20 to 1: Great Aussie Films
20 to 1: Great Aussie Films was an episode of the Australian television special 20 to 1, which aired on October 3, 2006. Hosted by Bert Newton, it was a one hour show with the 20 greatest Aussie Films of All time.
The films
1. Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Battle of Gallipoli. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the nature of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli and depicts the ill-fated attack at the Nek on the morning of the 7 August 1915 by the 3rd Light Horse Brigade.
2. Crocodile Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback in the area around "Walkabout Creek" and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as Mick Dundee and Linda Kozlowski as Sue Charlton.
3. The Castle is a 1997 Australian film that gained widespread acclaim in Australia. The Castle starred Michael Caton and Anne Tenney, and featured a cameo appearance by Charles 'Bud' Tingwell.
4. Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian film adaptation of the novel of the same name. It premiered at the Hindley Cinema Complex in Adelaide on 8 August 1975. It became one of the first Australian films to reach an international audience, and thus has an important place in film history.
5. Mad Max is an Australian apocalyptic science fiction film starring Mel Gibson. Released in Australia in 1979, it was directed by George Miller, and written by Miller, James McCausland, and Byron Kennedy, who produced the film. It was released by 1980 in North America, and even later in Europe.
6. Breaker Morant is a 1979 Australian feature film, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant. The all-Australian supporting cast features Bryan Brown as Lieutenant Handcock, Lewis FitzGerald as Witton, and Jack Thompson as Major Thomas.
7. The Man from Snowy River was a 1982 film made in Australia. The film was based on the Banjo Paterson poem of the same name. The film had a cast including Tom Burlinson as Jim Craig (The Man), Kirk Douglas as Harrison, the owner of the property, Jack Thompson as Clancy of the Overflow, and Sigrid Thornton as Jessica Harrison, the daughter of the owner of the property.
8. My Brilliant Career is the 1979 film adaptationof a novel by Miles Franklin. Sybylla was played by Judy Davis and Harry by Sam Neill. The film was directed by Gillian Armstrong and produced by Margaret Fink. It won numerous awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design.
9. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian film about two drag queens, and a transsexual woman driving across the outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a large bus they have named Priscilla. The film stars Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp. It was written and directed by Stephan Elliott. Since its release it has became a significant cult film.
10. Sunday Too Far Away is an Australian feature film which was directed by Ken Hannam and released in 1975. It belongs to the "Australian film renaissance" which occurred during that decade.The film is set on a sheep station in the Australian outback in 1955 and its action concentrates on the shearers' reactions to a threat to their bonuses and the arrival of non-union labour.
11. Puberty Blues is a 1981 Australian film. The film is based on the 1979 novel Puberty Blues, by Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette, which is a proto-feminist teen novel about two 13 year-old girls from the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, Australia. The girls attempt to create a popular social status by integrating themselves with the "Greenhill gang" of surfers. For censorship reasons, in the film their age was upped to 16.
12. Shine is a 1996 film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Chris Haywood, and Alex Rafalowicz. The degree to which the film's plot reflects the true story of Helfgott's life is disputed (see below).
13. Young Einstein is an Australian comedy movie starring Yahoo Serious, released in 1988. It grossed over $11,536,599[1] in its United States theatrical run.The film, a comedy, is intentionally inaccurate portraying Albert Einstein as a young farmer in Tasmania who discovers rock music, and meets Marie Curie.
14. Strictly Ballroom is an Australian romantic comedy starring Paul Mecurio. It tells the story of an Australian ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings
15. Storm Boy is a 1976 Australian film, based on the children's book by Colin Thiele about a boy and his pelican.
16. Romper Stomper is a 1992 Australian film by Geoffrey Wright starring Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie and Tony Lee. The film follows the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne.
17. Chopper is an Australian 2000 drama-crime thriller-black comedy film written and directed by Andrew Dominik based on the semi-autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. Read is an infamous Australian criminal, convicted for wounding a man and attempting to kidnap a judge, and who has admitted to murdering many people.
18. Babe is an Academy Award-winning 1995 film that tells the story of a pig who wants to be a herding dog, and which speaks to the arbitrary and unfair nature of class systems.
19. Wolf Creek is a 2005 Australian horror film, written, produced and directed by Greg McLean and starring Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt and Nathan Phillips.
20. Muriels Wedding is a 1994 Australian movie written and directed by P. J. Hogan and starring Toni Collette as Muriel, and Rachel Griffiths as her friend Rhonda.