This movie feels cheap. I really hope it was, because if it wasn't someone screwed up big time. It starts in WA and the war scenes look like someone's dad got his excavator and dug some trenches and built some retaing walls in WA. Its looks ridiculous. They've taken every lame war cliche in the book and shoehorned it into the script but the actors deliver their lines like they are school kids. Barely one looks, acts or moves like they've done any soldiering. It's hard to watch. It comes off like a high school kids media project. Not worthy of the ANZACS. If your going to make an Aussie war movie do it right...
6 Reviews
Should be complusory viewing!
kerry-249436 April 2024
Made locally near Esperance in Western Australia.
Amazingly realistic portrail of an important time in Australian history.
Brought my husband's grandfather's stories to life.
This is a must see if you are interested in Australian history.
The film did not glamorise war and showed the hardships that our young Australian soldiers had to face. It was amazing to see the equipment issued to the soldiers in the film which was historically accurate but by today's standards would be considered inadequate.
Well done to the young Australian independent film maker, telling an important story.
Would highly recommend.
Amazingly realistic portrail of an important time in Australian history.
Brought my husband's grandfather's stories to life.
This is a must see if you are interested in Australian history.
The film did not glamorise war and showed the hardships that our young Australian soldiers had to face. It was amazing to see the equipment issued to the soldiers in the film which was historically accurate but by today's standards would be considered inadequate.
Well done to the young Australian independent film maker, telling an important story.
Would highly recommend.
A True Story That Needs More
jrmhbrcly-030435 April 2024
The whole time I watched this film, there wasn't really a moment that I felt invested in it. You couldn't sympathise for a single character besides the protagonist. As soon as you met one character, they would either die or become irrelevant to the story. I understand that this film is based on a true story. However, if you have to show in the opening credits that you practically did everything to make the film (directing, producing, etc.) to the audience watching. It probably isn't going to be that good of a film. The story itself was a bit interesting, but I wouldn't call this film a must see.
Movie that portrays the horror of Australia's participation in WWI
joyfulfrugalista14 April 2024
We took my 14 year old son to see Before Dawn. He's become interested in military history and was keen to see it. It gave us all a lot to talk about. For a low budget film, they did a good job of expressing the horrors of the trenches and the harsh conditions in which Australian troops served. This is not a love story, and instead depicts the futility and filth, as well the courage and resilience. It shows the pointlessness of young Australians dying for a cause so far away from home. It's good to see young Australian talent - behind the lens and onscreen - and look forward to more of this genre. I would like to see more women involved in any future script from the producer to provide great gender balance.
Another disappointment
cameron_ross7 April 2024
I was very excited for this film and for more Australian war films to be made, but I almost walked out numerous times. There is no story, no character development, the sets never change, the dialogue was abysmal and of course it is so far beyond historically inaccurate. The trenches are like 5 feet deep and always look muddy and in a terrible state, the uniforms were not put together by someone who knows the period, the medical conditions are laughably wrong and the battle scenes are farcical. This is a low budget film that thinks it is a high budget film in scope, trying to cover multiple years of the war instead of just focusing on a small time frame and a small group of characters, and because of that this apparent $9m film feels like it was made for about $50,000. Everything is wrong and it feels wrong.
AMAZING
susfart17 April 2024
I saw this movie in the cinamas yesterday and thought it was very good, they did make a few mistakes but they were minor ones and also gun laws here are very strict so for them to get any kind of machine gun into Australia would have been difficult, they did a great job and the critics probably aren't even from australia hence the bad reviews.
Overall 10/10 i would highly recommend watching this, hopefully it will come to a streaming platform such as Netflix of Amazon Prime Video, the critics should appriciate the effort put into the movie especially since Australia has nowhere near as many war films compared to America or England.
Overall 10/10 i would highly recommend watching this, hopefully it will come to a streaming platform such as Netflix of Amazon Prime Video, the critics should appriciate the effort put into the movie especially since Australia has nowhere near as many war films compared to America or England.
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