Simon Wincer Movies

This epic western starring Val Kilmer, Steve Zahn, Linda Cardellini, and Rachel Griffiths was adapted from Larry McMurtry's sprawling novel of the same name, and actually constitutes a prequel to Lonesome Dove. Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Agustus McCrae may be getting up there in years, but their determination to capture Comanche war chief Buffalo Hunt, Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf, and an elusive Mexican bandit king certainly hasn't faded with age. Now, as Gus attempts to resolve his personal issues with longtime love Clara Forsythe and Call comes to terms with his feelings for local prostitute Maggie Tilton, fellow Texas Rangers Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker do their best to safeguard the advancing western frontier from the legions of Comanches who have vowed to defend their land to the death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker Mark Hartley explores Australia's hidden genre in this documentary that casually casts aside "official" film history to celebrate the demented genius of director Brian Trenchard-Smith, and the exciting wave of little-known but supremely entertaining films that entertained adventurous Australian filmgoers throughout the 1970s and '80s. Every film student worth his or her weight in celluloid has seen Breaker Morant and Picnic at Hanging Rock, but what about the lesser-known gems that didn't make the film-school textbooks? In his forward to Tim Lucas' book Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, director Martin Scorsese states, "We have to keep resisting the idea of official film history, a stately procession of 'important works' that leaves some of the most exciting films and filmmakers tucked away in the shadows." In this documentary, director Hartley explores the films forgotten by "official film history" with the comprehensive eye of a true film buff. As a child watching such films as Snapshot and The Man from Hong Kong, Hartley immediately recognized how wildly disparate they were in tone and execution from the films that comprised Australia's traditional film library. Appearing like American genre films that just happened to be shot in Australia and cast with Australian actors, these so-called "Ozploitation" flicks flourished in the wake of relaxed censorship laws down under. Yet despite constant chatter about the "new wave" of Australian cinema, financially successful films like The Man from Hong Kong and Patrick that were popular both at home and abroad were never mentioned, sneeringly dismissed as "genre" films rather than Australian films. Perhaps in the wake of such successful Australian films as Wolf Creek and Undead -- and looking ahead to such films as the slasher shocker Storm Warning and the eagerly anticipated remake of Long Weekend -- curious filmgoers are finally prepared to discover what they've been missing all these years. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Simon Wincer directs the 40-minute film NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience. It includes interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, plenty of high-speed racing action, and multiple points-of-view created by remote control-operated IMAX 3D cameras mounted to the outside of race cars, as well as the helicopter-mounted SpaceCam. Also included are interviews with top racers, such as Winston Cup Champion Tony Stewart. Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, NASCAR 3D premiered in IMAX theaters in March 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Steven Farley, son of Walter Farley, writer of the original The Black Stallion, The Young Black Stallion is a prequel to the 1979 Academy Award-winning classic starring Mickey Rooney. Directed by Simon Wincer, the film is set during the second World War and follows the adventures of the titular equine as he meets and befriends Neera, a young girl, played by Biana Tamini, who has lost her family in a Middle Eastern desert. Also starring Patrick Elyas and Richard Romanus, The Young Black Stallion was created specifically to be shown in IMAX theaters. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

