Even though his stories are not usually something typical of interest to me, I have always loved Baz Luhrmann for his visuals. His new film Australia is a period love story, but the beautiful cinematography immediately grabbed hold of my inner cinephile heart. That said, I’m not sure I’ll like this film as much as his previous efforts. Interesting bit of trivia, supposedly Heath Ledger was set to star in this film, but dropped out to play The Joker in The Dark Knight instead. Russell Crowe was also attached as the lead but left the movie during pre-production. I would love to hear what you guys think of the new trailer in the comments below.
You can also watch the new trailer in High Definition on Apple.com.
Official Plot Synopsis: A romantic action-adventure set in northern Australia prior to World War II, Australia centers on an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Hugh Jackman) to drive 2000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country’s most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier. With his new film, Luhrmann is painting on a vast canvas, creating a cinematic experience that brings together romance, drama, adventure and spectacle.
Baz Luhrmann’s Australia hits theaters on November 14th 2008.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Apparently, Nicole Kidman is getting ready to play Michael Jackson
May 19th, 2008 at 4:03 am
I’m Australian and that looks like a typical Aussie bore-fest. It probably won’t make much money over here. Zzzzz. Looking gorgeous is one thing - telling an interesting story is another. I hope I’m wrong, but I sense a flop. Especially with the ego-centric title.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:17 am
This is looking great.
Seeing that shot of the Blue Mountains only made me miss them.
:)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Looks incredible
May 19th, 2008 at 4:39 am
After seeing the trailer,i must say it looks like its going to be boring. Being an Australian myself, i think they could have chosen a better topic to base a film on. Having two major Australian celebrities in this film will be the only reason people will go see it. Just my thoughts….
May 19th, 2008 at 4:59 am
sorry but the trailer was about to put me to sleep. plus nicole kidman is box office poison these days
May 19th, 2008 at 7:04 am
I just feel like I’ve seen all of that before. Numerous times…
Same shit, different country.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:11 am
mmmmm…..Wolverine…wait what?
May 19th, 2008 at 7:17 am
it’s like romancing with stone only better
May 19th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Meh…
@ Captain Awesome…. They weren’t the Blue Mountains.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:01 am
I’m pretty sure the best part about this film would be the score, not the script nor the talent
May 19th, 2008 at 8:42 am
looks well-crafted and much more appealing than Atonement which was a self-conscious bore. I’m sure Baz won’t disappoint. Remember, he ‘re-invented the musical’ [Janet Maslin bitchily said he re-invented the headache].Thankfully Russell Crowe departed this project otherwise i wouldn’t go anywhere near it. Kidman and Jackman could sure do with a hit, and it should be very satisfying for romantics - speaking of romance: a huge plug for the June DVD release of Joshua Logan’s ‘Fanny’ with Leslie Caron, Chevalier, Boyer and Horst Bucholtz - what a dream of a movie. Back to ‘Australia’ - think i’ll get out my copy of ‘The Sundowners’ to get in the mood..
May 19th, 2008 at 9:01 am
At last a chance for Kid/Jackman to ditch their phony American accents and get back to their roots.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Anyone else notice the score that starts at about 28 seconds is Ennio Morricone’s score from one of his Dollars movies? (It’s either Fistful of Dollars or For a Few Dollars more, I can’t place it right now).
Looks like Tarantino isn’t the only one using film scores from the spaghetti westerns of the 60’s.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I like Jackman but this movie
looks B - O - R - I - N - G - !
May 19th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Alright, so maybe it’s because I’m girl, but I’m interested.
Of course, I am a fan of the director and the lead actors, so I’ve
been ready to give this movie a chance for ages.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:42 am
This is a lock for best oscar for cinematography.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Nicole Kidman is one of my favorite actors, I do hope she does well in this role.
This looks like a better version of Atonement…
May 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Looks great. Can’t wait to buy the Blu-Ray. It will rest between Brazil and American Pie on my shelf.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I liked it…I have a love/hate relationship with Kidman but I really like Hugh and I’m interested to see how well they work together on the big screen.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
The plot sounds like a re imagining of Howard Hawk’s ‘Red River’…
May 19th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I’m at least interested, mainly because of Luhrmann. And it does *look* beautiful, so I’ll at least go see it. Although, I borderline can’t stand Hugh Jackman…..
Oh, and @ Alex C: just because the music is in the trailer doesn’t mean it will be included in the score of the film. It’s very common practice to use a popular piece of score from another film in trailers.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
A movie about Australia starring actual Australians?!? And real indigenous Austrailians/Aborigines?!?!? Has Hollywood suddenly taken its Logic Pills?!?
I didn’t know Japan bombed Australia… so I’m gonna check this out.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Wow, unless a movie has The Jokers cock all over it or it’s based on a vampire and a teenager falling in love, you guys cant accept shit. How narrowly minded is society now a days?
Typical.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Alex C: the music in the last piece of the trailer is actually from ‘Henry V’, written by Patrick Doyle. It seems a lot of people are confusing Morricone’s ‘Ecstacy of Gold’ with this incredibly moving gem of a score (which, presumably, is why it has been used here to promote what will hopefully be a classic to come).
May 20th, 2008 at 7:00 am
@ Gary: THANK YOU!! I spent like an hour last night trying to figure out just which piece of score that was, to no avail. I love Henry V, how could I forget? And I used to have that soundtrack on my comp, which has sadly now busted….bummer.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
The cinematography does look great but the acting, not so much. I laughed out loud at “we can’t let them win” Oh dear.
Doesn’t look any less theatrical than Moulin Rouge, thought he was finished with that.
Pity as the bombing of Darwin is interesting and should be told well.
Catherine Martin is very clever though.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:04 am
Does anyone know what music is used at the beginning of the tralier? It is a piano playing.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:19 am
@ Courtney: I think the music at the very beginning is from ‘The Balcony Scene’, from another of Luhrmann’s movies - ‘Romeo & Juliet’, scored by Craig Armstrong. But there’s a few other chords mixed in. Hope that helps.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
After being away from my country for 17 years, living in the US, Scotland, China, Malaysia … just this little preview already makes me decide it’s time to return. Tis the ONLY decent place now. FYI; that is the Kimberleys in WA, not the Blue Mountains (most Aussies never been there). I once was a Police Office in Darwin and yes, it was bombed - 350 times don’t you all know? I am not a Kidman fan … although I appreciate what she’s done … but I am a fan of that “wide brown land”. Seems we are all too sophisticated now to cherish our heritage. But, the world certainly will .. and wants to come there in their millions.
June 25th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Good acting team plus good scenario…should be interesting
June 30th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Boooooooorrrrring!!!
We don’t need this kind of movie for Australia! It looks like it’s glorifying my country’s past. It’s a bit like some frontier film about the USA. I trust Baz Luhrmann has the sense to make it real and sensitive to the indigenous people of our land. Well, I hope he has.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
It’s got a real retro feel. Like the big screen block busters of the 1940’s and 50’s. I like it! It’s NOT an American western. Certainly not considering the WW11 background, it just seems to have that wide landscape and big music score feel. The bombing of Darwin is something most Australians were not told about during the war because it would have freaked people out too much. Broome on the west coast of Aus was bombed too. The Japanese chased Dutch flying boats escaping from what is now Indonesia. (Then the Dutch East Indies) The wrecks of these boats can be seen at low tide to this day. I’m about to spend another 2 months in the Outback. it’s a VERY special place. There is nowhere like it on the planet. Go Baz!!