Breaker Morant

Starring:Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters (III), Bryan Brown, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Terence Donovan, Vincent Ball, Ray Meagher, Chris Haywood, Russell Kiefel, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Rod Mullinar, Alan Cassell, Rob Steele, Chris Smith, Bruno Knez, John Pfitzner, Frank Wilson (II), Michael Procanin, Ray Ball
Director: Bruce Beresford
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Before coming to America to make such acclaimed films as Tender Mercies and Driving Miss Daisy, Australian director Bruce Beresford made a lasting impression with this compelling courtroom drama, considered one the finest films of the Australian new wave of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Based on a true story about three soldiers in the Boer War who are served up as political scapegoats of the British Empire, the film uses a flashback structure to dramatize the courtroom testimony. It begins when the three Australian soldiers are railroaded for the justified killing of a German missionary and placed on trial for court-martial not as a matter of justice, but to mollify the German government for the sake of political expediency. Burdened with a competent but inexperienced and hopelessly disadvantaged lawyer, the soldiers realize that their fate has been sealed and the outcome of their trial is a fait accompli. Unfolding with urgent precision and a riveting focus on its well-drawn characters, Breaker Morant was the all-time box-office hit in Australia at the time of its release in 1980, and it remains one of the very best historical dramas ever made. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Look no further for the finest war movie ever made.......2007-03-03

Brilliantly adapted from a true story, poignantly filmed and outstandingly produced and acted, "Breaker Morant" stands alone at the big heap of great war movies. It's all here, of course: battle scenes, commando ambushes, honor, valor, betrayal, executions and a real 'kangaroo court martial'. The accused's fates are sealed from the opening salvo, as we bear witness to another example of the vast British empire taking no prisoners of its own, leaving innocent soldiers of the Commonwealth hung out to dry to protect its own repugnant brand of morality. The viewer senses this early on, but is compelled to watch every frame of this magnificent film. It will move you as few other films will, on almost every level of human compassion, duty and truth. In a film in which every line counts, the best line, quite possibly, is spoken by Lieutenant Morant, "These days its quite easy to be on the wrong side". A masterpiece.

A Story And A Metaphor.......2007-02-16

Breaker Morant, a fine Australian film made a generation ago, can be viewed in one of two ways, either being equally valid. It tells a straightforward story of true events that came to pass after the Boer War ended in 1900, in which a pair of valiant Colonial soldiers, one of whom a former horse "breaker" named Morant, are executed by firing squad in a probable and in some quarters still infamous miscarriage of justice. Victory having been achieved in this unpopular South African war, the British begin to mend fences with the uneasy Boer population and to that end seek out scapegoats whose punishment might appease Boer resentment over the savagery with which the British waged their anti-guerilla fight in the closing days of the hostilities. Selecting veterans responsible for the "execution" of members of a Boer partisan group, the British hierarchy gives world-wide center stage to this trial, and later to the punishment of two men (a third member of the accused trio is later spared death) most directly at the heart of the incident in which armed Boers masquerading as civilians died. This judicial action divided segments of the British population and engendered considerable resentment in Australia, as the soldiers put to death were brave and loyal military members, much needed by the Empire in a time of war and suddenly dispensable in a time of uneasy peace. It should also be noted that the Boers the condemned men shot that day were almost certainly guilty of being clandestine insurrectionists responsible for direct attacks on British forces in a conflict in which the distinctions between friend and foe had long since blurred and in which the rules of "civilized" Victorian-era combat had broken down in a very modern way.

And of course as I mentioned Breaker Morant is also unavoidably metaphorical, as it was somewhat intended to be. The men killed by firing squad were a sort of "anymen" fighting in "anywar" be they British in Africa a century since, Americans in Vietnam forty years ago, or service personnel in Iraq today. In war there will always be cruelties, human beings under great pressure will on occasion snap, and when faced with an enemy who clothes himself in the guise of civilians, an individual's judgment of right and wrong will always fade from sharp focus.

Breaker Morant is a good film, and its story is universal.

And sad.

Timeless view of the politics of war and empire building.......2007-01-20

I can't say enough about this film. The plot, the characters and the actors who play them are excellent. It is the kind of film that one can watch time and again, and each time, catch another detail that makes the film more meaningful.

Underappreciated Gem.......2007-01-12

This movie is very well done, with crisp performances by all participants. Based on actual events, it tells the story from a very pro-Aussie anti-British point of view. Regardless of this bias, the story is well told , believable and moving. Quite a thought provoking, yet enjoyable drama. (BTW, I have heard that this was Ronald Regan's favorite film, not sure if that was true or not.)

