[.ca] Gallipoli

From Amazon.co.uk:
An outstanding drama, Gallipoli resonates with sadness long after you have seen it. Set during World War I, this brutally honest antiwar movie was cowritten by director Peter Weir. Mark Lee and a sinfully handsome Mel Gibson are young, idealistic best friends who put aside their hopes and dreams when they join the war effort. This character study follows them as they enlist and are sent to Gallipoli to fight the Turks. The first half of the film is devoted to their lives and their strong friendship. The second half details the doomed war efforts of the Aussies, who are no match for the powerful and aggressive Turkish army. Because the script pulls us into their lives and forces us to care for these young men, we are devastated by their fate. --Rochelle O'Gorman.

Amazon.com Essential Video:
An outstanding drama, Gallipoli resonates with sadness long after you have seen it. Set during World War I, this brutally honest antiwar movie was cowritten by director Peter Weir. Mark Lee and a sinfully handsome Mel Gibson are young, idealistic best friends who put aside their hopes and dreams when they join the war effort. This character study follows them as they enlist and are sent to Gallipoli to fight the Turks. The first half of the film is devoted to their lives and their strong friendship. The second half details the doomed war efforts of the Aussies, who are no match for the powerful and aggressive Turkish army. Because the script pulls us into their lives and forces us to care for these young men, we are devastated by their fate. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Credit where it's due:
As an English woman (I hate the term Brit - surely it's racist, isn't it? A bit like Paki or Frog?) I have the utmost respect for the ANZAC's. However - after reading a few of the reviews posted here, I'm not going to sit by and allow my own country to be denigrated. There were thousands of British troops at Gallipoli as well as a smaller French contingent - under the command of Sir Ian Hamilton, a man acknowledged for his excellent bravery, but lacking the decisive qualities needed for the leadership of such an expedition. In fact - despite the well-known WW1 poem about the Australian buried at Suvla Bay, there were mainly British forces put ashore there, (the famous 'Lost Battalion' of 1/5th Norfolk Reg. being one of them.) Most of the ANZAC forces landed further south at Anzac Cove. Australia and New Zealand both entered the war behind Britain on an upsurge of patriotism - not surprising given that the then population of Australia who were of European descent was 96% British. ANZAC recruiting remained entirely voluntary throughout the whole of the war and the response from both the Australian and NZ populus was magnificent. Some 332,000 troops served overseas, of whom 212,000 were wounded and 60,000 were killed, a casualty rate of more than 82%. There is no doubt the ANZAC's suffered terrifically during the Dardanelles campaign. The whole campaign was badly timed and hugely underestimated the Turks and their reorganisation by the German general Otto Liman Van Sanders. However, the British suffered too - a fact that is often forgotten. As regards the film itself - it's a lesson in why war is futile, a study of loss of innocence, a moving demonstration of comradeship and love between men under the most execrable of conditions. Harrowing and intensely compelling. Peter Weir evokes atmosphere unlike any other. If you're English - try to forget Mel's pathological hatred of us for a couple of hours and remember why our own fathers/grandfathers who fought in that terrible war had such tremendous respect for the ANZAC troops they encountered. And of course . . . we can always think of the Rugby!

WHAT MANY REVIEWERS FAIL TO NOTICE...:
IS THE BRAVERY OF THE TURKISH ARMY, AND THE INCREDIBLE HUMANITY LESSONS TO BE DERIVED FROM THE TURKISH COMMANDER:(SPEAKING FOR ENEMY SOLDIERS) "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives..you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace.There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.. You,the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; Your sons are in peace.After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well." MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK

Good, but could Be Better:
I really don't have much to say about this movie other than the fact that it is extremely well put together and I think that the director really captured the futility of the first World War and the terrible mistakes made by the ANZAC forces and the British. I loved the movie but the ending really did kind of suck because it was so terrible and so very quick.

Gallipoli:
Story is Australian Patriots in WWI. Who gave there lives largely a result of there British Officers Error. I saw this on the History Channel and wanted a copy for myself. I understand that when this movie was shown in Australia for the first time. The audience sat in silence for 20 or 30 minutes contemplating. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee are tops.

Exceptional:
Great story, (some elements appear to be true according to the director's interview included in the DVD, and excellent acting all round. One of the best WW1 films made.