Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

sol- Based on the true story of how a platoon of Australian soldiers tunneled under enemy soil during World War I, 'Beneath Hill 60' recounts a slice of wartime history not often told. Most noteworthy is how the film does not just depict battles and explosions, but also the squalid living conditions and claustrophobic surrounds of the soldiers. There is a particularly effective struggle as two Germans invade the tunnel; the scene takes place in pitch black darkness for nearly a whole minute after a lamp is knocked out. Another memorable sequence features disquieting sound effects as a soldier realises that an explosion has deafened him. The film is unusually structured with several flashbacks to the main soldier's pre-war life woven into the mix. Brendan Cowell is solid as the soldier in question and the flashbacks serve well to pinpoint why he felt a need to fight (pressure, expectations, etc), however, they also break up the intensity and immediacy of the trench/tunnel action. Cowell's romance with a teenage girl half his age also makes for an odd inclusion as their age disparity is very prominent (by all accounts this is accurate though). Whatever the case, 'Beneath Hill 60' works almost all the time when focused on the trench/tunnel action. A constant sense of danger lingers in the air, and yet at the same time the film portrays the ability of camaraderie to also develop in adverse conditions.

revelly-robinson The way Townsville has been transformed into a battlefield is astounding enough. The trenches and underground tunnels that feature in the movie are frighteningly real and the Townsville team has done an amazing job replicating the bleak European countryside scattered with trenches as it were then. Careful attention has been paid to the costume and dress of the time with the getup pulling off marvellously. the screenplay has been drafted tightly with the action and suspense maintaining throughout the whole drama. The flashbacks to Woodward's time in Australia are expertly spliced and provide a welcome relief to the eyes from the dark, dinghiness of the pits. the acting is good all round, particularly Edward Woodward's character. The exception is the young girl who cannot act to save her life but luckily she's not in it very much. Watch out for The young boy that plays Tiffen. He is the next Heath Ledger and puts in a fine performance. Overall, an excellent movie that also provides a great educational tool about the underground maneuvorings of the war.

thekarmicnomad This is a great, sturdy film relying on good acting and story telling.There is nothing to get too exciting about in the way of action or affects but the story is engaging and the characters feel very real and it is easy to empathise with them.The 'war is hell' motif is there but isn't forced down your throat.Production is high and the battlefield scenes look very real and the director made a great decision not to shot everything in pitch blackness.I don't know how accurate the film is but the events are definitely plausible.Not quite Friday night material but definitely worth a watch.

MrGoodMovie Here is a movie that recounts a quite mind-boggling true story about a plan that, whilst successful in itself, nevertheless confirmed the futility of the "Great War", and the lack of an overall strategy.There are, of course, many films that one could argue achieve the same end. In fact it would be hard, if not impossible, to make a film about the First World War that confirmed anything else.So I can't really say that there is anything different about "Beneath Hill 60", but I would recommend it to anyone looking to learn a little more about the history of this war, the decisions that must be taken in the heat of battle, and the incredible contribution made by Australia's "Diggers".Quite why the Generals became so obsessed about the significance of "Hill 60" is beyond me, and was probably beyond the soldiers who fought, and died, to take it. Obsessed though they were, to the point of burying enough explosives underneath it to dwarf Guy Fawkes' planned fireworks show three centuries earlier. This was to be the biggest explosion ever created by mankind.Whilst there are some "blood & guts" scenes reminiscent of "Hamburger Hill" or "Saving Private Ryan" the overall feel of this movie is of a group of Aussie mates just "getting on with the job", with a leader who prefers to bed down with his troops rather than hang out in the "officers quarters".This to me is the essence of the Aussie Digger, and indeed Australian society today. None of the airs and graces of the British officers, or the social divides rampant in Britain, just ordinary blokes doing a dirty job with consummate professionalism, and with a weather eye on their mates.And I guess that is the heart of the film. When called upon to make a life or death decision about executing the plan or saving a mate's life Woodward didn't flinch. The plan had to be executed with military precision, and that is exactly what he did. Earlier in the film we'd seen acts of great comradeship, with soldiers putting themselves in danger, and in some cases dying, to give their mates a better chance of survival. Yet when the chips were down Woodward had to make a decision about the hundreds of troops who may have died had he not stayed on plan, and the few Aussie Diggers who may die if he did. Perhaps if he had realised that his men were going to die for nothing (Hill 60, or the ground that remained after it was blown to smithereens, was retaken by the Germans a few days later) he might not have pushed the plunger. But of course he didn't know that, so he did what any professional soldier would have done in those circumstances, he stuck to the plan with its precision timing. As a military leader he did what he had to do.We can all look back and see the futility of this war, its horror and its appalling waste of young life.But there is one truth that must burn on down the ages.Those that died did so with honour.And we shall never forget them.