An amateur sleuth gets some help from her pets in this family-oriented mystery. Mary Haristeen (Ricki Lake), known to her friends as Harry, is the Post Mistress in a small Southern town; when she's not reading mystery novels, she tends to her cat, Mrs. Murphy (voice of Blythe Danner), and her dog, Tucker (voice of Anthony Clark). When handsome stranger Blair Bainbridge (Linden Ashby) moves in next door, Harry's friends try to play matchmaker, but Harry thinks something is not cricket about her new neighbor. Mrs. Murphy and Tucker, who share Harry's enthusiasm for solving whodunits, also think that something's not right, especially after Ben Seifert (Wayne Robson), a local banker, is found dead several days after being discovered in Blair's new home. Things don't look good for Blair, especially after it's learned that his ex-girlfriend died under mysterious circumstances, but local socialite Fitz-Gilbert Hamilton (Ed Begley Jr.) also has a few secrets he's not sharing. This made-for-TV drama, produced for the Wonderful World of Disney TV series, was based on characters from Rita Mae Brown's "Mrs. Murphy" mystery series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When her husband's adolescent daughter arrives to live with them, an Australian farmer's wife is less than pleased. Her reaction creates considerable domestic disharmony. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This taut made-for-television adventure is based on the true story of an American businessman who loses his passport and exit visa in Saudi Arabia. His dishonest clients exploit this fact and do all they can to hold him captive in their country, thereby forcing the American to take desperate measures to escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This old fashioned service comedy is suitable for the whole family. It is set in Vietnam during the war and chronicles the efforts of a small band of Green Berets as they endeavor to help out a beleaguered village located next to a major supply route for the Viet Cong. The leader, Capt. Sam Cahill has been working overtime to create good relations between the American soldiers and the villagers so he can use their little town to monitor enemy activities. Unfortunately, Cahill is slated to retire and his replacement is shaping up to be the classic Ugly American. It is he who accidentally lets the North Vietnamese know that the hapless villagers have been harboring American soldiers. To punish them, the VC shoot the only elephant in the village. To help the villagers, Cahill goes against the wishes of the new leader and promises to replace the slaughtered beast in time for an important local ritual. The trouble is, the Americans have only five days in which to find and bring back an elephant; they find one, but it is 200 miles from the village. The men decide the only way to do it is to load the beast aboard a transport plane and send it to the village via parachute. Now all they have to do is figure how to engineer this feat. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The touching story of a boy and his killer whale made this family drama a surprise box office hit. Jesse (Jason James Richter) is a kid without parents who has bounced from one foster home to another and is living on the streets. One night, he's caught spraying graffiti with his friend Perry (Michael Bacall) in a theme park. Jesse and Perry are caught red handed by Dwight (Mykel T. Williamson), a policeman who thinks that Jesse needs a more stable and disciplined environment. Dwight arranges for Jesse to stay with a new foster family, Glen and Annie Greenwood (Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson), with whom Jesse has an initially stormy relationship. Part of Jesse's punishment involves cleaning up the damage he caused at the park, where the new attraction is Willy, a killer whale who is being trained to do tricks. However, Willy was traumatized when he was stolen from his family by mercenary fisherman and does not respond well to the genuine concern of his trainers, Rae (Lori Petty) and Randolph (August Schellenberg). Jesse and Willy, both stranded without families in a place where they don't fit in, develop a close emotional bond, and with Jesse's help, Willy begins to display aptitude as a performer. Thanks to his friendship with Willy, Jesse develops a new sense of responsibility and a healthier relationship with the Greenwoods. However, Dial (Michael Ironside), the owner of the park, doesn't much care for animals and isn't happy with the slower-than-expected progress of Willy's training; having insured the whale for $1 million dollars, he figures that Willy is worth more dead than alive, and Jesse, Rae, and Randolph have to rescue their aquatic friend and return him to the ocean when Dial seems ready to live up to his threats. Free Willy, which featured a star performance by a killer whale named Keiko (who is doubled in some scenes by animatronic models) included the theme song "Will You Be There," a top-ten hit for Michael Jackson, and spawned two sequels. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Tom Selleck stars as American cowboy archetype Matthew Quigley in Simon Wincer's outback western Quigley Down Under. Answering an advertisement placed by Australian cattle baron Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman) to come to the rugged and uncivilized Australian countryside and shoot dingoes, Quigley finds himself halfway around the world, only to find that Marston wants to exploit his talents as a sharpshooter in order to wipe out the Aborigine population. Taken aback by this square-jawed genocide, Quigley grabs Marston and hurls him through a window. Marston, who controls the region, sets out to hunt Quigley down. But helping him stay one step ahead of Marston is the addlebrained expatriate American trollop Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo) who insists that Quigley is her husband Roy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This six-hour miniseries, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry McMurtry, revitalized both the miniseries and Western genres, both of which had been considered dead for several years. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as fun-loving Gus MacRae and taciturn Woodrow Call, respectively, a pair of longtime friends and former Texas Rangers who crave one last adventure before they bow to their advancing years. Convinced that animals will thrive on the lush grasslands of Montana, Woodrow persuades Gus to undertake the arduous, 3,000-mile cattle drive there. Rounding up over a thousand head from Mexican rustlers south of the border, the men recruit a diverse crew of hands to help them. Among the party are Woodrow's illegitimate son Newt Dobbs (Rick Schroeder), local prostitute Lorena Wood (Diane Lane), and old compatriots Joshua Deets (Danny Glover), Jake Spoon (Robert Urich), and Pea Eye Parker (Tim Scott). Storms, hostile natives, poisonous snakes, and rustlers take their toll on the company before Montana is reached in an adventure that is equal parts Greek tragedy and classic, John Ford-style oater. Originally developed in the 1970s as a script by McMurtry for director Peter Bogdanovich and stars Henry Fonda, John Wayne, and James Stewart, Lonesome Dove earned 18 Emmy nominations and inspired a pair of miniseries sequel as well as two attempts at an ongoing television series. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

An elite Australian cavalry unit attacks the Turkish-held stronghold of Beersheba in this World War I adventure drama. Four friends goes through the trials of battle in this epic $10 million production. The Australians resent being led by the British who continually misuse the cavalry. They conspire to strike out on their own to prove their effectiveness and drive the Turkish hordes from the desert town. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide