Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

greens-10 Why does everyone who takes on the English establishment have to be hard done by, be decent, lovable and good natured at heart and freedom loving but oppressed and thus driven to fight back against tyranny and injustice. The fact is that the Kelly gang were the local thieves and rogues who were forever in trouble with the police. They were of Irish descent but so were the police at all levels of rank and so was the Judge who had Ned Kelly hung. When four police tried to arrest the gang three policemen were shot dead, one as he lay wounded at Ned Kelly's feet, and one escaped. The Kelly gang was now a bunch of murderers who eventually got what they deserved. After having said that it must be accepted that Ned was brave in that, dressed in his suit of armor, he came back to fight the police face to face in the final shoot-out. But he was no folk hero, just a pitiless criminal. He was a hard man and if only the film makers showed him as he was with emphasis on him being such a tough character and as such a menace to the community even though he was personally courageous. Being as brave as he was should not make us naturally assumes that he must be an admirable personality.The film is not a documentary but how refreshing and honest it would be if the Kelly gang had been shown in their true light. That might have made it a great movie instead of being forgetful rubbish.

MBunge This movie tries to be a sweeping epic about the savage "Wild West" era of late 19th century Australia, but it's hampered by not understanding the strongest part of its own story and by not appreciating that we aren't all Australians.Ned Kelly tells the story of a famous outlaw named…wait for it…Ned Kelly (Heath Ledger). He's the oldest son of a poor Irish-Australian family with a history of run in's with the local authorities. While not much more than a boy, Ned gets himself thrown in prison for defending a girl. When he comes out, he tries to live on the straight and narrow but winds up framed for shooting at a police officer. That sends Ned and his friends on the run, where they turn to bank robbery and become heroes to much of the country folk who are burdened by greedy banks and rich land owners. Eventually the authorities call in a high ranking police officer, sort of a "super cop" to lead a military style campaign to bring the Kelly Gang to justice. That leads to a final battle that is not just one of the greatest stories in Australian history; it's one of the most amazing stories in the history of the world.This movie, however, doesn't seem to appreciate that its climactic conflict is the best and most important element of the story of Ned Kelly. Aside from that gunfight, and the incredible way Kelly prepares to meet his enemies, there's nothing all that remarkable to Ned Kelly's life. Especially to an American who grew up with the tales of Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and Davey Crockett, there's little new or different in this movie. It does touch upon Kelly's Robin Hood-like persona, but it never clearly establishes the social and economic order of Kelly's time and what sort of grievances and oppression he was seen to be combating. This movie treats Ned Kelly's entire life as though it was this grand and compelling adventure, of which the tremendous ending was just a part. But without the tremendous ending, Kelly's life wouldn't be of much interest to anyone except those preoccupied with Australian historical nostalgia.There were plenty of times watching this film that I could tell I wasn't getting how important and significant certain aspects of the story are, or are supposed to be, in Australian history. A scene would unfold, the music would swell to indicate "This is a big deal"…and it just didn't mean that much to me. The story does virtually nothing to universalize Ned Kelly's life and times, to demonstrate what meaning they should have to non-Australians.None of the actors, outside of Heath Ledger, are really given much to do in the story, other than take part in the beardapalooza of facial hair on display. They're all perfectly fine, but there's nothing particularly appealing or praiseworthy in their roles. Ledger, however, is given a lot more to do on screen and he does work hard at taking the two-dimensional, almost saintly character that Ned Kelly is in this film and giving him some human depth. But this performance pretty much proves that Heath Ledger didn't have "it". "It" being that indefinable thing big movie stars have. Will Smith has "it". Tom Cruise used to have "it". John Wayne and Spencer Tracy had "it". Oh, he was certainly handsome enough to pass as a leading man and anyone who's seen his phenomenal performances in Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight knows how deeply talented he was as an actor. But that thing that movie stars have to have to make you like them, to make you want to watch them, Ledger did not have "it". Perhaps he was too good of an actor, to committed to reshaping himself to fit a role to ever let his own essential nature shine through.Ned Kelly's not a bad film, but it just goes along as a fairly standard Australian Western before unleashing it's unbelievable but true ending. If you already know a little about Ned Kelly, you might enjoy seeing the rest of his life played out on screen. But if you don't, you'll likely come away from this movie wishing it had spent a whole lot more time and energy on the one outstanding part of Ned's story.

Jackson Booth-Millard I guess I was attracted to this film both because of the sound of the story and the leading actor, so I gave it a chance, from director Gregor Jordan (Buffalo Soldiers). Basically Ned Kelly (Heath Ledger) is set up by the police, especially Superintendent Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush), he is forced to go on the run forming a gang and go against them to clear his own and his family's names. That's really all I can say about the story, as I wasn't paying the fullest attention to be honest. Also starring Orlando Bloom as Joseph Byrne, Naomi Watts as Julia Cook, Laurence Kinlan as Dan Kelly, Philip Barantini as Steve Hart, Joel Edgerton as Aaron Sherritt, Kiri Paramore as Constable Fitzpatrick, Kerry Condon as Kate Kelly, Emily Browning as Grace Kelly and Rachel Griffiths as Susan Scott. Ledger makes a pretty good performance, for what it's worth, and the film does have its eye-catching moments, particularly with a gun battle towards the end, but I can't say I enjoyed it as I didn't look at it all. Okay!

adrian_maxwell This is the worst film we have ever seen. Heath Ledger's beard was the worst stick on beard since Charlton Heston played Moses in that film. It was a travesty when the monkey got shot, but we held back our tears when Bloom said 'Ha, the monkey's been shot'. Which just goes to show how heartless the Kelly gang were. Anyway, what had the monkey done, didn't the police know there was an innocent monkey inside the inn? We bet most of the reviewers (who seemed to spend all the film in tears) didn't spot the fate of the monkey. We just knew the lion was going to get it too. What was the point of that and what was the point of the horse blood scene? Does anyone have the recipe for wombat stew? Sad to say, as we write this (25/01/08) Heath Ledger will not be remembered for this film. We hope the aborigine was paid for his walk on part, it was the only realistic, authentic and professional part of the film where the director seemed to have something in mind. Was it Jimmie Blacksmith? For an idea of the directorial standards in this film see what the director is up to in 2009.