Beneath Hill 60 [DVD]

good

Great movie but they cut cost's on some of the sounds it seems. probably rushed.

Not melodramatic.

I liked the focus on the people on the ground, Australian, British, and German, who lived through this hell and did their duty. There is human error, there is incredible heroism, there are each person's point of view, there are overarching concerns, and ultimately, there is this overall sense that they are involved in something massive that they, as individuals, have no control over, and are managing as best as they can. The film gives respect and doesn't trivialize or rely on typical movie mechanisms to keep the plot moving and get the audience excited. It tells a very difficult story and, in my opinion, tells it quite well. Hats of to the allied soldiers who prevented the aggressors from taking over their neighbors by force. Whether they survived or not, they all paid a very high price to fight. I truly hope that the world never has to repeat anything like this or WW2 again. "War, except in self-defense, is a failure of moral imagination." - Bill Moyers

When I was an 8 year old Cub Scout, I had relatives who were still alive and served in WW I. Their stories were really horrifying. At last, here is a World War I DVD movie that is true in every detail. Canada, Great Britain and Australia provide movies about the real horrors of WW I with true events, while other nations miss the mark. The uniforms, language, and bearing of the Australian Miners are real and superb. My Great Grand-Father spoke of underground networks in Belgium. The most noteworthy was Messines Ridge where an underground labyrinth was packed with explosives. The Ridge was literally blown into fragments and the shock waves were heard or felt as far away as London and Ireland?! I was an Officer in the USAF, trained with Australian Officers and vieweddocumentaries about WW I that included the explosion at Messines Ridge. I have another WW I Class DVD, titledGallipoli and now a second one titled Beneath Hill 60 that indeed is a Gold 5 Star Rating which portrays the realtrue events and horrors of the Great War.

There are few WWI movies made in recent years, even fewer good ones, but the 100th Anniversary of WWI spurred a few that are worth your time. While WWI and the fractured vengeful peace that followed set the stage for the rest of the 20th century, it is virtually overlooked in the US. Luckily The Commonwealth countries Canada, Australia, and Great Britain, remember, and honor the sacrifice of WWI soldiers. Beneath Hill 60 is the (true) story of an Australian mining detachment that dug under the German lines at Messines ridge packed 1 million pounds of explosives in it and detonated the largest man made explosion in the world up to that date. The concussion was felt as far away as London, on the other side of the English channel. It was from this and other similar operations the modern term of a Land Mine came. This Australian movie is high quality, with outstanding attention to detail, using accurate arms, uniforms, as well as appropriate hair cuts and language for the time. The majority of modern period war movies really fail in this department, with haircuts that would not have been allowed by the military, modern slang, and weapons that didn't exist at the time. Beneath Hill 60 does not suffer from any of these common failings. Although I am unfamiliar with any of the actors in this movie, it is very well acted, I enjoyed everything about this movie. Like the movie Regeneration this movie delivers on quality and accuracy.

Pretty entertaining movie. It's worth a watch on a lazy day.

Who would have thought a battle plan would involve tunneling for miles into the enemy territory. The logistics of such an endeavor was mind-boggling. The soldiers who devised and carried out the details were not only brave but brilliant. Basically, mathematicians, engineers, munitions experts, and very creative guys. Just watching them in those tunnels gave me claustrophobia; and the muck, dirt, mud, etc. Then the logistics of making sure they had enough air to breath. Some on this team sacrificed all.... gave their full measure of devotion.That general or whatever high ranking officer he was that criticized this mission, the plans & adaptations, the brilliance of syphoning the excess water from the tunnel..... had his comeuppance. True leaders lead, but also they give due to those they command and listen carefully to their ideas. They aren't threatened by someone's else's superior ideas/plans.Well done movie.... captured the conditions these men worked in, their bonds, their comaraderie, the innovations, and pure grit!I loved this one...

Un bel film sulla prima guerra mondiale su un aspetto poco esplorato dalla filmografia cioè quello del "mine warfare". La ricostruzione degli eventi abbastanza accurata e il film a mio avviso riesce bene a raccontare una storia senza essere troppo retorico né eroico (difetti di tanti altri film di guerra). Ben recitato e credo che in italiano il titolo sia "colline della morte". Ne consiglio la visione.La cosa che non mi è piaciuta è la confezione veramente misera del DVD, ma credo sia un male comune delle versioni dei dvd UK, e la parte finale del film che un po' stona rispetto all'intero racconto, però questi sono gusti personali.

