These may not be the twenty greatest films ever made, but they are my favourites. I started with 35 of the movies I love the most for various reasons, and had a tough time narrowing the list down to just 20 films. Even harder was putting them into some sort of order. It's an eclectic list - as those of you who know me well know, I like a broad range of films - but, all in all, the twenty films that have made the most impact on me over the years. It starts with Tom Burlinson's triumphant return to the Australian High Country...
#20 - The Man From Snowy River II (1988)
Stars: Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, Brian Dennehy, Nicholas Eadie
Director: Geoff Burrowes
Writer(s): Geoff Burrowes and John Dixon (film) & A.B. Patterson (poem)
Year: 1988
The Story: Years after the events in the The Man From Snowy River, Jim Craig AKA The Man (Burlinson), returns to the Australian high country, which he left at the conclusion of the first film to forge a beginning for himself and Jessica (Thornton), the women he loves. But many things have changed in the mountains whilst Jim has been away. His mentor, Spur (Kirk Douglas in the first film) is dead, Jessica's father (Dennehy) still dislikes him and Jessica herself has caught the eye of Alistair Patton (Eadie), the son of an influential bank officer. In the mountains, someone has shot at Jim's prized brumby and men in the low country are seeking to claim the drought-free grazing of the high country for their own, wresting control of it from the mountain men.
Why I Love It: Quite simply, there's more of the same drama, action, breathtaking alpine scenery and spectacular cinematography that made 1982's The Man From Snowy River, based on the immortal poem written by Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Patterson, such a roaring success both in Australia and overseas.
The sequel, almost a certainty after the critical acclaim and giant box office numbers of the original, ticks all the boxes that you could want, as far as a sequel goes. All the things people loved so much about the original are present in The Man From Snowy River II. It completes the story arc of Jim and Jessica, and gives Tom Burlinson another chance at donning the Akubra hat to portray one of the most iconic characters in the history of Australian film. Bruce Rowland's soaringly majestic score makes the events unfolding on the screen seem even better, particularly the climactic scenes that bring the film to it's conclusion. And with a feel good ending, that you just know is coming, there's not much to dislike. Sure, it's predictable at times, but it's a lot of fun, too.
Those who know me well know how much I love the Snowy Mountains - that place is a part of my family now - and I'm yet to see anything on television or at the movies that does such a tremendous job of capturing the rugged beauty of the Aussie high country. The sweeping shots from helicopter of characters riding along towering ridges or plummeting down steep hills are nothing short of epic. Scenically, it's a spellbinding piece of cinema. There's no more beautiful part of Australia than the mountains, and the way Burrowes captures it for the audience, it's no wonder the film - both films, really - was wildly successful not just here in Australia, but overseas.
it's damned near un-Australian to have not seen this film and it's predecessor and I don't know that there'll be another movie (or series of movies) that will do such justice to the Australian countryside, nor to the image that we all have of Australians at the turn of the twentieth century: that resilient, funnily sarcastic knockabout larrikin rogue style of character, which as became so popular since.
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