Gallipoli

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Weir directs. Russell Boyd behind the camera. Brian May scores. William M. Anderson cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Australia. Dialogue in English, Turkish, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 6.7× over at the box office.
• 345 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Turkish, French.
• 5Directed by Peter Weir, shot by Russell Boyd. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Brian May. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor William M. Anderson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Mel Gibson and Mark Lee and Bill Kerr carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "From a place you never heard of...a story you'll never forget.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0082432 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 17 themes, including "australia", "army", "world war i", "battle assignment".

The technical file

Cinematography

Russell Boyd

Original score

Brian May

Editing

William M. Anderson

Stunt coordinator

Vic Wilson

Runtime

112 min · 1h 52m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$2,600,000

Box office

$17,400,000

Return

669% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Gallipoli (1981) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

91% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

65/100

IMDB rating

7.4/10 · 43,587 votes

MPAA

PG

Also by

Peter Weir

• 
  Dead Poets Society

  1989 · ★ 8.3
• 
  The Truman Show

  1998 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Three to Go

  1971 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Picnic at Hanging Rock

  1975 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

  2003 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Witness

  1985 · ★ 7.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Gallipoli (1981) ORIGINAL TRAILER

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Gallipoli - Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Filipe Manuel Neto2024-04-14
  ★ 8/10

  Australia was “born” in Turkey. This is a very interesting film that addresses Australia and New Zealand's joint participation in the First World War. Both countries had recently gained independence from the United Kingdom, there was no real sense of national identity and, despite the proximity of German colonies in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, there were many Australians who did not want to go to the war alongside the British. It was the English's war, not theirs. The same thing was felt in my country, Portugal, the United Kingdom's oldest ally, but which only entered the First World War in 1916, against the wishes of the English. Portuguese politicians saw the war as a means of giving international prestige to a young and discredited republican regime, and of securing Portuguese sovereignty in Africa and India. Despite having no relationship with each other, the journey of Australians and Portuguese in the First World War had the same end: the CEP, the Portuguese military brigade, was decimated in France, in 1918, in the greatest defeat in the multi-century history of the Portuguese Army; ANZAC almost completely lost itself in the Dardanelles, in the face of the obstinate Turkish defense commanded by Mustafa Kemal, who knew well the terrain and foresaw what the Allies were going to try. Historical considerations aside, the film does not focus on military action or what happened in the unsuccessful Battle of the Dardanelles. We are taken there by the beautiful friendship between two young Australian athletes with a lot of potential, who enlist in ANZAC (one of them even had to lie because he was too young). I don't know exactly what they expected to do, nor if they did considered the possibility of not returning home alive. I think, as often happens, they wanted to enlist because all the other boys did it so. The script doesn't explore this as it could, and perhaps one of the film's weaknesses is the lack of this emotional and mental depth in decisive moments. I also missed a greater effort at contextualization: anyone who doesn't understand history may not know exactly what that battle was about. On a technical level, the film stands out for its excellent cinematography, scenery and costumes, and a reconstruction of the period that, overall, works satisfactorily. Of course, it's not technically perfect. For example, in combat scenes there is a great lack of visual and special effects that add intensity to the action, resulting in battles that are not exactly exciting to watch on the big screen. There is also a serious lack of blood here. I'm not a fan of gore or the most visually shocking effects, but stop and think with me: it's a battle, it's war. There are dead, there are injured, there are mutilated, there are screaming people lying on the ground in agony, waiting for their own death and asking for help. The film doesn't show us the raw reality of combat, perhaps to allow for a lower parental rating, which I understand, but honestly don't approve of. Although the film has a larger cast, naturally, the truth is that the two protagonists, Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, absolutely dominate all the action. It's worth paying attention to the work of the two actors: Gibson still didn't have the stellar status he achieved in Hollywood, and his modesty suited him well. He was a young actor, but he already had the talent that characterizes him, and a friendly smile, a charisma that makes his character pleasant and worthy of empathy. Lee is more important in the script, but he doesn't have the strength and presence of his colleague. He's good, but more discreet and less charismatic. It may have been this, in fact, that didn't help him advance his acting career. The film also features positive appearances by Bill Kerr in a short but significant role.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• R

  R & R Films

• 

  Australian Film Commission

  AU

Key crew

• NovelErnest Raymond
• ProducerPatricia Lovell
• ProducerRobert Stigwood
• EditorWilliam M. Anderson
• CastingAlison Barrett
• Executive ProducerFrancis O'Brien
• Associate ProducerBen Gannon
• Associate ProducerMartin Cooper
• Art DirectionHerbert Pinter
• PresenterRobert Stigwood
• PresenterRupert Murdoch
• First Assistant DirectorMark Egerton
• Third Assistant DirectorMarshall Crosby
• Second Assistant DirectorSteve E. Andrews
• Visual EffectsRoger Cowland
• Special EffectsSteve Courtley
• Special EffectsMont Fieguth
• Special EffectsDavid Hardie
• Stunt CoordinatorVic Wilson
• Stunt CoordinatorDennis Hunt
• GafferBrian Bansgrove

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• australia
• army
• world war i
• battle assignment
• british empire
• troops
• turkey
• turkish army
• anti war
• runner
• perth, australia
• 1910s
• gallipoli campaign
• sprinter
• anzac
• australian soldiers
• running

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1981-08-28PG

Also known as

International titles

• Gli anni spezzatiIT
• Gallipoli - An die Hölle verratenDE
• 갈리폴리KR
• ГалліполіUA
• Καλλίπολη 1915GR
• ΓκαλλίποληGR