mortalalexh Gallipoli was one of the most ambitious and tragic events and outcomes that ultimately shaped WW1 as a whole, and shaped the whole Australian nation forever. Gallipoli the miniseries follows four young men: Thomas 'Tolly' Johnson (Kodi Smit-Mcphee), Bevan Johnson (Harry Greenwood), Cliff Sutton (Tom Budge) and Dave Klein (Sam Parsonson) as they are sent off to war to fight in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. Being an avid WW1 enthusiast myself, this show brings in everything right about what you should expect from a WW1 portrayal. You live through the entire campaign throughout the seven episodes, and follow the characters through the eyes of Tolly Johnson, the youngest out of the group. Before I delve into what's right about the series, let's just brush off some negatives. First of all, Tolly's background story. So at particular points throughout an episode the scene may flash-back to Tolly's home life, which usually involves Bevan's girlfriend, Celia. This has to be the worst part of the series, as the whole series of sequences in total feel out of place and unneeded. I'm guessing the short plot goes that Celia is starting to feel affection for Tolly while dating Bevan, but is trying to hide it from him. These 5 minute sequences don't amount to anything or build up to anything, they are just there, to create some sort of mood, but It takes away from the experience of the rest of the part of the episode. A very minor point are some little historical inaccuracies that are picky, but to save time, I'll only go through one. The first episode, 'The First Day', recites the infamous landings on ANZAC Cove, to which literally only several boats with a few dozen soldiers land, with more coming at sunrise. In reality, thousands of soldiers would of landed at the same beach that night. Ok done with the negatives. It's not just the four main characters that are centre point, you also follow the story of two more characters; Sir Ian Hamilton (John Bach) and Charles Bartlett (James Callis). Ian Hamilton was a senior British army officer who was in placed in charge as a general of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the campaign. During the show, the struggles and turmoil of the ANZAC Headquarters develop rapidly, and really capture what Gallipoli was really like, false and lack of communication, heated debate, and Hamilton's personal struggles as well. Charles Bartlett, a well known journalist during the campaign, has a very strong presence all throughout the show, sort of acting as a slight comic relief, but not overdone or placed in the wrong time. The show even manages to recite famous quotes from the actual time period from characters. Episode 5, 'The Breakout', is by far the best episode of the series, retelling the horrific events at The Nek, a narrow stretch of ridge among the peninsula. The 8th, 9th, and 10th Light Horse regiments were set up among the ridge, expecting to take and hold the strip of land. This is truly saddening, as the failed bombardments among with the massacre of hundreds of soldiers in the span of 5 minutes as they are forced over the top really gives a sense of hopelessness and intense fear, as you can see the soldiers' faces as they witness men being mowed down, wave after wave. This aspect of showing war is what it is always should be like. There are no heroic moments, no honourable and brave sacrifices, no incredible fantasy breakthroughs, it's gritty and horrifying, and it's not boring in any sense, it just shows it how the Great War was: hell.

buiger Now this is what I call a good mini-series. It is interesting, realistic, believable and touching. Very well directed, filmed and acted.Above all, it also gives the viewer an insight into one of the great battles of the first world war, which, especially for the Australians, has legendary status. It is also very interesting how the movie vividly depicts the divide between the classes present at the time. The film's portrayal of the generals is phenomenal... The generals and their staffs where so distant and alienated from their troops that most of the time, they had no clear idea of what was really going on on the battlefield!All in all, mini-series very well made. Highly recommended.

