Classic Australian Movies
Many are incredible films (Breaker Morant, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Chopper, Wake in Fright), and some are laughably terrible (Puberty Blues, Barry McKenzie, Alvin Purple)... but they're my picks for the most iconic, memorable, culturally-impactful classics (or, just stuff I like) of Australian film...
[SEO- "Australian New Wave Cinema", "Australian film Rennaissance", "Best Australian Films", "Best Australian Movies", "Best Ozspoitation", "Classic Australian Films", "Australian Film Classics"]
[SEO- "Australian New Wave Cinema", "Australian film Rennaissance", "Best Australian Films", "Best Australian Movies", "Best Ozspoitation", "Classic Australian Films", "Australian Film Classics"]
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- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.10/10
- DirectorTed KotcheffStarsDonald PleasenceGary BondChips RaffertyAfter a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.10/10
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJenny AgutterDavid GulpililLuc RoegTwo city-bred siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback, where they learn to survive with the aid of an Aboriginal boy on his "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.10/10
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.10/10
- DirectorAndrew DominikStarsEric BanaSimon LyndonVince ColosimoChopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.10/10
- DirectorRob SitchStarsMichael CatonAnne TenneyStephen CurryA working-class family from Melbourne, Australia fights city hall after being told they must vacate their beloved family home to allow for infrastructural expansion.9/10
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonJoanne SamuelHugh Keays-ByrneIn a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.10/10
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.9/10
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonBruce SpenceMichael PrestonIn the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community get rid of a horde of bandits."Mad Max 2"
10/10 - DirectorDavid MichôdStarsJames FrechevilleGuy PearceJoel EdgertonA seventeen-year-old navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.9/10
- DirectorRolf de HeerStarsNicholas HopeClaire BenitoRalph CotterillBubby has spent thirty years trapped in the same small room, tricked by his mother. One day, he manages to escape and, deranged and naive in equal measures, his adventure into a modern and nihilistic life begins.9/10
- DirectorTom JeffreyStarsGraham KennedyJohn HargreavesJohn JarrattIn between drinking cans of Fosters beer, Australian soldiers tread on a few landmines, and generally experience the war in Vietnam.9/10
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsDavid FieldMike BishopChris DeRosePrisoners and guards clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.7/10
- DirectorGeoffrey WrightStarsRussell CroweDaniel PollockJacqueline McKenzieA group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.9/10
- DirectorHenri SafranIan GoddardStarsGreg RowePeter CumminsDavid GulpililMike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.7/10
- DirectorGregor JordanStarsHeath LedgerBryan BrownDavid FieldA 19 year old finds himself in debt to a local gangster when some gang loot disappears and sets him on the run from thugs. Meanwhile two street kids start a shopping spree when they find the missing money.8/10
- DirectorP.J. HoganStarsToni ColletteRachel GriffithsBill HunterA young social outcast in Australia steals money from her parents to finance a vacation where she hopes to find happiness, and perhaps love.8/10
- DirectorRob SitchStarsSam NeillBilly MitchellRoz HammondA remote Australian community, populated by quirky characters, plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing.9/10
- DirectorKen HannamStarsJack ThompsonMax CullenRobert BruningA hard-drinking but hard-working gun shearer leads a group of Outback sheep herders into striking after wealthy landowners attempt to drive them from their territory.9/10
- DirectorAnn TurnerStarsRebecca SmartNicholas EadieVictoria LongleyAn imaginative and somewhat disturbed young girl fantasizes about evil creatures and other oddities to mask her insecurities while growing up in rural Australia.8/10 A slow burn, but the last 20 minutes make it worth it; The darkest kid's movie I've ever seen, by a long shot.
