Australia (DVD, 2009, Checkpoint; Sensormatic; Widescreen)

This movie deserves better than it got at the hands of critics. Nicole Kidman beautifully stars as Lady Sara Ashley, who journeys from England to Australia in 1939 to check up on her wayward husband, Maitland Ashley, who has established a cattle ranch there, Faraway Downs.

To take her to the ranch is Drover (Hugh Jackman), who drives a filthy truck with all of her prim and proper suitcases. They instantly have one misunderstanding after another. But when Lady Sara arrives at the ranch, she is in for a shock. Her husband has been killed, the cattle are being pilfered away by rival cattlemen Fletcher and King Carney, and the Aborigine people are weird. She needs Drover to drive the cattle to Darwin to earn the money to clear the debt of the ranch and to be able to sell it and go back to England.

But wait!! There is a darling half-caste Aborigine boy, Nullah, played by Brandon Walters at Faraway Downs, whose mother dies while they are being tracked by police. And Lady Ashley now finds herself unwillingly at first becoming the boy's mother. He's not hard to love either. The turning point comes when she starts to tell him the story of "The Wizard of Oz."

Another major character is King George, Nullah's Aborigine grandfather, who uses magic somewhat like voodoo to save the day many times.

Beautifully photographed, this movie has a dirty, dangerous cattle drive, switches to a beautiful, romantic tale between the legendary Drover and Lady Ashley, and then finally ends up with the black, smoky invasion by Japanese troops in Darwin, Australia right after Pearl Harbor. It also switches from a comedy to a western to a love story to a fight for survival.

You may need patience with "Australia." It starts slowly, but really picks up quickly. My advice is to turn on the English subtitles, or you will have trouble dealing with the Australian lingo such as Billabug, crikey, Majaari, Jedi, Bandy. There are also a lot of characters to keep up with, and a plot that stretches almost 3 hours but goes quickly after the very first part is over.

Features Actors:Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman,Bryan Brown,David Wenham & Brandon Walters
Running Time:165 Min.
Rating: PG-13

Nicole Kidman is Lady Sarah Ashley, a cash-strapped aristocrat who suspects her bush-hopping husband is up to no good in Australia, and flies down to confront him. Her driver from the city to the ranch is Drover (Hugh Jackman), an independent contractor of sorts that Lady Ashley convinces to stay on board after she discovers her husband has been murdered by an Aborigine tribesman and her ranch hand, Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), is a mole for local cattle baron King Carney (Bryan Brown). Carney wants Lady Ashley’s land, but Fletcher just wants revenge, and neither is above exploiting the welfare of Ashley’s mixed-race “creamer” boy Nullah (Brandon Walters) in order to get her to knuckle under. (Mixed-race children were separated from society at the time as a means of keeping the blood lines pure.) But Lady Ashley proves to be a ferocious competitor, winning the hearts of Australia’s more free-spirited elite, and ultimately the love of the loveless Drover.The military's buying cattle in Darwin, but with the foreman gone, Sarah isn't going to get her herd there, at least not without the help of Drover (Hugh Jackman, Van Helsing), a drover (naturally), and the rest of the station hands, including a surprisingly adept Nullah.Sarah's troubles aren't over when the cattle reach Darwin, though. She has to deal with the treacherous Fletcher and authorities who want to take Nullah away. Meanwhile, Japanese planes are headed for Darwin.
That’s when World War II arrives on their doorstep.

A must see in the land down under!Great acting, the little boy Nullah in this film will steal your heart and also gives an amazing performance.Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)

I loved the setting, pre WWII and early WWII in the outback of Australia. The cinematography on the epic Australian film was amazing, The story line was heart grabbing and held you to the very end. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman were perfectly cast as a rich & proper English lady who came to the Outback to "straighten out" her late husband's cattle ranch. Hugh Jackman was the wild Rover who was hired to help her accomplish a cattledrive across the rugged outback to sell cattle to the army. Another cattle Baron is determined to thwart their drive thus keeping his cattle monopoly with the army. Japan's aerial bombing of Syndey Harbor and the ensuing hardships make this a movie to see.

In 1939, the aristocratic Lady Sarah Ashley travels from Great Britain to Australia to meet her husband Maitland Ashley in northern Australia. The husband's drover comes to the city of Darwin to bring Sarah to their farm; however, when they reach Faraway Downs Farm, they find that Maitland was murdered. Sarah befriends Nullah, who tells her that the administrator Neil Fletcher is stealing her cattle; has killed her husband; and is working for the cattle baron King Carney. Sarah fires Fletcher and his men and together with Drover, Nullah and a group of loyal employees, they ride together to take the cattle to supply the army and win a tender in times of war. But the ambitious Fletcher has other intentions and uses Nullah to press Sarah.

One of the best movies I think Nicole Kidman has made..
LOVE this Movieeeeee. A must for your DVD collection......
{Mrs puman}

Not caring much for Nicole Kidman as an actress, and also being somewhat ignorant of the acting skills of Hugh Jackman, I was in a quite negative state of min when I saw this movie the first time. But, the excellent performances turned in by Kidman and Jackman, along with the gorgeous locations, makes this up there with great cinematic classics like "Gone with the Wind", in my opinion.
The story is wonderful, full of courage and scoundrels, and is one the few movies I have actually been able to say I learned things I didn't know before.
A fine family movie as well.