YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

darbski ***SPOILERS*** I gotta wonder how many people ever gave a thought to the idea of Australian cowboys? How about Hawaiian cowboys? African cowboys? YUP. Probably one out of a hundred. Russian cowboys? Nah. This is a fine movie from a viewpoint few of us Americans think of - another country ! Imagine that!! Before there was a Quigley down under, There was a Man From Snowy River. I saw it on cable a long time ago, and then recently again. Kirk Douglas does a pretty good job of it, but, I'll bet they could've found an Aussie to play this grizzled (and ungrizzled) role just as well. A fast moving plot with a couple of ranch rats, a domineering father, a guy who loves the beautiful girl, and an escaped stallion? Gee, that is a pretty good recipe for a western of any country. Throw in great horsemanship, fantastic scenery, and terrific acting, and you get this movie.. it's a 10.

WakenPayne When I told people I would be looking for top of the range classics some misinterpreted and just recommended any old movie with the slightest critical or audience praise. The Man From Snowy River is a poem that is probably one of the most Australian stories ever written and there were 2 successful film adaptations and this is the first one and the other being it's sequel. There are many who enjoy this movie but by the end I was trying my best to stay awake.This movie's plot is awful. It's barely a story at all, the way it works is that something happens, then the set-up for something else happens and they follow through with that plot line only to resolve it to jump onto something else. Not only that but the 2 things that remain consistent being Jim's relationship with Sper, his relationship with Jessica and her angry parent father. The plot lines are so soap-opera like I'm seriously wondering if it was a sub-standard 30's romance. By the end I don't care, the thing tying it all together is a group of wild horses that has his father die in the process Jim works at a stable and falls in love with the daughter of the rich guy there, that's almost entirely it.I'm also going to say that these characters are awful. Jim basically starts out as being a male equivalent of a Mary Sue when it comes to horses and that's pretty much all you need for his character and Jessica is a character who goes against the societal norms of the 1880's. Usually when a feminist character in a non-feminist time is in something I watch, usually I like her - This is an exception simply because she says lines about gender equality and all that when it was almost 20 years before giving women the vote happened and they have out-of-nowhere 20th century reactions to the chauvinism of the time.Okay so the story and characters are terrible in my opinion, what do I like? The cinematography at times is outright beautiful. I'll also say as much as I complained about the characters and the plot(s) the actors are doing the best with what they're given. I also do like the sets and Art department that just adds to the cinematography at times. It isn't get this movie entirely for that but they're the good elements about the movie.Maybe it's for a lot of reasons but I don't think I'm really asking for much when it comes to a movie like this. Set up both characters, make them interesting, have them fall in love before the halfway point (yep... it's a romance where they don't romance until halfway through) and by the end finish as much conflict as possible in both their lives... This movie fails at that. I know there are fans of this movie but I personally think if someone attempted to remake this, I personally would like to see what happens as opposed to having this be one of Australia's most popular films amongst Australians.

ma-cortes Fairly ordinary movie about a boy suddenly alone in the world . In 1880s Australia , Victoria Alps , when young Jim Craig's father (Terence Donovan) dies he becomes an orphan boy and he is seeking a life of his own . Meanwhile , a reclusive mountain man (a bearded Kirk Douglas) helps Jim overcome his sudden state as an orphan . Jim (Tom Burlison) takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch and there the men challenge him and then he is forced to become a man . Jim falls in love with the well brought-up Jessica (young and beautiful lead Sigrid Thornton) . But her daddy (non-bearded Kirk Douglas, though Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum were also considered for the dual role) aims to keep the lovers apart . And a wild horse is a stunning highlight . This big hit entertaining adventure contains melodrama , thrills , action , a love story , spectacular outdoors and stunning photography highlights . More like Disney style than a John Ford Western , this Australian film takes its wake from ¨Wilderness family¨ saga . Being based on the poem by A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson , scripted by Fred Cullen and John Dixon . Very good acting by the great Kirk Douglas in a dual character -a cheap gimmick of casting- , as portraying two battling brothers , one a wealthy land-owner and the other an one-legged prospector . The starring couple , Tom Burlison and Sigrid Thornton , suffers through the inexperience and being newcomers actors . Tom Burlinson performed all his own horse riding stunts in the film . Colorful cinematography , as photography of horses in breathtaking . It was an Australian huge success and was one of fifty Australian films selected for preservation as part of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia . It is continued by ¨Return to Snowy River¨ by Geoff Burrowes who produced first entry and also with spectacular scenarios . Following the lives of the previous ranch hand and the rich rancher's daughter ; Brian Dennehy takes over from from Kirk role as stubborn dad . This Down Under motion picture filled with enjoyable moments was professionally directed by George Miller , but with no originality because takes too many elements from former films . Not to be confused with another Australian director, George Miller, of the Mad Max movies . Miller is an Australian director usually working for television (Tidal wave , Journey to the center of the earth , Attack of the Sabretooth and many others) and occasionally for cinema (The man from Snowy river , Zeus and Roxanne , Robinson Crusoe ). Rating : 6 . Acceptable and entertaining flick with glimmer cinematography making the whole film worthwhile watching .

