Beneath Hill 60 (2010)

After recently returning from a very moving tour of some of the battlefields of the western front (including Hill 60 itself), I was extremely glad to hear of a film depicting some of the heroics which took place there. Given the enormity of what happened in those years, the events which took place there are undeniably underrecognised. Make no mistake, World War One in film has none of the glory associated with it as so often its sequel. It was a truly awful war, for both sides. Unique in every way, difficult to explain to others, and for all the bloodshed, is difficult to comprehend in modern times. Some of the stories from that period are crying out to be told. This is one of them.

As war had reached the industrial age, the unpredicted stalemate of trench warfare would force either side into unforeseen warfare tactics. This is the story of the 1st Australian Tunneling company's experience in the region around Ieper, Belgium. An extremely rare kind of battle was taking place, underground warfare. Given the place in history Gallipoli has to Australia, one can only wonder why so few of the younger generations of Australians have ever heard of places such as Messines, Passchendaele, Pozieres and Fromelles to name a few. A film which depicts the heroic events of that important chapter of world history should be received with open arms.

And so I am so glad to say that the acting, characterisation and cinematography are very good, as are (to my mind at least) the relative historical accuracy of the script and sets. However this film has one major hurdle in its way of being utterly brilliant. It is of course Australian. By this I mean that doesn't intend to significantly push the envelope or have much of a sharp edge, but to appeal to the masses and not take many risks. To be honest I was surprised to see the occasional cigarette smoking of soldiers given the political correctness of modern Australia. Any realist knows however that the majority of those soldiers were smokers and I am glad they kept modern perceptions second to historical accuracy.

If I was going to be critical (and I will be), it is that this film in one or two moments treads closely to falling into some of the same traps of film-making clichés that belong in 20th century Hollywood. Thankfully the foot that is about to get stuck in this trap is soon lifted out and back on track to being a great film.

I hope many will see it. I also hope Baz Luhrmann learns a thing or two about film-making and the people who funded and plugged his last piece of trash feel humiliated that someone made a slightly better film about Australia's history.

A very moving film. Congratulations to the cast and crew.

Fmovies: The way Townsville has been transformed into a battlefield is astounding enough. The trenches and underground tunnels that feature in the movie are frighteningly real and the Townsville team has done an amazing job replicating the bleak European countryside scattered with trenches as it were then. Careful attention has been paid to the costume and dress of the time with the getup pulling off marvellously. the screenplay has been drafted tightly with the action and suspense maintaining throughout the whole drama. The flashbacks to Woodward's time in Australia are expertly spliced and provide a welcome relief to the eyes from the dark, dinghiness of the pits. the acting is good all round, particularly Edward Woodward's character. The exception is the young girl who cannot act to save her life but luckily she's not in it very much. Watch out for The young boy that plays Tiffen. He is the next Heath Ledger and puts in a fine performance. Overall, an excellent movie that also provides a great educational tool about the underground maneuvorings of the war.

I have to disagree with the comments comparing this movie with 'Hurt Locker' which is a superior movie in nearly every day and deserves its Oscar credits. This is however an excellent war drama telling a fairly unknown true story of Oliver Woodward during World War One. I for one had never heard of Oliver Woodward until watching this movie. Yes, to some degree, I would compare it to 'My Boy Jack" and even 'Passchendale' and actually 'Tunnel Rats' the Vietnam war drama springs more to mind.

There is also a love story thrown in for good measure and overall this is a very sensitive film with an unacceptable but seemingly necessary ending. The acting is superb throughout and the story fascinating in how it was told from beginning until the end.

For those who like their dose of war dramas, this is clearly one not to be missed.

Beneath Hill 60 fmovies. This is a movie that every Australian must watch. It's a story about the unforgotten heroes, who went and did their bit for the Great War. Amazingly it's based on a true story of miners who, went to the Western Front and dug a network of tunnels deep beneath the Germans. Implanted within the labyrinth of tunnels, is millions of explosives waiting to be set off.

What makes this film is the human side of emotion. There is mate ship and bonds which can never be set aside; experiences that only the men can relate to. There is the love story between Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) and young Marjorie Waddell (Bella Heathcote). And you see the youthful innocence of young men, in particular Frank Tiffin, played by Harrison Gilbertson and Walter Sneddon (Alex Thompson).

The contrast between the Queensland and the war is reflected in the use of colour and lighting. Queensland is bathed in sunlight, warm clean colours and in the costumes. While the Western Front is portrayed in constant bleak colours where bright colours don't exist. It's cold, wet and rain(for some reason, it's not a war movie until is has the element of rain and coldness).

The English accent of the British troops are not great, they sound more like upper crust Australians. But apart from that comment, this is a gem of a movie. It will have you hooked until the very last second.

I first became aware of this story - including the real life inclusion of a couple of real-life distant relatives in that unit - when the local newspaper here reported on the making of the movie a couple of years back.

Like some of the other reviewers here, I also found this movie to be better in some way than the likes of Gallipoli, Anzacs and Breaker Morant.

I would recommend this film to anyone either wanting to simply see a good war movie, and to those wanting to know more about Australia's war history - even "fictionalised" and "dramatised" versions..

Comparing this movie to "Hurt Locker" was surely a joke, on those reviewers part: Not only do the two have little in common, this movie is more realistic, and it IS based on real events (and not the twisted stories that end up in many American movies..). ~ and real people, several of whom came from around this region.. And they cover two entirely different eras...

Calling "Hurt Locker" a superior movie was a ridiculous and pathetic comparison on a couple of people's parts ~ in reality, they are two completely different movies ~ and I consider "Beneath Hill 60" to be a much better and more worthwhile than that average American offering.

"Beneath Hill 60" earns Ten Stars from me..

A fine movie. Not a masterpiece, because such movies are non-existent; consequently, I don't go looking for such a thing. My test is that if a movie reaches or exceeds my expectations, it succeeds. In my book, this beats "The Hurt Locker" hands down-- which may not mean anything to those who disliked that Oscar winner. Perhaps foolishly, because of the Oscar hype, I had expectations of THL which were not met. So it failed. "Beneath Hill 60" does not. It's more realistic, more accurate, more tension-filled, and not at all pretentious. No need for me to repeat the plot outlines that others have mentioned. But I will declare that the above-ground battlefield and underground scenes-- the wet, the mud, the cold, the misery-- are amazing for their reality. And they were shot mostly in tropical north Queensland.