The first taste of the 20th century..........2006-10-28

I saw this movie as a pre-teen with my father and it made quite an impression on me. Even then I had read many books about the British empire, even one history on the Zulu wars, so I had something of a context for the movie. I was thinking about Breaker Morant again the other day and decided to order it from Amazon and watch it once more. I am glad I did. The movie is as excellent as I remember it. This is a courtroom drama of three Australian soldiers brought up on charges of shooting enemy prisoners, despite the fact they were acting under orders when doing so. Between the courtroom scenes one is treated to vignettes of the soldiers in the field where the events happened. The movie, based on actual events, is stirring, poignant and obviously memorable. Well worth watching.

It does an excellent job of portraying the differences betwixt the British and Australian national characters and the underlying tensions between these groups. It also shows how geopolitical events can conspire to make scapegoats of good, decent, and loyal soldiers. In this case the British are forced to prosecute these soldiers in order to appease the Germans, who at the time of these events had the most powerful army in the world. If the Germans had weighed in on the side of the Boers it would have been disastrous for the British. In order to avoid this the Australians are tried as war criminals. Thus WWI was avoided for another 15 years.

The movie is eerily prescient of so many problems which plague the world today. The problems of fighting an enemy who is not in uniform, who employs hit and run guerilla tactics, and who is not a soldier of sovereign nation. How do you fight them? What rules do you adhere to if they do not adhere to your rules? If you capture them, how do you treat them? These are issues we have been dealing with since the events of this movie and are caught up with yet today with the war on terrorism. It is all to easy to imagine the military today offering up it's own soldiers as scapegoats in order to bring the conflict in Iraq to an end. Beneath the stirring courtroom drama, the movie also shows how so many other elements of our current military and world situtation have roots in this conflict. The special forces units we employ, even the word Commando, trace their roots to the Boer conflict. Concentration camps trace their roots to the Boer war as well, an invention of the British, not the Germans. Even the shooting of prisoners, despite being under orders, and the treatment of insurgents, harkens to scenes of Nuremberg and Guatanamo Bay.

The movie is well worth watching for it's historicity, showing early developments in guerilla war, concentration camps, terrorism, counter-insurgency tactics, and special forces, as well as the slow slide of the British empire and how geopolitical forces can grind indivudal soldiers to dust as easily as enemy actions. It is also a splendid courtroom drama on top of all that. I highly recommend it.

Average customer rating:

Look no further for the finest war movie ever made
A Story And A Metaphor
Timeless view of the politics of war and empire building
Underappreciated Gem
The first taste of the 20th century...

Breaker Morant (Masterworks Edition)
Starring: Edward Woodward , Jack Thompson , John Waters (III) , Bryan Brown , and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Director: Bruce Beresford
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Anti-War Films | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0002V7OCY
Release Date: 2004-12-14

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Description

New hi def color transfer made from 35 mm interpositive - picture: 16x9 Anamorphic 1.85:1 presentation, 5.1 surround sound, subtitled in English, French and Spanish, commentary with director Bruce Beresford, 20 minute interview with actor Edward Woodward, in-depth character breakdown, photo gallery and original theatrical trailer. Synopsis: Based on a true story, Breaker Morant is the tale of three soldiers who are court-martialed at the end of the Boer War. When one of their comrades is ambushed and killed, three soldiers (Edward Woodward, Brian Brown and Lewis Fitz-Gerald) seek revenge and kill a Boer Solider. The act of murder and the mysterious disappearance of a German missionary leads to the arrest of the three men. In one of the most controversial court-martials in military history, they are defended by Major Thomas (Jack Thompson), small town Australian solicitor who has only been given one day to prepare the case.

Customer Reviews:

Look no further for the finest war movie ever made.......2007-03-03

A Story And A Metaphor.......2007-02-16

Timeless view of the politics of war and empire building.......2007-01-20

Underappreciated Gem.......2007-01-12

The first taste of the 20th century..........2006-10-28

Average customer rating:

Look no further for the finest war movie ever made
A Story And A Metaphor
Timeless view of the politics of war and empire building
Underappreciated Gem
The first taste of the 20th century...

Breaker Morant [Region 2]
Starring: Edward Woodward , Jack Thompson , John Waters (III) , Bryan Brown , and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Director: Bruce Beresford
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Gallipoli (Special Edition)
Zulu
The Man Who Would Be King
Khartoum
The Charge of the Light Brigade

ASIN: B00004TIT4

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Look no further for the finest war movie ever made.......2007-03-03

A Story And A Metaphor.......2007-02-16

Timeless view of the politics of war and empire building.......2007-01-20

Underappreciated Gem.......2007-01-12

The first taste of the 20th century..........2006-10-28

Average customer rating:

Look no further for the finest war movie ever made
A Story And A Metaphor
Timeless view of the politics of war and empire building
Underappreciated Gem
The first taste of the 20th century...

Breaker Morant
Starring: Edward Woodward , Jack Thompson , John Waters (III) , Bryan Brown , and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Director: Bruce Beresford
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Anti-War Films | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video