The Man from Snowy River

Midway through the film Mrs. Bailey confronts Harrison (Kirk Douglas) with the story of his wife, in love with two men and deciding to marry the first one to make his fortune. Harrison staked it all on a gamble and won. His brother Spur - "He went looking for gold". Each character in their own way finds gold in "The Man From Snowy River". For Jim Craig (Tim Burlinson) it's the pursuit of manhood and finding the confidence in himself to challenge an autocratic father. For Jessica (Sigrid Thornton) it's found in an ideal of being true to one's self against daunting odds. For mountain man Spur (Douglas in a dual role), it's a reuniting with family and a chance to mean something to someone else. Even Harrison finds his own gold, though it will take him some time after the movie's over to realize it. Filmed against a backdrop of a stunning Australian wilderness, the movie introduces new language to this fan of the Western genre. Until now I had never heard of a brumby (a wild horse), and found it interesting that they travel in mobs, rather than herds. The adventurous spirit in me was rather intrigued by the mention of wallaby stew, one of Spur's featured menu items. In a comedic moment though, he mentions to the Harrison cook his fondness for plump breast and tenderloin. It struck me that the film has a uniquely timeless appeal. Filmed in 1982, it doesn't feel dated and looks like it could have been made today even though the story itself takes place in 1888. Perhaps that's one of the hallmarks of a good film, a story that transcends it's chronological setting to carry on it's appeal for future viewers. There's only one troublesome thing though, and for a family film, it bothered me that more men joined Harrison to look for his runaway colt than for his missing daughter. Sadly, value placed on things often had more importance than value placed on people, even in the 1800's.

source: The Man from Snowy River

This movie was absolute garbage in almost every regard. And be warned--it's NOT a western, "family" or otherwise. Just because it takes place in the Outback and involves cowboys (or "horsemen" as they call them in the movie) doesn't make this a western (kind of like how the Godfather isn't a war movie, despite the fact that Michael is a war hero. It's hardly the point of the movie, and the same logic applies here. This is a romance movie that happens to take place in a "western" setting.). The only two aspects of this movie that had any redeeming qualities were there were some decent shots of horses running in a herd and there were some good shots of the Australian wilderness. That's it. Now let's look at the two things people typically care about most in a movie--acting and plot: Acting: The acting is pretty awful. There's a small amount of chemistry between the romantic leads, but their relationship is hardly believable. Kirk Douglas' characters aren't convincing and are horribly overacted, especially Spur (and the subplot involving the brothers is pointless and predictable). The only character that wasn't terribly acted was Clancy, but compared to most of this cast, Nic Cage is a stellar actor. Plot: There isn't a strong enough word to describe how predictable this movie is. Within 30 seconds of every new aspect of the story presenting itself on screen, it was abundantly clear how that aspect would play out. This, in itself, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the story came up with some interesting ways for the characters to reach their predictable conclusions, but sadly that's not the case.

A terrible movie. About half way through it I thought I finally figured out where it was going. There is no direction; no main focus. Kirk Douglas is almost comical in his two roles. I couldn't take him seriously in playing these characters. There was one scene where the "wild black stallion" was suppose to be fierce with a close up of the animals face, but I bursted out laughing when I saw it. Actually it reminded me of the scene from "Animal House" when the boys accidentally kill the ROTC's captains horse. They should have called this movie, "The Horse from Snowy River"; it's the only thing this plot could claim to wrap around.

