Eye Candy #324 - "Gallipoli"

Gallipoli:  While on the surface, people may complain about the fairly obvious "foolishness of war" theme that runs through the end of the film (and since WW1 had several glaring examples of officer-level gross incompetency, while it may not be accurate for Gallipoli, it was certainly accurate for the war as generals held dear to the Napoleonic Wars-style of troop formations), to me it's more a picture about friendship, brotherhood, about what bravery is, and how people get swept along with notions of adventure and heroism when the reality is something much more real and worse. The story of two young Australian men (played by Mel Gibson and Mark Lee) who join up with the ANZACs during World War 1, from their recruitment, training in Egypt, and then to the trench warfare of the Gallipoli campaign along the Dardanelles in Turkey in 1915. The bulk of the film is about the journey to Gallipoli, not the battle itself. I'm a fan of Peter Weir to begin with, but this is easily my favorite of his films, and the two lead performances are great. Having seen a lot of war movies in my several years on this planet, this is in my top 5 favorite war films. Definitely worth a look and it’s held up well for being 26 years old. Woodchuck sez, "Me likey."