Review: The Lighthorsemen

Set during WWI, this film charts the exploits of the title regiment of 800 brave Aussies, mounted soldiers who in a plan devised by British Intelligence officer Anthony Andrews, are called into action to save the Brits from impending Turkish-German doom and heavy gunfire. The goal is to take the Palestinian city of Beersheba. A youthful Peter Phelps is the enthusiastic young ‘un who tries to hang with the big boys (principally the taciturn John Walton, Tim McKenzie, Gary Sweet, and an Irish Jon Blake), but his reticence in pulling the trigger has him eyeing a stint as a medic instead. He also hooks up with a pretty nurse played by Sigrid Thornton. Tony Bonner, Anthony Hawkins, and Bill Kerr (as a Pom!) play the military bigwigs, Gerard Kennedy is a Turkish officer, whilst Serge Lazareff, Grant Piro, and Adrian Wright (the loony doc on TV’s “Prisoner”) play assorted military men.

It won’t stand as one of Australia’s finest films, but this 1987 war flick from Simon Wincer (“Phar Lap”, “The Man From Snowy River”, “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man”) is certainly pretty watchable and the director uses his (no doubt modest, in comparison to Hollywood) budget effectively. Scripted by Ian Jones (who published two books on the Light Horse story), if you’ve ever wanted to see a John Ford movie about WWI but set in Australia, this rather old-fashioned war flick might be for you. I think it’s a pretty solid B-movie, though it’s a little bit clichéd and the characterisations are a tad broad (bordering on beer commercial-like), through no fault of the cast. This was just how we presented ourselves at the time the film was made. A bigger problem is perhaps the complexity of the campaign itself, I was a bit lost at times, to be honest, despite a few ‘war room’-type meetings and other supposedly helpful techniques employed by Wincer.

The large cast of mostly TV veterans (at least four alumni of “Prisoner”, plus Peter Phelps and Gary Sweet) is rock-solid, with Peter Phelps being the surprising standout. The one-time “Baywatch” actor has never done much for me, but he makes for a likeable protagonist here. Yes, the role is essentially the Mark Day role from “Gallipoli”, but Phelps is probably better in the part (He ain’t no Mel Gibson, however). Well-respected stage and screen actress Sigrid Thornton is perfectly fine, though her nurse/love interest part is the oldest cliché in the war movie book (both of these characters having at least some basis in history, albeit not entirely). Nice small turns by old pro Bill Kerr (as General Sir Harry Chauvel), Adrian Wright (cast somewhat against type in a sympathetic officer part), and a heavily made-up Gerard Kennedy (a bit of a stretch as a Turk, physically, but good nonetheless).

Special mention must be made of the late Jon Blake, who was in an horrendous car accident after the final day of shooting. It left him with permanent brain damage, which rendered him basically (as much as I, a paraplegic, hate the term) a vegetable up until his death in 2011. I’m not so sure he was going to be the next big international star, but we’ll sadly never know, and it’s a true tragedy.

The film’s best assets are the music score by Mario Millo, and the gorgeous cinematography by Dean Semler (“Mad Max II: Road Warrior”, “Razorback”, “Dances With Wolves”), who shoots the thing like he’s in Monument Valley. The film looks a whole lot bigger and more expensive than one imagines it would’ve actually been. The final battle is pretty well-staged and rather confronting with the loss of life involved (albeit heroic in its own way, if anything in war can be considered ‘heroic’).

 

 It doesn’t resonate as much as “Gallipoli” or “Breaker Morant”, but it’s a pretty enjoyable film, with an intangible, haunting quality no doubt from Blake’s participation and the knowledge of his real-life fate. I could’ve done without the bare-arsed naked horse-riding on the beach, though. I know Phelpsy and Gary Sweet were (are?) considered sex symbols, but c’mon. By the way, is anyone else amused that the plot of the film centres around Aussies attempting to capture a place called Beer(sheba)? Just sayin’...

Rating: B-