The Lighthorsemen

This wasn't a great film. Clearly it was trying to be, but somewhere along the way they forgot to figure out what they were trying to say. Is it an anti-war film? Is it pro-war? Is it about man's inhumanity to man? Is it just supposed to be good fun? Having the answer to all that be ambiguous might make it seem like this film is taking a more realistic approach but it doesn't feel realistic, just lazy. I honestly don't think they ever thought about what kind of message they were trying to convey. And that's why despite having a few decent battle scenes and an interesting setting it never really seems to catch your attention. The plot of the film is pretty basic. The Aussie light horse is in Palestine fighting the Turks. Sooner or later there's going to be a major cavalry charge, but there's no real anticipation for it. Most of the film is the soldiers dealing with each other, engaging in minor skirmishes, and other stereotypical soldier stuff. There's also the painfully stereotypical nurse love interest, who falls for the hero instantly despite not knowing him and having hundreds of other soldiers to choose from. Most of the rest of the incidents, while generic war film tropes, work significantly better. There's a soldier who isn't able to kill people who's crisis is generally handled well. The new guy introduced into the tried and tested unit is another. The film is taken up with these and there are more hits than misses in this regard. The big battle at the end of the film is the battle of Beersheba, the last successful cavalry charge. A subject like this seems perfect for a gung-ho war film about the high point of the ANZAC cavalry forces to counter the anti-war approach of Gallipoli, but as I said before the film never really settles on what it wants to say. One nice thing about it is the relatively low amount of Pommy-bashing. There is a bit of conflict with the obligatory stiff-necked and humorless British officer, but they also feature a scene where the British soldiers cheer the Aussies on to the embarrassment of the men who are looking for a fight. Furthermore my favorite character in the film is a British intelligence officer. He's every bit the cold and aloof officer you'd expect, but he's smarter than the rest and actually plays up the Aussie perceptions of him to good effect in one hilarious scene. The rest of the characters are somewhat hard to distinguish so this man stands out the more. A few more minor problems with this film: the scenery which is supposed to be in Israel is really obviously southern Australia. All deserts do not look alike, and Beersheba isn't nearly as deserty looking as they seem to think. The other minor problem that occasionally becomes a major problem is the choice of how to portray the enemy. Both the Turks and the Germans speak perfect English. Since this is World War I and the uniforms aren't as distinctive or imprinted in common memory this occasionally makes it difficult to tell which guys are the good guys. Especially when they're not facing the camera. They don't have many scenes, but that just makes it harder to tell when the film has switched focus to the villains. Also, the final charge goes on forever. I was reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when Lancelot keeps running up the hill never getting closer. Overall not a bad film. I know I've gone on about the negative points, but that's just because they are the most notable things about this movie and some of them would be so easy to fix. Most of the film is decent enough. Certainly it's worth watching if you're interested in the time or just like war films or Aussie movies in general. I certainly can't think of another film that spends so long with the cavalry. Just don't go in expecting a masterpiece.

I just love this film, everything about it carries one forward to its inevitable last battle. The casting, acting and filming is very Australian in its personality and universally excellent. The real stars to me however were the large number of wonderful horses and their individual riders, who together with the South Australian scenery, where it was shot, and which does wonderfully to replicate the Middle East bring this epic battle back to life. Sadly it has been very poorly served on video. The best release was a laser disc in the US and later a crappy DVD was released in Australia but this had the aspect ratio cut from 2.35 to 1.78 and is an insult to this great film. I have both and still watch my LD, one of my few remaining LDs that have yet to get a decent legal DVD transfer. If you can get and play the LD release do not hesitate otherwise just wait and hope.

