Bullseye (1987 film)
| Bullseye | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Carl Schultz |
| Written by | Robert Wales Bob Ellis (additional dialogue) |
| Produced by | Brian Rosen |
| Starring | Paul Goddard |
| Cinematography | Dean Semler |
Production company | PBL Productions |
| Distributed by | Dumbarton Films Umbrella Entertainment |
Release date | 1987 |
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | AU$4.5 million[1] |
| Box office | AU$2,847 (Australia)[2] |
Bullseye is an Australian comedy adventure film directed by Carl Schultz.[3]
The movie is also known as The Trailblazer, Trailblazer, Outback and Birdsville.[4]
Plot
In the 1860s, two friends, Harry and Bluey, steal a thousand head of cattle and trek it across country from Queensland to Adelaide.
Cast
- Paul Goddard as Harry Walford
- Kathryn Walker as Lily Boyd
- John Wood as Bluey McGurk
- Paul Chubb as Don Mckenzie
- Lynette Curran as Dora Mckenzie
- Bruce Spence as Purdy
- David Slingsby as Spence
- John Meillon as Merritt
- Kerry Walker as Mrs Gootch
- Rhys McConnochie as Judge
Production
Robert Wales' script was originally called Trailblazer. It was based on the cattle drive of Harry Readford, known as Captain Starlight, which inspired the novel Robbery Under Arms. PBL Productions, then an offshoot of the Nine Network, bought the script and at one stage Joan Long was going to produce with Peter Yeldham working on the script. Then Carl Schultz was hired as director and he wanted to turn it into a comedy, so Yeldham left the project. PBL formed a partnership with Dumbarton Films who had worldwide marketing rights to the film.[1]
The two leads were inexperienced: Kathryn Walker was an architecture student doing some modelling and Paul Goddard had only been in one small role.[5]
The movie was shot on location in the Australian outback, with the town of Bourke standing in for Roma, and studio scenes shot at Mort Bay studios in Balmain, Sydney.[1] Shooting finished on 14 November 1985.[6]
Release
Hoyts wanted to release the film but Dumbarton held up the release hoping for a Hollywood major to handle the film in the same way as Crocodile Dundee. This did not eventuate and the film was not released until two years after it was made. It was not a financial success.[1]
One critic wrote that "the film is entertaining in its contrived absurdity but lacks any substance behind the comic set ups."[4] However David Stratton called the film "hugely entertaining".[1]
Home Media
Bullseye was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in January 2011. The DVD is compatible with all region codes.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p69-71
- ^ Australian Films at the Australian Box Office Report for Film Victoria
- ^ Bullseye[permanent dead link] at National Film and Sound Archive
- ^ a b Suzanne Brown, Australian Film 1978-1992, Oxford University Press, 1993 p266
- ^ "Blazing the trail from Birdsville", Cinema Papers, January 1986 p45
- ^ "Production round-up", Cinema Papers, November 1985 p48
- ^ "Umbrella Entertainment". Retrieved 19 July 2013.