I am not sure what to say about this film, but I feel I must say something. Technically, in pretty much every single way possible, this is one of the worst, cheesiest, flagrantly lame movies ever made...BUT I found that it went SOOO far over the top, it was actually laugh-out-loud ridiculous and funny enough that I actually watched the whole flipping thing, all the way through. If it was just dumb that would be one thing, but I was actually seriously amused. I do not really mean to offend the obviously numerous people who wax sentimental over this film...I am coming at this from a mostly technical, post-post modern point of view. That said, this film is 100% cheese, completely derivative and unoriginal, pulling out every film cliché in the book. It is nothing but emotional fluff designed to shamelessly tug at the heart strings of young girls, and maybe older women, and show off some pretty horse flesh and scenery. The writing is ridiculous, the acting mostly totally flat and lame, the directing silly, and the editing seams to have been done completely at random by a five year old. Scenes are muddy and confused. The film starts out of nowhere in what seams to be an unintelligible conversation. But it really is such a bad movie that it is absolutely hilarious, much more so than most. This really does not seam to be intentional. The flagrant cliché's, the repetition of stock footage, the cheesy "doom" music every time the evil stallion makes an appearance, the horribly written and staged harassment of the main character, and the wonderful shot where the evil stallion rears up all crazy like, and the frame actually freezes, and zooms in on his crazy eye in stages with the "dun dun dun!" music! Yeah, they really went there, and we laughed so hard we had to rewind!) But all said, the crazy miner was a fun character and well acted. And I had a good time. I apologize again for everyone I am offending, I do not mean to hurt with the humor I feel in my heart. Peace.

Fairly ordinary movie about a boy suddenly alone in the world . In 1880s Australia , Victoria Alps , when young Jim Craig's father (Terence Donovan) dies he becomes an orphan boy and he is seeking a life of his own . Meanwhile , a reclusive mountain man (a bearded Kirk Douglas) helps Jim overcome his sudden state as an orphan . Jim (Tom Burlison) takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch and there the men challenge him and then he is forced to become a man . Jim falls in love with the well brought-up Jessica (young and beautiful lead Sigrid Thornton) . But her daddy (non-bearded Kirk Douglas, though Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum were also considered for the dual role) aims to keep the lovers apart . And a wild horse is a stunning highlight . This big hit entertaining adventure contains melodrama , thrills , action , a love story , spectacular outdoors and stunning photography highlights . More like Disney style than a John Ford Western , this Australian film takes its wake from ¨Wilderness family¨ saga . Being based on the poem by A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson , scripted by Fred Cullen and John Dixon . Very good acting by the great Kirk Douglas in a dual character -a cheap gimmick of casting- , as portraying two battling brothers , one a wealthy land-owner and the other an one-legged prospector . The starring couple , Tom Burlison and Sigrid Thornton , suffers through the inexperience and being newcomers actors . Tom Burlinson performed all his own horse riding stunts in the film . Colorful cinematography , as photography of horses in breathtaking . It was an Australian huge success and was one of fifty Australian films selected for preservation as part of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia . It is continued by ¨Return to Snowy River¨ by Geoff Burrowes who produced first entry and also with spectacular scenarios . Following the lives of the previous ranch hand and the rich rancher's daughter ; Brian Dennehy takes over from from Kirk role as stubborn dad . This Down Under motion picture filled with enjoyable moments was professionally directed by George Miller , but with no originality because takes too many elements from former films . Not to be confused with another Australian director, George Miller, of the Mad Max movies . Miller is an Australian director usually working for television (Tidal wave , Journey to the center of the earth , Attack of the Sabretooth and many others) and occasionally for cinema (The man from Snowy river , Zeus and Roxanne , Robinson Crusoe ). Rating : 6 . Acceptable and entertaining flick with glimmer cinematography making the whole film worthwhile watching .

THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER.... There was movement at the station...... The Man From Snowy River tells it how it is. I go up in the snowy mountains on my horse to drive cattle and love going to the exact places the the movie was made. I have camped over in Craig's hut and camped in the snowy's. There are only a few brumbies left up there because of people shooting them but now and then you catch a glimpse of brown and black, dim shadow's on the grass. It is THE greatest place on earth. I hope everyone who see's this movie appreciate's the magic of the snowy mountains and the high country.

This movie is absolutely one of the best movies ever made. It is an excellent story, beautiful music, and lots of horses. The cinematography is excellent. The scenes of the horse chase, in my opinion, hasn't been equaled. The actors, for the most part are good,but no academy performances with the exception of Kirk Douglas, who does an excellent job playing a dual role.However, the story is good, and there is no foul language, nudity, or smuttiness. If you just want to sit down with a bowl of popcorn and spend a good evening watching a good movie, you won't go wrong here. I can watch it every time it's on.

