Mandeep Tyson
The acting in this movie is really good.
Sarita Rafferty
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Janis
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
DylanW
In 1915, the Gallipoli campaign was commenced. Dictating the Australian version, two young runners, Frank and Archy, enroll in the Australian army, and, as a result, are sent to fight in Gallipoli.The emotional aspect of this film is incredible, due to a great script and performances by Mark Lee and Mel Gibson, who play the two protagonists. With more historical accuracies than inaccuracies, "Gallipoli" is an emotionally heartfelt film, bound to bring a tear to your eye and pull your toughest heart-strings. Mel Gibson is particularly spectacular, as the reluctant youngster soon succumbing to peer pressure.It is debatable whether this is considered a war film to some, as the movie is about Frank and Archy in Gallipoli, and how they are effected by the war, instead of Gallipoli, with many random characters involved. For example, "Gallipoli" is a character film set in the war, whereas "Dunkirk" is a war film with characters.
goreilly40
This movie showed a brutally honest depiction of the tragedy that was the fateful Gallipoli campaign. The futility of trench warfare, the grim conditions that the soldiers unfortunate enough to be there had to endure and the sheer ferocity of the Turkish defence were some of the more accurate I've seen in war movies. The fateful Battle of the Nek was a faithful depiction, it shows an Australian Colonel, not a British officer as some think, ordering the the ill-fated attack to continue despite the first waves being massacred within seconds of going over the top which sadly is what happened. The only real issue I had with the movie was the absence of the Royal Welch Fusiliers who also suffered heavy losses at the Nek on that fateful day. The story is compelling and although the two main protagonists are fictional, their story is not too far from the truth, the naive romantic ideals young men at the time had of the war, it would be over by Christmas, it would be a picnic etc, then when the nightmare of reality hit home was again excellently done. The ending is one of the saddest and emotional I've seen when the soldiers know what's coming. All in all this movie is such an honest depiction of a period which some have tried to forget and one to own if your into history and war movies.
denis888
Seemed to be a very promising WWI movie about Western Aussies in the terrible battle of Galliopoli in 1915. Yup, and then there is a very young, handsome, energetic Mel Gibson. Aha. And then, a deadly dry (as dry as Aussie wind) boredom creeps in, you feel that dryness in every angle and this horrific Aussie sun heat in every moment and that heat kills every possible entertaining moment the movie could have delivered but failed. The battle? Nope, we saw better films. The characters? Too syrupy and too shallow. The setting? Boring fly-ridden Aussie landscape with nothing to look st. Terribly dry and very dull. This is a waste of time of 120 minutes. Ni redeeming feature in this slow vapid untasty drag.
evanston_dad
I watched "Gallipoli" on a whim one night when it aired on TCM as part of a tribute to Australian cinema, and found it to be a moving film about the ultimate horror and waste of World War I.Mark Lee and Mel Gibson play two young sprinters who meet as competitors, become friends, and then enlist together in the war. Not taking much seriously, they both think serving will be a bit of a lark, and indeed it begins that way, with a lot of carousing, drinking, whoring and some goofball antics during combat training. But then they arrive at their destination, and the reality of what war actually looks and sounds like begins to sink in.This movie does a great job of showing that transition from young man bluster and naive belief in the good of a cause to scared everyman, being sent out to certain death for reasons he can no longer comprehend. The film is paced very well, and the trench warfare scenes at the film's end are so expertly juxtaposed with the buddy movie that precedes them, that the effect on the audience is that of a punch to the groin. The very end is devastating and haunting in a way few movies anymore would have the guts to be.Peter Weir directed this before he became known for more popular and Oscar-baity films like "Witness" and "Dead Poets Society." Grade: A