"keeper275 from United States". Pommy is what Australians call the English. It isn't really a term of endearment, rather a bit of an insult. Where is comes from is open to argument. Some say it's an Acronym for "Prisoners Of Mother England" while other say it's because the poms are so lily white that when exposed to sun they turn the colour of a Pomeranian (red)! Either way, you don't ever want to be confused with a Pom! Not enough lines so here goes "I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains. Of rugged mountain ranges, of drought and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel sea. Her beauty and her terror, the wide brown land for me". My Country by Dorothea Mackellar

I watched this movie initially around its time of release and then again a cpl of days ago. This second viewing was a bit of a revelation for me. Maybe its the fog of time but I don't remember feeling this way about the movie then as I do now. This movie is pretty awful, sanitised and bland. It starts of by stealing an opening sequence straight out of The Man From Snowy River, then it hits us with some ole fashioned Aussie banter (cringeworthy) then becomes a bit of a war/romance novel. ALL the characters are clichés. This is the essence of a good story about real events, that I feel have been done a disservice by this film. This needs to be remade and put some meat on its bones. Very scenic but nothing else!

Enjoyable. Australia's answer to Britain's Zulu. Fine photography. Takes some time to work out who the characters are. Historical Note: Congratulations to Australia for a rare win!

I have done horse charges for films before, this one is great. The intensity, apprehension, and desperation is well portrayed in the charge. The horsemanship was excellent. The relationship between the riders and their horses appears authentic. In prior researches that I have done about cavalry and mounted infantry, this kind of relationship truly existed. The love story is somewhat weak, however, this may be cultural. This movie was recommended viewing from a fellow "cavalryman" and I can appreciate why he recommended it.

This movie also has to go on my "desert island" list. What most people will say is that the first hour is about as exciting as watching paint dry, which is true to a point. But wars are often played like chess, and if you don't know the board you'll never understand the game. It's therefore necessary, though somewhat tedious, to show the situation, terrain, weather, and overall political climate to get to the historical charge. The Germans are played perhaps a little too stiffly, and the one Aussie who couldn't shoot a human and became a medic was perhaps given a little too much screen time. As for the charge itself, you can hear your heart beating faster as you literally smell the sweat from the horses. The two-mile charge against an entrenched enemy supported with machine gun, razor wire, and cannon is intense beyond words, and stands as some of the most awesome cinematography I've ever seen. Actual casualty stats are listed, which are surprisingly low. As for how the horses were handled, not one was injured-a feat you'll scarcely believe after having seen the charge. The Lighthorsemen, unlike Gallipoli, is well worth a look. -Chuck

The Lighthorsemen is a true delight of a movie. It is unpretentious, well-shot, fast-paced, entertaining and interesting from the start. The movie is slow when it needs to be as in when the Lighthorsemen have to take their horses to the brink of exhaustion in order to surprise the German/Turk occupants of Jacob's Well. The characters are mostly very well-defined and you feel for them as the movie moves on. The charge scene is the highlight of the film. You feel as though you are on one of the horses racing into the sights of the entrenched Turks. As the bombs explode and the bullets fly, you can't help but feel the urge to keep your head down. The sight of several hundred charging horses is awe-inspiring. This movie can be hard to find, but if you do, you have a winner.

The "Charge of the Light Horse" has gone down in the annals of legend, as indeed of history. This, the definitive film of the event so far, is based on the true story of one couple's involvement in the events of the 1917 desert campaign. Like the earlier "Forty Thousand Horsemen" (1940), a very similar film in many respects, it leads up to the momentous charge on Beersheeba with style, tension and humour. It was partly a starring vehicle for the wonderfully charismatic action hero Jon Blake, whose sad incapacitation has robbed Australian cinema of one of its shining lights. The scene of the charge is superbly choreographed and filmed, and deserves to be right up there with the chariot race scene from Ben Hur. I cannot conceive of anything more scary than being on the wrong end of a cavalry charge, and this will have you out of your seat. I personally rate this as the best film (of any genre) I have ever seen.

This is an excellent film with surely the finest cavalry charge ever filmed. In this movie the horse is King and the care taken to illustrate the vital interaction between these magnificent animals and their riders is great to behold. The acting and direction are good without the need for big names. It has had a number of releases, the best being a 2.35 wide screen laser disc version in the USA. Australia has released a DVD version but it is dreadfully truncated being cut to 1.78 from the vastly more meaningful aspect ratio of the laser disc. On the big screen this film makes a fantastic impact and every effort should be made to see the original wide screen version in this way. Highly recommended.