I must confess that I watched this film because I am a Kirk Douglas fan and I certainly was not disappointed in the dual performance he gives as two brothers, one an owner of the Australian equivalent of the Ponderosa and his hermit brother who lives up in the mountains among the wild horses and befriends young Tom Burlinson who becomes the man from Snowy River. The film is a dramatization of a wild horse roundup such as you would have seen in the American West although American fans might be first thrown by use of the Aussie term 'brumbies'. What the origin of that idiom is I don't know, but for us Yanks just think 'mustang' and it will all become clear. In fact I just finished a book on Australian general Sir Thomas Blamey and it is mentioned that during his boyhood in Wagga Wagga, he broke and rode 'brumbies.' And of course the title and part of the plot is based on A.B. "Banjo" Patterson's poem. Patterson himself appears as a passing character in the film and presumably he was inspired by the incidents to write that poem. Patterson for Australians is sort of a combination of Bret Harte and Mark Twain for Americans. That poem has a nice style and hopefully the poem The Man From Snowy River will be come as known in the western world at large as say Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade or Kipling's Gunga Din. In fact like in this film, Rudyard Kipling appears as a passing character in George Stevens's Gunga Din and fulfilled the same function there. If the Australians felt they needed someone with the international star status of Kirk Douglas to open up the foreign market for this film, all well and good. I just hope Kirk's presence in the film did just that for this fine piece of entertainment. And this review is dedicated to a couple Australian bull riders from the Professional Bull Riders whom I happened to meet, champions from the land down under, Jared Farley and Brendan Clark. No doubt descendants of the men who rode and broke those brumbies back in the day.

I won't write this review crapping all over a modern day classic like The Man From Snowy River. I know many adore this film and think of it fondly with great nostalgia. I waited a very long time to see it and finally decided to give it a try. I love westerns, 80's films and Disney classics but for some reason this didn't strike the right chord with me. Despite a promising concept, I found the film dawdles along without ever having a lot of chemistry between the key characters. The performances are good, in fact one in particular is excellent but its lacking depth when it comes to the relationships. The scenery is stunning and yet I felt like the film makers underused the breathtaking Australian outback. The film definitely shows a lot of beautiful horses so people that are looking for that will enjoy it. There is somehow a lack of significant emotion to a story that should be full of moving moments. The romance which should be a focal point in the latter part of the movie feels forced and rushed and very technical. There are some moments where it feels like they're actually bartering for the romantic lead. Tom Burlinson is our lead in the film. He is okay but he is also a key reason the characters lack emotion. He feels almost stoic at times and well he is always determined he wasn't necessarily the right choice for the lead of the movie. Kirk Douglas is literally the reason to watch this movie. He is amazing in a dual role as Harrison and Spur. Both characters are so different from each other and he just absolutely nails both. He is so obviously the seasoned professional and it shows. Sigrid Thornton is the object of Burlinson's affections but also causes one of the biggest issues with the movie. Thornton looks almost stunned throughout her entire performance and the chemistry between her and Burlinson is practically nil. Its almost painful to watch their so called romance unfold and yet I had heard what a classic love story this was but I didn't get it at all. Supporting cast is alright but no one really stands out as being noteworthy. Coming from a long history in Television director George Miller has done a lot of TV and a lot of straight to TV movies. I don't think he had the experience in movies to handle this and make it outstanding. Imagine this film in the hands of a truly amazing director who stuns with cinematography and could handle the script better. That being said, the script left a lot to be desired too. I suppose I was even more let down because this seems like the type of movie I would absolutely adore and I didn't. My expectations were high because so many people just rave about this and they love it and I respect that. I am not saying that its a terrible movie but it certainly didn't appeal to me at all. Someday I may watch the sequel but I'm not anxious to see it for sure. This was a miss in my books. 5.5/10