Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Really Surprised!

i must have seen a different film!!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's an above average TV miniseries about ANZACS -- Australian/New Zealand forces -- at Gallipoli and in France in World War I. More cheerful than tragic, it takes us through combat, a lot of banter, a romance, explorations of character, and a lot of conflicts of varying degrees of importance.In the earlier episodes we learn of the class distinctions between the aristocracy who mainly identify with Britain and those of the working class who think of themselves as Australians. The former are rather stiff, maintaining a veneer of European culture. The natives are a happy-go-lucky lot who pay little attention to social position.This isn't the place to get into it, but isolated colonial populations are in a tough position. The Australians developed a national identity, taking one route out of the conflict. The Massachusetts Bay Colony took another and turned on themselves, hanging crazed devil worshipers and whatnot. Maybe it has to do with "the founder effect" -- prisoners and dissidents in Botany Bay; blue-nosed Puritans in Boston. Sorry.National allegiances aside, there are even semi-serious regional differences among the men. There's Paul Hogan, the "banana bender" from tropical Queensland. Then there's the Cambridge-educated Andrew Clark from urban Melbourne who enlists as a private and rises to the rank of Captain.Also explored, deservedly, are the oppositions between the British officer class and the junior officers and men. Whew, what a mismanaged war that was! Here's how historian Liddell Hart describes Douglas Haig, the British Field Marshall who managed the war in France."(Haig) was a man of supreme egoism and utter lack of scruple – who, to his overweening ambition, sacrificed hundreds of thousands of men. A man who betrayed even his most devoted assistants as well as the Government which he served. A man who gained his ends by trickery of a kind that was not merely immoral but criminal." Ironically, in my opinion anyway, Noel Trevarthen, who plays Haig in the film, turns in the best performance as a complete blank who refers to KIAs as "wastage" and only hopes that after the ANZACS have been "bloodied" in the field, they may behave themselves in a more military fashion behind the lines.None of the other performances are duds though. They're all of professional character. But their roles are rather limited. Andrew Clark is the handsome hero who evolves from make-believe British to committed Australian who earns his spurs on the battlefield. And Paul Hogan's deadpan non-acting is a delight to behold.It's not a gory bloodbath, nothing like "Band of Brothers". And the lesser budget of the typical television series is revealed now and then -- minor mistakes in wardrobe, a landscape that with its chalk and dust looks more like Australia than the rufous loam of France. The horrors of the snowy winter at Galipoli are mostly skipped, though a scene in France has the men's breath steaming.In the end, you get to like the Ozzies. It's easy. They're serious and determined when the situation calls for it. When it doesn't, they're laid back, brash, and interested in sports, beer, and jokes -- people of action more than contemplation. I realize it's a stereotype but in my limited experiences with them in the Pacific, it all seems to fit. And, regardless of birthplace, they gave us such toothsome blonds as Olivia Newton-John, Naomi Watts, and Nicole Kidman. Good on them.

It is a wonderful mini-series equally as good as the BOB (Brand of Brothers) or any of its style. The series starts in a bit humorous way which it carried throughout in spite of the struggles and sufferings it depicts in the later part. The best thing about this series is that the characters are so relating such likes of Martyn, Pat, Roly, Flanagan it makes it so touchy and as if you are too going through along with them in their pains and happiness. There is also a cute love story going simultaneously along the story which gives you some extra comfort too. For me the character of Pat was superb and extra ordinary, and as of conclusion ill surely ask all you to have a watch which will be worth your taste and time.

A good effort at an Australian history of the First World War. As with all dramatisations there has to be a certain 'spin' on events. Recounting the bare factual detail would lead to a documentary.....With this in mind I would say the series is excellent introduction to the ANZAC corps and their participation but further research would be required to polish the edges of the facts.Broadly correct in its historical content, there is a tendency to portray the British as Lord Henry's and does not exactly show them in a good light. To be expected for a 'Colonial' production I suppose....it doesn't detract from the purpose of the drama, as it also deals with the human aspects of the friendships that develop. It could be a group German, British or Canadians and the human aspect would remain.Available on Region 4 DVD, this is an excellent buy for a well remembered 1980's mini series.

I refer in these comments to the full 3-video mini-series, not the truncated version or film produced for the American market.In general, a well-produced and directed series which, with a few minor exceptions is probably as close to the true horror and carnage of the First World War as it is possible to get. Most of the minor errors can be explained by the requirements of plotting or pure visual effect and, in my opinion do not seriously detract from the overall truth of the subject matter.It should be remembered that this series was produced for the Australians, whose culture and memory is very different to that of the Americans who seem to have a collective down on this video/film. Perhaps if our North American cousins had come into the war several years earlier and suffered the casualties the Empire did they might have a different view of the series.The feeling throughout the series is of the AIF being abused and butchered by the incompetent British generals - and as a military historian I cannot say the series is wrong. However, other than one short scene, the series does not highlight the fact that the British were suffering just as much under their own generals.All in all I would say the viewer would get a much better idea of what the AIF and World War I was about by seeing this mini series than by viewing Gallipoli, which is generally thought to be historically weak.I would recommend the mini series but not the film or truncated North American video release.