James Hitchcock We often think of the Western as being a characteristically American film genre, although there have been occasional attempts to adapt its conventions to stories set in other parts of the world. "North-West Frontier", for example, is a British film set in British-ruled India, but the plot is essentially that of "Stagecoach". "Untamed" transfers the standard waggon-train plot from the American prairies to the South African veldt, and "The Sundowners", about Australian pioneer life, has similarities to many films set in the Old West. These two latter films, despite their ostensible setting, had an American leading man, Tyrone Power in "Untamed" and Robert Mitchum in "The Sundowners". "The Man from Snowy River" is another Australian film with a plot which could be that of a Western. (One could call it a "Southern"). It also features a major American star, in this case Kirk Douglas, in a leading role. Or perhaps I should say that it features Kirk Douglas in two leading roles, the brothers Harrison, a wealthy cattle farmer, and Spur, a prospector. The action takes place in Victoria during the 1880s. Apart from the two brothers, the main character is Jim Craig, the "Man from Snowy River" himself. Jim is a young man orphaned by the death of his father in an accident, who goes to work on Harrison's station. The three main strands of the plot concern the relationship between the two brothers, who have been estranged for many years, the growing romance between Jim and Harrison's daughter Jessica, and the efforts to recapture a valuable stallion belonging to Harrison, which has escaped and is running with a herd of wild horses. There are a number of differences in terminology; the wild horses are referred to as "brumbies" rather than "mustangs", Harrison's landholding is described as a "station" rather than a "ranch" and the reward for the recapture of the stallion is expressed in pounds rather than dollars. With those and a few other exceptions, however, the above synopsis could easily be that of a typical Western. And yet in some ways this is a very Australian film. The title and the story of the hunt for the escaped stallion derive from a narrative poem by the "bush poet" Banjo Paterson, although the other two strands of the plot are the inventions of the scriptwriters. Paterson himself appears as a character, as does Clancy of the Overflow, the hero of another of his poems. Paterson is something of a national icon in Australia, largely because his poetry helped to create the legend of the "Australian bushman", the tough, individualistic inhabitant of the Outback who plays a role in the Australian national imagination similar to that played by the cowboy in the American one. Clancy himself- a real individual, not a fictitious character- has come to be seen as the archetypal bushman. "The Man from Snowy River" was made in 1982 during a decade when very few traditional Westerns were being made in America itself. (Perhaps the attraction of the film for Douglas was that it gave him a chance to star in one last "Western"). This was, however, a period when the Australian "New Wave" was starting to give that country its own cinematic identity with films about Australian history like "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "Breaker Morant". This film, therefore, can be seen, not as an attempt to imitate Hollywood, but rather as an attempt to celebrate Australia's own history and culture in the way that the Western celebrated American history and culture. That other great celebration of the bushman, "Crocodile Dundee", a comedy with a contemporary setting, was to come shortly afterwards. There are no really great acting performances, although Douglas copes well with the challenge of playing two very different characters, the autocratic, patrician Harrison and the more free-spirited Spur, even if his accent does not always hold up. The film is shot against some attractive mountain scenery, and the action sequences, especially the hunt for the missing stallion, are well done. This is a film which will appeal to anyone with an interest in Australia's past, as well to all horse-lovers. 7/10