Lammasuswatch With last year's 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, and moving towards the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli next month, the past six months have seen some very good TV drama on a conflict which has previously seen little attention except for the odd documentary. "Gallipoli" has followed on the heels of "Anzac Girls", which gave us the till now unsung story of the nurses accompanying the ANZAC troops in the First World War, whose bravery and contribution has been largely ignored. "Anzac Girls" set an impressive standard; "Gallipoli" has certainly kept that up.This British-led campaign to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey in 1915 was largely written off by Britain and France as a succession of blunders, and an escapade best forgotten; in contrast, it is seen by Australians and New Zealanders as a national 'baptism of fire' that consolidated the process of forging two new, young nations into what they would become. The sufferings and huge per capita numbers of casualties became a source of pride, such that Anzac Day (the anniversary of the first landings on 25 April) has been observed since the end of that war as a national day of commemoration in both nations. We should also not forget how important it was for the Turks too, who saw it similarly as the catalyst for the birth of their modern Turkey under their Gallipoli hero, Kemal Ataturk.So how can you do a national legend justice in film and TV? Previous efforts have often been weighed down by an often awkward tweaking of history to create clear goodies and baddies (incompetent, mostly British generals filling this role). One reviewer on this webpage complains that not enough is seen of the New Zealanders, that even though New Zealand characters do come into the story there is not enough of their story told. Another mildly criticises the depiction of the Turks and similarly calls for more emphasis. But essentially this miniseries views the campaign not through a wide-angle lens, but through one with a fairly narrow focus. The story is experienced through the eyes of a small group of fictional Australians sharing a journey through an increasing hell, the likes of which none of them had ever anticipated. That's why the focus is reasonably narrow, and it's all the better for telling this story.That lens is also a zoom lens, however; and at times we zoom back out to follow the true experiences of the war correspondents covering the campaign, who want to tell the real story of the military disaster unfolding, but can't because of military censorship. And finally, the zoom pulls back to the last group of fleshed-out characters - the remotely located (and minded) General Staff officers, who have more understanding of the tactics, logistics and considerations of the classical Greek and Trojan heroes of their public school education than of the new modern warfare they are supposed to be managing.It is impressive that the overall excellent writing and direction constructs even these situationally incompetent officers as real, layered characters. So even when the completely out of his depth General Sir Ian Hamilton is relieved of his command and recalled to London in quiet disgrace, he still evokes sympathy - even though we have been wishing for this moment since the first episode. And the scripted criticism is for once even-handed: inflexible and initiative-lacking Australian officers who cause the useless deaths of many Aussies are depicted as equally culpable, in contrast to some earlier productions that diverted blame to the British.The script, written by Christopher Lee (and adapted from Les Carlyon's history of the campaign), is mostly very well-crafted and leaves just enough unsaid. Certainly, the subplot of the 'love triangle' between Tolly, Bevan and Celia seems a bit of an intrusion at first. But if you watch to the end this becomes a unifying theme, and the key to Tolly's actions. And it is resolved finally in the most low-key, unexpected, but satisfying way.Glendyn Ivin's direction is adventurous - including his direct-to-camera looks by lead actor Kodi Smit-McPhee at significant points in the narrative. Potentially dangerous cinematically, but so appropriate here. All is backed up by the excellent cinematography of Germain McMicking and the beautifully evocative score by Stephen Rae, which complement each other and the action just so fittingly.Acting was uniformly excellent. I can't think of anyone who could garner a negative comment, and particularly impressive were Kodi Smit-McPhee as Tolly and John Bach as General Sir Ian Hamilton.It is a testament to just how well this script has brought to life characters for whom we come to deeply care, that we are left wondering in the end what the writer's thoughts might have been as to whether our remaining fictional heroes would have survived the campaign on the Western Front they were soon to join. And whether they would finally have returned home to build the lives that were suggested they might have.Even the weaving of a bullet into this interesting tapestry and its literal resurfacing in the end create an entirely appropriate epilogue.

teamknights I really wanted to enjoy this show but I couldn't get past the uninteresting cinematography, editing and unconvincing acting. It almost felt lazy, like it was too much effort to set up and film more shots for each scene. I really did not feel like the cast were in any danger in the battle scenes. I can imagine that the real soldiers would have been constantly wondering if they would be the next to take a shot every time a gun fired - I didn't feel any of that at all. I wanted to be on the edge of my seat and to only have a break from the intensity during the flash backs. Maybe my expectations were too high.I also couldn't not see playschool every time I saw the mum.Hopefully the future episodes will be better, buts it's a shame that the first episode didn't give me much to look forward to.