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Mark Hembrow Movies

 
2002  
PG13  
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Based on the true story of a youth from Brisbane, Australia, who overcame family dysfunction to become a world-class athlete, director Russell Mulcahy's drama centers on young Tony Fingleton's (Jesse Spencer) relationship with his distant father, Harold (Geoffrey Rush), and the dedication it took to win his respect. Born into a large family and convinced by his father that he will never amount to the achievements of his brothers, Tony attempts to win his father's respect by becoming a champion swimmer. Despite his best efforts to please his father, Tony also begins to realize his own self-worth in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Geoffrey RushJudy Davis, (more)
 
1997  
R  
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A runaway Japanese bride finds herself alone in Sydney, Australia when her lover fails to show up to save her from her husband, and she ends up on an off-road adventure with a handsome getaway driver while fleeing gangsters, cops from two countries and her murderously humiliated spouse. The whole mess begins when Midori (Youki Kudoh) engineers her own kidnapping to avoid her honeymoon night with her hyper-tense businessman husband Yukio (Kenji Isomura). When he notices Midori's absence, Yukio panics. Local policemen Bishop and Moffat are assigned the case and it is while talking to Yukio and the staff that they learn the truth. When the Japanese press finds out about Yukio's plight, they merrily proceed to crucify him in the headlines, making him a laughingstock. Meanwhile, Midori, after getting jilted, goes to a bank to exchange some money and is caught in the midst of an armed bankrobbery masterminded by Afghani hoodlums Mahood (Robert Mammone) and his brother Gullbuddin. The two are about to shoot the terrified Midori when their getaway driver Colin (Russell Crowe) intervenes. Gullbuddin is accidentally killed during the scuffle and Colin hits the highway with Midori. With the aforementioned crowd in hot pursuit, the two fugitives head for a farm in the boonies where Colin's elderly, embittered father lives in almost comical isolation. Along the way, the two encounter several memorable characters. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Russell CroweYouki Kudoh, (more)
 
1993  
 
A surfin' beach in Australia provides the setting for this comedy which chronicles the struggles between youthful surfers and an evil capitalistic developer determined to destroy their turf. Mike McCain is an L.A. developer. His wife and business partner are plotting to double-cross him and take over an Australian beach in order to build a high-rise resort. Mike sends Bobby, his handsome young son, to check out the beach and the situation. Bobby, pretending to be an exchange lifeguard, is soon accepted among the surfers. He finds love with the attractive Julie Thomas, whose father owns the beach. Just as he has decided to join the surfers' cause, Bobby's true identity is discovered and they turn on him. It is his father, who has had a change of heart, who saves the day. He makes an environmentally sound compromise that makes everyone happy (except his wife and business partner, of course). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Christopher AtkinsElliott Gould, (more)
 
1992  
 
Lucy is apparently very confident, and quite "forward," as the saying used to be; she has made all the moves to pick up a staid lawyer-type for sex. Once back at her apartment, she sets a video camera going to record their coupling. However, someone breaks into the place while they are having at it, and she is barely able to leave the bed and hide before her sex-partner is killed. She never sees the intruder's face herself. In the aftermath, the terrified lass finds herself with a sympathetic female state-appointed attorney (since she's the obvious suspect) and together, they try to track down the murderer. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Starring:
Claudia KarvanCatherine McClements, (more)
 
1992  
R  
Bobby McCain (Christopher Atkins) travels to an Australian beach to close a land development deal for his father (Elliott Gould) and to masquerade as a lifeguard to get the skinny on any potential competition. Once there, Bobby becomes sympathetic to the plight of the attractive club-owner who is trying to hold on to her land and her life guard team which is going to lose its certification if they don't get into shape. Using everything he ever learned in LA aerobics and fitness training classes, the buff Bobby does all he can to save her resort. He then begins working to sabotage his father's deal. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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1990  
 
In this somewhat allegorical drama, five men, two women and a dog are the sole survivors of an airplane crash into the desert. The men are as mixed a lot as one could hope to find; the women (one young, one mature) are as level-headed a pair as one could hope to find. Conflict between the men breaks out almost immediately, as the bible-thumping macho hunter cannot abide the Scottish homosexual and his lover; the adolescent young man wants to have sex with somebody, preferably the younger woman; and the biologist wants to quieten things down but is otherwise unable to contribute anything. By the film's end, all the men have done unspeakable things to one another while the women remain above the fray. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Starring:
Paul FreemanShelagh McLeod, (more)
 
1989  
 
Sons of Steel combines elements of science fiction with head-banging heavy-metal music. Black Alice (Rob Hartley) is the lead screech who ends up traveling through time in order to save the Sydney Harbor from a cataclysmic nuclear disaster. Sight gags and sounds of music that would make most people cringe are the highlight of this offbeat entry. The plot of this film is less important than its non-stop energy and barrage of innovative imagery, interspersed with some moments of wacky humor. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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Starring:
Rob HartleyRoz Wason, (more)
 
1988  
R  
A mysterious killer is preying upon professional women in Sydney in this psychological horror feature. All of the victims are found murdered and with their eyes removed. Detective-Sergeant Whitaker (John Clayton) and his partner Sergeant Delgano (John Ley) are put in charge of solving the case. Composer David Gaze (Mark Hembrow) has premonitions of the grisly deaths and tries to warn the victims, but all the women he approaches doubt his ability to see into the future. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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Starring:
Mark HembrowTessa Humphries, (more)
 
1988  
PG  
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Romance and adventure abound in this sequel to the popular Australian film The Man from Snowy River. The story takes up five years after the other ended. It is still the 1880s when Jim Craig returns to his humble mountain cabin after he rounds up a heard of mustangs in the hope that he will earn enough money to finally be able to marry Jessica. Unfortunately, Jessica's dad wants her to marry the banker's son. Now the two lovers must work long and hard to be together. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Tom BurlinsonSigrid Thornton, (more)
 
1987  
 
Dave (Jon Blake) and his buddy Peter (Mark Hembrow) are chased by a gang of thugs when they pick up the wrong box from a Melbourne warehouse in this comedy thriller. Instead of toys, the box contains a substantial amount of cash intended to be used in a money-laundering operation. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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Starring:
Jon BlakeMark Hembrow, (more)
 
1987  
PG13  
Gillian Armstrong directed this powerful and moving film containing a brilliant performance by Judy Davis. The story takes place in the small New South Wales seaside village of Eden. Davis is Lillie, who is renting a run-down trailer as she waits for her car to be repaired. One night, when Lillie is drunk and cannot walk from the toilet block back to her trailer, a teenage girl, Ally (Claudia Karvan) -- who lives with her free-spirited grandmother Bet (Jan Adele) in another trailer in the trailer park -- helps her back home. Lillie and Ally become good friends, and it is only when Lillie finally meets Bet that she realizes that Ally is, in fact, her own daughter, who she abandoned years earlier after the death of her husband. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Judy DavisJan Adele, (more)
 
1985  
 
Anzacs: The War Down Under is a two-part Australian TV movie dramatizing the activities of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). This all-volunteer outfit fought shoulder to shoulder with enlisted men during the First World War. The film concentrates on three Anzacs: An aristocrat (Andrew Clarke), his best friend (Mark Hembrow) and his friend's sister (Megan Williams). Part One details the training of the volunteers, and their first taste of true combat. Part Two details the further activities of the all-volunteer Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS). During the first few months of World War I, aristocratic Anzac Andrew Clarke is wounded, and is urged to go home to convalesce by Megan Williams, the sister of his best friend (Mark Hembrow). Meanwhile, heavy fighting in France has thinned the ranks and battered the morale of the other Anzacs. Featured in the cast as a military man is Paul Hogan. It was Hogan's new-found international stardom in 1986's Crocodile Dundee which sparked the American distribution of Anzacs, two years after its initial 1985 Australian run. The video release is edited from the 10-hour Australian miniseries. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1984  
R  
The Australian Highest Honor is comparatively little-known outside its country of origin, which is a shame. Set during World War II, the film details the unusual relationship between an Australian army captain and his captor, a Japanese security officer. The war has made these kindred spirits "enemies," and we, like the protagonists, are never allowed to forget the seriousness of the world conflict. Still, we are shown how even the exigencies of war cannot completely snuff out such qualities as honor and decency. John Howard plays Captain Robert Page, while Astuo Nakamura co-stars as Winoyu Tamira. Highest Honor is based on a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1982  
 
In a somewhat far-fetched premise (not uncommon to the genre), this action film has some Australians (including soldiers) joining up with Asian forces, all backed by American money, ready to take over Surfers Paradise, a resort and retirement area on the Gold Coast of Queensland. They are not interested in good surf or securing an ideal retirement home, they just want the off-shore petroleum rights and inland uranium deposits. Right into their scheme walks Michael Stacey (Ray Barrett), a one-time policeman who left the force because of an alcohol problem and now has to make money as a private eye. While he is looking for the missing daughter of an old friend, now in politics, he runs into the usual private-eye characters: the barmaid who is willing to spend some quality time with him, the corpse that shows up in his hotel room, and the former buddies who turn against his investigation. Two of his friends are fronting the coalition of take-over forces and invite Stacey to join them in their conspiracy. Now the detective has to make up his mind about where all this is going, and if he wants to avoid any unhealthy alliances, how can he do that and stay physically intact? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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Starring:
Robyn Nevin
 
1978  
 
In this gentle drama, a young American man (Beau Bridges) forsakes his promising career working with his father (Lloyd Bridges), a powerful business magnate, in favor of becoming a professional beach bum in Australia. After the boy becomes a world renowned surfer, his dad turns up from the States and tries to reconcile with his estranged son, which must happen soon, as the father only has a few months left to live. This telemovie represented the second of two Australian productions that Beau Bridges did, after the extraordinary Adam's Woman in 1970. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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