Lighthorseman are unfairly compared to Anzacs but shouldn't be, because these two movies focus on only a small campaign, where as Anzacs is long enough to show the whole war.

This is an excellent production, and is a good education into the way things happened during World War One, and is well worth the price of the video rental.

Andrew

I refer in these comments to the full 3-video mini-series, not the truncated version or film produced for the American market.

In general, a well-produced and directed series which, with a few minor exceptions is probably as close to the true horror and carnage of the First World War as it is possible to get. Most of the minor errors can be explained by the requirements of plotting or pure visual effect and, in my opinion do not seriously detract from the overall truth of the subject matter.

It should be remembered that this series was produced for the Australians, whose culture and memory is very different to that of the Americans who seem to have a collective down on this video/film. Perhaps if our North American cousins had come into the war several years earlier and suffered the casualties the Empire did they might have a different view of the series.

The feeling throughout the series is of the AIF being abused and butchered by the incompetent British generals - and as a military historian I cannot say the series is wrong. However, other than one short scene, the series does not highlight the fact that the British were suffering just as much under their own generals.

All in all I would say the viewer would get a much better idea of what the AIF and World War I was about by seeing this mini series than by viewing Gallipoli, which is generally thought to be historically weak.

I would recommend the mini series but not the film or truncated North American video release.