Ottimo film di guerra, senza la solita melensa retorica e realizzato con una particolare attenzione per le cose militari.E' la storia di un'unità di genieri australiani, impiegati per scavare gallerie di mina sotto le posizioni tedesche in Francia e poi in Belgio. I nemici ovviamente non staranno con le mani in mano e, come nella miglior tradizione (neanche fossero le Fiandre XVII e XVIII secolo...), realizzeranno a loro volta gallerie di contromina, in un gioco claustrofobico per la sopravvivenza.Fosse stata una sceneggiatura originale, sarebbe sembrata una situazione assurda, invece i fatti sono ispirati ad una storia vera (ispirati per davvero, non come in certi lavori cinematografici "liberamente interpretati").Non ci sono grandi battaglie ed il film è stato realizzato in Australia con attori locali, che in certi casi se la cavano molto meglio di certe famose e strapagate star di Hollywood...Se nel complesso è un film da avere nella propria collezione, è da notare come i film di guerra raccontino ormai delle storie personali e/o piccole vicende; nonostante i progressi in campo tecnologico, la computer grafica e le possibilità offerte dall'alta risoluzione, i grandi eventi vengono quasi sempre ignorati dai registi, come se realizzare una vera grande battaglia rappresenti ancora un'ostacolo insormontabile.Difficile parlare di Prima Guerra Mondiale senza le grandi offensive, non esistono solo i plotoni ma anche i corpi d'armata...

Era parecchio che aspettavo questo titolo. E' arrivato a fine maggio in buone condizioni. Film di un episodio della prima guerra mondiale. E' il genere di film che preferisco, mi dispiace solamente che non vi sia la lingua italiana ma ci sono i sottotili in inglese che aiutano molto. Agli amanti del genere bellico direi che è consigliato.

I received and watched this film yesterday, and I think it ranks as one of the best World War 1 films of recent years. It tells the true story of Australian miners preparing to set off a huge explosion beneath Hill 60, a German held strongpoint under Messines Ridge in Belgium. This happens and the resulting blast was the greatest man-made explosion ever recorded in history until that day, so powerful that its vibrations and tremors travelled across two seas (North Sea and Irish Sea) and two countries (England and Wales) to be felt as far away as London and Dublin.This film satisfies on all levels and tells a good story well. It leaves out all the artificial pathos, anti-war messages, neurosis, mournful music and nostalgia that so spoil other war films (Journey's End being a example for me) and it gets on with its authentic presentation. You so feel for the poor guys working in the cramped and soaking dark beneath, and for the German miners opposing them: all are human and doing their best in what really used to be a medieval form of siege warfare to bring down walls and towers. Occasionally the scene changes to green and pleasant Queensland in Australia in short romantic flashbacks, but these are also very well done with great characters you are glad to see again - and you do need these to break up the palpable claustrophobia and merciless action that comes across with increasing strength both above and below ground. The pleasing and memorable cast, the beautifully told story, the music, the action, the overall feel of it as it pulls you in; these are all hallmarks of a really good production which I thoroughly recommend.

This is an excellent Australian war movie, based on the real events, about the tunnelers - soldiers who waged a little known but extremely dangerous and deadly war under the trench lines during World War I.This film tells mainly the story of one Australian tunneler unit, composed mostly of coal and copper miners, during their succesive missions on Western Front in 1916 and 1917, with the dramatic battle of Messines (7-14 June 1917) being the final fight. The main character is Lieutenant (later Captain) Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell), who actually really existed - this film is based on the written accounts of his actions which were conserved by his family.The scenario is very strong and very dramatic. Fighting scenes are excellent. The conditions of life in the trenches during World War I are very skillfully recreated. Details of weapons and uniforms were very well respected. All actors performed very well and dialogs are good.But the real strength of this film is the perfect control of the film by the director, who chose to show the "War to end all wars" by sticking to the facts and events and keeping drama and emotions at a reasonable level, and I believe this was a winning move. People certainly do not hide their feelings in this film and there is one scene with a shell shocked young soldier which is pretty intense, but the thing is never overdone. The language is occasionally very strong but here also director avoided the excess - as it is true that unlike Hollywood would like us to believe most people do NOT use the F-bomb in every sentence, even under stress... And I found that the tired and occasionally cynical stoicism of the "diggers" and "tommies" showed more about the horror of trenches in World War I than most of extraverted gesticulations and yellings.A good idea was to alternate war scenes with occasional back flashes of Woodward's life in Australia before he joined in 1916 and especially his memories of the love of his life, Marjorie, who at 16 was still too young to be married when he went to war... Those memories of another life and their contrast with war in trenches are a very succesful thing.I will not say much about the underground war and savage fights in the tunnels shown in this film to avoid spoilers, but this is a unique thing. I never saw before a war film dealing with this particular kind of warfare and this one immediately sets the standard to which any possible successors will be measured.Another strong point is that even if one high ranking officer is shown as an arrogant and mostly incompetent jerk, as a whole this film does not criticize the army. Some characters which seem as snotty and unsufferable appear in a completely different light once shots are fired in anger and if generals and officers are ruthless, this is because they have no choice... The film shows that if war is mostly evil, it is not necessarily the case of people who wage it... And such a reasonable approach is a very rare and precious thing in modern cinema.Bottom line, this is one of the best war films I ever saw and definitely the BEST war film I saw recently. Enjoy!