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsRay WinstoneGuy PearceEmily WatsonA lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.9/10
- StarsRichard RoxburghTony MartinSteve BastoniSet in 1980s Sydney, this acclaimed mini-series tells the story of the relationship between corrupt Detective Roger Rogerson and one of Australia's most infamous criminals Neddy Smith.10/10
Technically a 2-part TV mini-series, rather than a theatrically-released movie. But it's so damn good, it deserves a spot. Contends with 'Animal Kingdom' and 'Chopper' (and older, lesser-known 'Stir' from 1980), as one of the best, most authentic depictions of Australian criminal sub-culture (or a bent cop running in criminal circles, in this case). - DirectorNadia TassStarsColin FrielsJohn HargreavesLindy DaviesA socially awkward and mechanically gifted man becomes involved in a quirky and unconventional crime.6/10
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.8/10
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsEssie DavisNoah WisemanDaniel HenshallA single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.8/10
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorLoene CarmenBen MendelsohnIn rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his best friend falls in love with a small-time criminal, setting off a violent chain of events.7/10
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsJohn HargreavesPat BishopGraham KennedyOn the night of the 1969 Australian election, Don holds a party in his suburban Sydney house, where his raucous, rude, embarrassing, extrovert friends discuss sex, politics, and their lives, and seduce each others wives.7/10
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsTommy LewisFreddy ReynoldsAngela Punch McGregorAfter suffering racist abuse throughout his life - which intensifies following his marriage to a white woman - a half-Aboriginal farmhand finds himself driven to murder.6/10
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsRosalie Kunoth-MonksRobert TudawaliBetty SuttorSet against the harsh natural surrounds of outback Northern Territory, Jedda captures a rare and honest glimpse into the heart and history of indigenous Australia. Young Jedda is caught between two cultures forbidden from learning about her indigenous heritage and never fully accepted by the other.6/10
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.6/10
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsTerry CamilleriJohn MeillonKevin MilesThe small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.3/10
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorThandiwe NewtonNicole KidmanTwo freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.6/10
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsGerard KennedyMichael PrestonPeter HehirIn the tradition of Sunday Too Far Away (1975), this independent film is based on the classic Australian play by John Power. Pic tells the story of a group of miners living in a camp in outback Australia. They swear, brawl, gamble, and drink heavily. Central to the story is the conflict between Tarzan, the authoritarian group leader and cocky loud-mouth wisecracking Pansy. This results in a bare-knuckle punch-up for the movie's denouement. Exteriors filmed in Andamooka, South Australia.8/10
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsNicole KidmanSam NeillBilly ZaneAfter a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.8/10
- DirectorStephen WallaceStarsBryan BrownMax PhippsDennis MillerWhen a repeat offender returns to a prison after exposing abuses committed by its guards to the press, tensions boil between inmates and staff, culminating in a bloody riot.8/10
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsNathan PhillipsCassandra MagrathKestie MorassiThree backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.7/10
- DirectorRichard LowensteinStarsMichael HutchenceSaskia PostNique NeedlesTwo man are the key members of a band called 'Dogs in Space' and share a house in a Melbourne suburb with a variety of young music fans and social misfits, including a college student and a transient and apparently nameless teenage girl.3/10
- DirectorSandy HarbuttStarsDeryck BarnesSandy HarbuttHugh Keays-ByrneAfter one of its members witnesses a political assassination, a motorbike gang becomes the target of a string of murders, prompting a cop to join their ranks to determine who is responsible.2/10
- DirectorMark LewisStarsTip ByrneH.W. KerrGlen IngramA documentary detailing the spread of Hawaiian sugar-cane toads through Australia in a botched effort to introduce them as counter pests.5/10
- DirectorStephan ElliottStarsHugo WeavingGuy PearceTerence StampTwo drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.4/10
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGeneviève LemonKaren ColstonTom LycosAn introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.5/10
- DirectorBrian Trenchard-SmithStarsDavid ArgueJohn LeyNicole KidmanA trio of teen BMX enthusiasts become entangled with a group of bank robbers after discovering their cache of walkie-talkies.5/10
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMick JaggerClarissa Kaye-MasonMark McManusThe impoverished son of Irish immigrants is pushed by wrongful police persecution into becoming Australia's most notorious bushranger.2/10
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsMeryl StreepSam NeillDale ReevesA mother whose child was killed in a dingo attack in the Australian Outback fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of murder."Evil Angels"
2/10 - DirectorPeter WeirStarsJudy MorrisIvar KantsRobert ColebyA young couple, living in a campus apartment complex, are repeatedly harassed by an eccentric plumber, who subjects them to a series of bizarre mind games while making unnecessary repairs to their bathroom.2/10
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsJack ThompsonGraham KennedyFrank WilsonBoardroom and dressing-room intrigues spill on to the field at the Australian Rules football club.3/10
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsGraeme BlundellAbigailLynette CurranWaterbed salesman Alvin consults a psychiatrist about his irresistibilty to women.2/10
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsNell SchofieldJad CapeljaJeffrey RhoeThe mating rituals of two teenage surf chicks from the southern suburbs of Sydney.1/10
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsBarry CrockerBarry HumphriesDick BentleyYoung Australian, Barry McKenzie, travels to England with his Aunt Edna after his father dies and a request is revealed in his will.1/10