William Kelly's War

William Kelly's War was a complete surprise. It was launched in cinemas without much fanfare. I wondered why? It had great reviews, a well known producer, a director on his second assignment and a little known cast in a story that had the audience cheering at the end of the movie. The tale of the two heroic brothers with their cousin Paddy really drew me in, I really cared for them as they are sent from battlefront to battlefront whilst their family back home are involved in another war with Bushrangers. The loving close-knit family is very cleverly set up at the front of the movie. The period settings, set design and characters are authentic, the pace perfect. This is a movie that connects with its audience, highly recommended.

Although the film seemed to have a slight issue with the flow, I though the historically based story was interesting. I liked the family aspect of the story. The acting had ups and downs, but didn't significantly take away from the film.

Just watched it on Amazon Prime. The person who said it was impossible to group 3 bullets like the 3 in a row shown in the movie. I agree at 1000 yards, it would be tough. The most important thing at that distance is a powerful high quality s one. William wasn't using a scope. It would be super human to even see the center of the target let alone 3 .308" bullet holes at 1000 yards. But great bench test shooters. ( I did it for years) not only shoot a lot... but the larger part of a shooters time is working up cartridge loads for their weapon. Literally you don't just have how much gun powder . But I can think of a dozen or more variables that a loader/shooter would try to consistently get their bullet in the same hole 3 times. Not at 1000 yards, but I had a perpose built 100 yard outdoor range I built at my ranch. I had many weapons but I also had just 2 or 3 special weapons that I worked on to get that bullet to go through the same hole 75 out of 100 times. Or better. So yeah I'm sure. That was a cgi shot. But his shooting was the. Center of this movie for me.

The Kelly family have carved out a little piece of paradise in the old Australia where their father has created a cattle ranch and brought up a loving family. Then the Great War breaks out and the two eldest brothers, Billy and Jack, sign up together with their rambustious cousin Paddy.

We also have the antics that take place back home, with the opposition to conscription, the fretting of the families and the low dealings of opportunistic bush rangers.

Now I watched this on Amazon Prime Video and thought it would be a time killer, but no it is actually really good for an indie. The WW1 scenes may be lacking in money but they have tried extremely hard to recreate the terrible atmosphere of the war. Purists will not be impressed though. There are some scenes that are a bit of a stretch in that they never could have happened and that has caused some criticism – the hospital for example – but I do not want to spoil the plot.

The acting is very good to 'just OK' but the story is strong enough to make you forgive any shortcomings as this is a film that demands that you go along for the ride and you will enjoy it. I was hooked right till the end so this is one of those films that I can recommend but with the above caveats and I am being glass half full.

Considering the low budget and a cast of unknowns, this film was very good. Several basic goofs have already been noted: the 1914 tank, the unmilitary haircuts and beards, for example. Perhaps the most jarring event was the soldier-deserter being handcuffed to a hospital bed on the eve of his execution, which was carried out immediately outside the hospital.

A frequent gripe (usually relating to Westerns) that I have with depictions of solitary horsemen on long treks through remote country is that apart from a modest saddle roll they seldom have saddle-bags carrying food and other necessities. (Heck, even I on a six-hour walk take a rucksack of bits & pieces with me.)Thus it was with Billy's extended quest for his sister.

Here and there the acting was somewhat uninspired.

IMDB gives the film's length as 94 minutes, but the version that I saw on YouTube ran for 108.