Pelotão de Elite

This film should be seen by all Australians. It is authentic and extremely well acted; no overacting and no gilding the lily. Take a box of tissues. As an indication of how special this movie was, at the end while the credits were playing, everyone except two people remained in their seats for the entire running time of the credits and the upper part of the theatre was full. I would like to encourage younger people to see it; young people like those who visit Gallipoli would appreciate its significance. It depicts the true nature of the first world war and also depicts the essence of the Australian character; free-spirited, somewhat disrespectful of officer ranks until said officers earn respect. WWI was not like other wars; though the very awfulness of the trenches is obvious, the movie dwells just enough but not too much on this aspect. I hope it is successful overseas though I cannot imagine the British going to see it in large numbers, nor the Americans. The British are gently lampooned once or twice and would not take kindly to this, and the Americans do not get a look in at all so they would not be likely to be motivated to see it. However, if they did, I think they would appreciate it.

I have to disagree with the comments comparing this movie with 'Hurt Locker' which is a superior movie in nearly every day and deserves its Oscar credits. This is however an excellent war drama telling a fairly unknown true story of Oliver Woodward during World War One. I for one had never heard of Oliver Woodward until watching this movie. Yes, to some degree, I would compare it to 'My Boy Jack" and even 'Passchendale' and actually 'Tunnel Rats' the Vietnam war drama springs more to mind.

There is also a love story thrown in for good measure and overall this is a very sensitive film with an unacceptable but seemingly necessary ending. The acting is superb throughout and the story fascinating in how it was told from beginning until the end.

For those who like their dose of war dramas, this is clearly one not to be missed.

This is a movie that every Australian must watch. It's a story about the unforgotten heroes, who went and did their bit for the Great War. Amazingly it's based on a true story of miners who, went to the Western Front and dug a network of tunnels deep beneath the Germans. Implanted within the labyrinth of tunnels, is millions of explosives waiting to be set off.

What makes this film is the human side of emotion. There is mate ship and bonds which can never be set aside; experiences that only the men can relate to. There is the love story between Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) and young Marjorie Waddell (Bella Heathcote). And you see the youthful innocence of young men, in particular Frank Tiffin, played by Harrison Gilbertson and Walter Sneddon (Alex Thompson).

The contrast between the Queensland and the war is reflected in the use of colour and lighting. Queensland is bathed in sunlight, warm clean colours and in the costumes. While the Western Front is portrayed in constant bleak colours where bright colours don't exist. It's cold, wet and rain(for some reason, it's not a war movie until is has the element of rain and coldness).

The English accent of the British troops are not great, they sound more like upper crust Australians. But apart from that comment, this is a gem of a movie. It will have you hooked until the very last second.

First of all, I'd like to address the large number of reviews that mention Americans haven't seen/wouldn't't be interested in this film. There seems to be an assumption that Americans aren't interested in war films that don't feature Americans. Not sure where this is coming from, but I've never found that to be the case. Americans who like war movies, like war movies. Almost everyone I know has seen 'Gallipoli', 'The Odd Angry Shot', 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence', 'Mad Max' (OK, not a real 'war' movie, but just sayin'), in addition to many of the great British and German-made films. The issue isn't with interest, it's with distribution. If studios and theater owners don't think they'll make a zillion dollars by showing a movie, we don't get to see it unless it turns up on cable or Netflix. OK, I'll step off my tree-stump now and review this fine movie.

WW1 certainly does not get the film-making attention it should, so to find one that's this excellent makes up for this a little bit. I was drawn in and kept there by the fine acting, attention to detail, and fluidity of story telling. In any war flick, I'm always waiting for that cheesy moment that breaks the rhythm and steals the credibility of the scene. Usually a 'why we fight' type of speech that you know never would have happened; soldiers fight to keep themselves and their buddies alive, and don't need any other reason. That type of dialog is obvious, useless, and clearly just there for the audience, and not for the benefit of the characters or story. None of that puffiness or foolishness here. Also, it wasn't one of those war films that was made just so someone could put it one their resume', or show off their special-effects prowess. It is first and foremost a great story about real characters and events. I got the feeling that everyone involved in making this film truly cared for what these men went through and brought their best effort as a way to honor that. As much as I like movies about the well-know people, places and events that took place in war, movies that give this much attention to the lesser-known stories can be a much more fulfilling experience. If done right, these types of movies can make the events much more personal and bring you uncomfortably close to the realities of war, which is what war movies should be doing. 'Beneath Hill 60' does this in spades, and this American appreciated every minute of it.

A fine movie. Not a masterpiece, because such movies are non-existent; consequently, I don't go looking for such a thing. My test is that if a movie reaches or exceeds my expectations, it succeeds. In my book, this beats "The Hurt Locker" hands down-- which may not mean anything to those who disliked that Oscar winner. Perhaps foolishly, because of the Oscar hype, I had expectations of THL which were not met. So it failed. "Beneath Hill 60" does not. It's more realistic, more accurate, more tension-filled, and not at all pretentious. No need for me to repeat the plot outlines that others have mentioned. But I will declare that the above-ground battlefield and underground scenes-- the wet, the mud, the cold, the misery-- are amazing for their reality. And they were shot mostly in tropical north Queensland.