Really Surprised!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

But I wanted to bring up a question. Jessica played a song on the piano at about the 40 minute mark that sounded like latter half of 20th century music, not 1800s.

When a teenage boy's father dies, he works on a ranch to save enough money to restore his father's farm to its former glory. While learning the ropes and becoming a man, he falls in love, but finds himself in the middle of a long-standing feud between two brothers who could interfere with his impending marriage. Kirk Douglas plays a dual role in The Man from Snowy River, as both estranged brothers, and while that's fun to watch, you're probably not going to like this movie unless you're really in love with westerns. Most of the movie focuses on the beauty of the landscape, and showcasing wild horses running around and cowboys working with cattle. If you think watching scene after scene of that will bore you to tears, you might want to try a different western, or a new genre altogether. If that type of scene appeals to you, you'll probably like it and will want to read A.B. "Bajo" Patterson's original poem. As you know, I'm not terribly in love with westerns. I much preferred Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

I won't write this review crapping all over a modern day classic like The Man From Snowy River. I know many adore this film and think of it fondly with great nostalgia. I waited a very long time to see it and finally decided to give it a try. I love westerns, 80's films and Disney classics but for some reason this didn't strike the right chord with me. Despite a promising concept, I found the film dawdles along without ever having a lot of chemistry between the key characters. The performances are good, in fact one in particular is excellent but its lacking depth when it comes to the relationships. The scenery is stunning and yet I felt like the film makers underused the breathtaking Australian outback. The film definitely shows a lot of beautiful horses so people that are looking for that will enjoy it. There is somehow a lack of significant emotion to a story that should be full of moving moments. The romance which should be a focal point in the latter part of the movie feels forced and rushed and very technical. There are some moments where it feels like they're actually bartering for the romantic lead.Tom Burlinson is our lead in the film. He is okay but he is also a key reason the characters lack emotion. He feels almost stoic at times and well he is always determined he wasn't necessarily the right choice for the lead of the movie. Kirk Douglas is literally the reason to watch this movie. He is amazing in a dual role as Harrison and Spur. Both characters are so different from each other and he just absolutely nails both. He is so obviously the seasoned professional and it shows. Sigrid Thornton is the object of Burlinson's affections but also causes one of the biggest issues with the movie. Thornton looks almost stunned throughout her entire performance and the chemistry between her and Burlinson is practically nil. Its almost painful to watch their so called romance unfold and yet I had heard what a classic love story this was but I didn't get it at all. Supporting cast is alright but no one really stands out as being noteworthy.Coming from a long history in Television director George Miller has done a lot of TV and a lot of straight to TV movies. I don't think he had the experience in movies to handle this and make it outstanding. Imagine this film in the hands of a truly amazing director who stuns with cinematography and could handle the script better. That being said, the script left a lot to be desired too. I suppose I was even more let down because this seems like the type of movie I would absolutely adore and I didn't. My expectations were high because so many people just rave about this and they love it and I respect that. I am not saying that its a terrible movie but it certainly didn't appeal to me at all. Someday I may watch the sequel but I'm not anxious to see it for sure. This was a miss in my books. 5.5/10

We often think of the Western as being a characteristically American film genre, although there have been occasional attempts to adapt its conventions to stories set in other parts of the world. "North-West Frontier", for example, is a British film set in British-ruled India, but the plot is essentially that of "Stagecoach". "Untamed" transfers the standard waggon-train plot from the American prairies to the South African veldt, and "The Sundowners", about Australian pioneer life, has similarities to many films set in the Old West. These two latter films, despite their ostensible setting, had an American leading man, Tyrone Power in "Untamed" and Robert Mitchum in "The Sundowners". "The Man from Snowy River" is another Australian film with a plot which could be that of a Western. (One could call it a "Southern"). It also features a major American star, in this case Kirk Douglas, in a leading role. Or perhaps I should say that it features Kirk Douglas in two leading roles, the brothers Harrison, a wealthy cattle farmer, and Spur, a prospector. The action takes place in Victoria during the 1880s. Apart from the two brothers, the main character is Jim Craig, the "Man from Snowy River" himself. Jim is a young man orphaned by the death of his father in an accident, who goes to work on Harrison's station. The three main strands of the plot concern the relationship between the two brothers, who have been estranged for many years, the growing romance between Jim and Harrison's daughter Jessica, and the efforts to recapture a valuable stallion belonging to Harrison, which has escaped and is running with a herd of wild horses. There are a number of differences in terminology; the wild horses are referred to as "brumbies" rather than "mustangs", Harrison's landholding is described as a "station" rather than a "ranch" and the reward for the recapture of the stallion is expressed in pounds rather than dollars. With those and a few other exceptions, however, the above synopsis could easily be that of a typical Western. And yet in some ways this is a very Australian film. The title and the story of the hunt for the escaped stallion derive from a narrative poem by the "bush poet" Banjo Paterson, although the other two strands of the plot are the inventions of the scriptwriters. Paterson himself appears as a character, as does Clancy of the Overflow, the hero of another of his poems. Paterson is something of a national icon in Australia, largely because his poetry helped to create the legend of the "Australian bushman", the tough, individualistic inhabitant of the Outback who plays a role in the Australian national imagination similar to that played by the cowboy in the American one. Clancy himself- a real individual, not a fictitious character- has come to be seen as the archetypal bushman. "The Man from Snowy River" was made in 1982 during a decade when very few traditional Westerns were being made in America itself. (Perhaps the attraction of the film for Douglas was that it gave him a chance to star in one last "Western"). This was, however, a period when the Australian "New Wave" was starting to give that country its own cinematic identity with films about Australian history like "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "Breaker Morant". This film, therefore, can be seen, not as an attempt to imitate Hollywood, but rather as an attempt to celebrate Australia's own history and culture in the way that the Western celebrated American history and culture. That other great celebration of the bushman, "Crocodile Dundee", a comedy with a contemporary setting, was to come shortly afterwards. There are no really great acting performances, although Douglas copes well with the challenge of playing two very different characters, the autocratic, patrician Harrison and the more free-spirited Spur, even if his accent does not always hold up. The film is shot against some attractive mountain scenery, and the action sequences, especially the hunt for the missing stallion, are well done. This is a film which will appeal to anyone with an interest in Australia's past, as well to all horse-lovers. 7/10