Cheap Gallipoli (DVD) (Mark Lee, Mel Gibson) (Peter Weir) Price

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Customer Reviews of Gallipoli

Good historical drama
The Gallipoli Campaign was an attempt by the Imperial forces to put Turkey out of the war in 1915. What was involved was an invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the combined forces of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and France. The Gallipoli Peninsula is south of Istanbul and the aim of the operation was to seize the Turkish capital and to cut of their land route to Germany and Austria. In fact the operation was a disaster. The Turks were able to concentrate their forces and to contain the Imperial army. Eventually they had to withdraw after suffering considerable casualties. The campaign is of importance in the history of Turkey as it made the career of Mustafa Kemal. It is also important in the history of Australia and New Zealand as it was seen as forging their national character. In Australia it is still celebrated by a national day of mourning.

The film tells the story from the perspective of two Australian soldiers who fought at Anzac cove. They are country lads who are talented sprinters and who volunteer to join the Australian Light Horse. (Cavalry) The first part of the film deals with their meeting and the development of their friendship. The later part of the film deals with their training and the actual fighting.

The film has a mild anti war feel to it. Considering the nature of the campaign this is not a total surprise. The Australian forces were landed by mistake in a cove area which had steep cliffs going to the sea. The Australian troops became stalled on these hills and for the life of the campaign were at the mercy of Turkish troops on higher ground, who were able to continually snipe at them and roll hand grenades into their positions. Any Australian attacks had to be up hill against well prepared positions.

The climax of the film is a poorly organised attack. The bombardment which was to mask the attacking infantry ended before the time scheduled for the attack. This enabled the Turks to man their positions and to mow down the attacking infantry forces. This was in fact based on a true event and it led to media pressure to end the campaign.

For a person who has grown up in Australia or New Zealand the film is a moving account of an important event in one's history. Others who are not familiar with the events around the film may perhaps not enjoy it as much.

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Great war movie: a whirlwind of emotions.
Gallipoli is the story that follows Archie, an up and coming track star in Australia. He sees propaganda in the newspapers that convinces him, (in his eyes) to be a man and join the army. He meets another runner named Frank, and they form a great friendship. Archie convinces Frank to join up and they find each other in Egypt during basic training. They are sent to Gallipoli and made to fight a useless battle against the German-allied Turks. Archie was asked to be a runner, which would have spared his life, but he knew how scared Frank was and showed great generosity and unselfishness by giving that opportunity to Frank. The movie ends with Frank coming back with the command to stop fighting. He then hears the command from the front to go over the top. Archie goes over and is killed in the final scene, with Frank still running to tell the commander to stop sending the troops. I really liked this movie because of it's emotional impact. It is difficult to get choked up at the end.

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WHAT MANY REVIEWERS FAIL TO NOTICE...
IS THE BRAVERY OF THE TURKISH ARMY, AND THE INCREDIBLE HUMANITY LESSONS TO BE DERIVED FROM THE TURKISH COMMANDER:(SPEAKING FOR ENEMY SOLDIERS)
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives..you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace.There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.. You,the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; Your sons are in peace.After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well." MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK