Ned Kelly (DVD, 2004)

Features Actors:Heath Ledger,Orlando Bloom,Joel Edgerton,Naomi Watts,Kerry Condon
Running Time:110 Min.
Rating:R

Emerging from prison after an early run in with the law, Ned is escorted home by friends Joe Byrne (Orlando Bloom) and Aaron Sheritt (Joel Edgerton), and knuckles down to a life of farming and horse herding. His only distraction appears to be his beautiful but married English neighbour Julia (Naomi Watts), but there’s a local copper called Fitzpatrick who has taken a shine to his sister Kate (Kerry Condon). So while Ned is away in the hay with Julia establishing an alibi – in scenes so clunking they bring an unintentional Ted and Ralph Fast Show hilarity to the script’s leaden Lady Chatterly aspirations – a drunken Fitzpatrick has crashed the Kelly home and had his advances repelled.
Chastised, his hand bleeding, Fitzpatrick returns to town claiming that Ned shot him. As a precaution, Ned and Joe, plus brother Dan (Laurence Kinlan) and friend Steve (Phil Barantini), hide out in the hills, but the police still arrest Ned’s mother (Kris McQuade) on a trumped-up charge of attempted murder. A desperate Ned slinks back to plead with Julia to prove his innocence, but fearful of losing her children, she refuses.
Essentially now Robin Ned and his merry oiks, stealing from the rich and giving to the Irish underclass, they acquire beards to rival their enemies and pen letters of insult and social comment to the establishment as they loot their banks.A wily operator, Hare persuades Sheritt to betray the gang, but they avoid an ambush and Byrne kills his former friend. The scene is now set for a final showdown in the Glenrowan hotel, with cops arriving en masse and the gang standing their ground with all-over body armour. It’s by far the best part of the film, though nothing that hasn’t been seen before in a Western.

Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)

I really like this movie. I picked it up because it's an Orlando Bloom movie, but I found that it was quite educational. Ned Kelly is based on a real person who lived in Australia. He is thought to be the inventor of bullet proof armor (to some extent) - and did it all because of an injustice in the justice system.

The true story of Ned Kelly is one that needed to be told. He was a true hero of his time. Fighting against the harsh Land Lords of Ireland, and took a stand for the common folk and made a everlasting statement in the process.
Highly recommend!

ggbenson =^-^=

Having read many novels depicting the rejection of the Irish in that day this film captures the jealousy and the hatred felt across the globe for the Irish. While the Jewish nation catches must of this type of hatred through the ages, the Irish weren't unscathed. You are taken through a series of insignificant events that lead to something much more. In fact to the core of the matter is the Irish determination that was taken to its ultimate challenge. Stubborness is the nickname but heart is the matter. From beginning to end Ned Kelly wins the hearts of many as souls suffer. Even the enemy comes to admire the courage, hope, honor, and determination of this underestimated hero turned outlaw.

I first heard of Ned Kelly when I purchased an older version of the story which starred a 27 year old Mick Jagger in the lead role. Ned Kelly was an Australian version of our Jesse James, more or less. I think that this newer version tells the story better. The exceptional cast helps to make this movie quite enjoyable. The extra feature called Ned Kelly in Contemporary Culture really helps one understand that this outlaw was a Robin Hood type folk hero with the common people of the time. Heath Ledger was outstanding in the title role, as were the other actors in their supporting roles. Good acting, good story. Check it out!!!!