David Downer Movies
- 2003
In the second episode of a three-part story, John Crichton (Ben Browder) has managed to rescue Aeryn (Claudia Black) and is heading for Katratzi, the secret and hitherto elusive Scarran base. A message from "beyond" informs John that the duplicitous Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) is in full possession of the precious wormhole secrets. Now John must rescue Scorpius from his Scarran torturers -- or die in the process, the inevitable result of the nuclear bomb rigged to explode if John should meet with harm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
In the conclusion of a three-part story, the Moya crew must improvise a new strategy a minute to escape from the Scarran base Katratzi. To keep the unreliable Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) from revealing the secrets of wormhole technology, John Crichton (Ben Browder) may have to cater to Scorpius' every whim -- and right now, that whim involves harvesting Scarran flora. As the episode progresses, the viewer is faced with two disturbing questions: Are the Moya crew members liberators or terrorists -- and will Crichton be forced to detonate his nuclear device? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This charming love story set in the 1950s brings together an older, crafty man, a somewhat innocent young man, and a former call girl with a pure heart in an unconventional menage à trois. When the two men come into an outback town they make the acquaintance of Joycie (Lorna Lesley) who has just been fired from her job and has no place to stay. The men invite her to live with them in their shack on the outskirts of town -- and while the three are happy together, a few puritanical (and some hypocritical) townspeople start to be more and more vocal in their opposition to the trio. Their intent is to make it too hot for the threesome to even consider staying in the vicinity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Kerr, John Jarratt, (more)
- 1982
- R
In this Australian coming-of-age comedy, a 13-year old boy falls in love with his seductive sister-in-law. Though much older, she is touched by his crush and begins to teach him about lovemaking. The trouble begins when she turns up pregnant and cannot remember whether the father is her husband or the boy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Kane, Tony Owen, (more)
- 1982
The trial of three men in the bombing of a Hilton Hotel in Sidney in 1978 serves as the general focus for this docudrama on the nature of prejudice and justice. After the hotel bombing, authorities suggested that non-Indian members of a Hindu sect called Ananda Marga (path of bliss) had done the deed -- which killed a few people, including a policeman, but did not harm any of the Commonwealth Nations' delegates at the hotel at the time. About a year later, a paid police informant accused three members of the evangelical Hindu sect of making a bomb to kill a right-wing politico. The police arrested the men, a trial ensued with much conflicting evidence, and the trio was acquitted because of a hung jury. As noted at the end of the movie, in a second trial six months later, the men were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. Several noted Australian actors such as Tony Barry, Max Cullen, Chris Haywood, and Richard Moir) were cast as the attorneys, defendants, and detectives in this drama directed by Esben Storm. Years later, after many appeals, the fact that the whole trial was based on manufactured evidence and that the men were innocent came to light. They were chosen as scapegoats because of their participation in an unpopular religious sect. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Burgess, John Ley, (more)
Director George Miller's follow-up to his own 1979 hit Mad Max is proof that not all sequels are inferior to their originals. If anything, this brutal sci-fi action film is even more intense and exciting than its predecessor, although the state of its post-apocalyptic world has only become worse. Several years after the deaths of his wife and child, Max (Mel Gibson) has become an alienated nomad, wandering an Australian outback that has fallen into tribal warfare conducted from scattered armed camps. After a road battle with psychotic villain Wez (Vernon Wells), Max meets up with the odd Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who takes him to the camp of a sympathetic group led by Pappagallo (Mike Preston). As Pappagallo's people are camped at a refinery, Max plans to take their oil -- more precious than gold in this world -- but eventually joins them to fight a band of marauders led by the evil Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). The stunning climax features a heart-pounding chase scene involving an oil tanker-truck and a frenzied rush for the coast, with Humungus and his forces in hot pursuit. Nilsson is a scary villain, with huge muscles and a sinister pre-Jason hockey mask, but the stunt work is the key here, and it is more flamboyantly dynamic than ever, edited at breakneck pace and staged with manic fury by Miller and stunt coordinator Max Aspin. Savage and kinetic, Mad Max 2 is a must-see for action buffs. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Virginia Hey, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Director Donald Crombie's fourth feature tackles the problem of out-of-control redevelopment by unscrupulous corporate developers. Angel Street is a row of charming and quaint homes on the shore of Australia's Sydney Harbor. A development company wants to buy the homes, raze the street, and build high-rise apartments in their wake. When B.C. Simmonds (Alexander Archdale), the leader of the residents' group, dies under mysterious circumstances, his daughter Jessica (Liz Alexander) takes up the residents' cause against the developers, assisted by Elliot (John Hargreaves), the Communist union official with whom Jessica had a brief affair. It turns out that the developers are not just businessmen, but have a malevolent connection with the government. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liz Alexander, John Hargreaves, (more)
