Ken Radley Movies

After directing a number of major motion pictures in the United States, Australian-born filmmaker Phillip Noyce returned home to make this remarkable adventure-drama, based on a true story as well as a lamentable period in his nation's history. When European settlers first arrived in Australia, there was an almost immediate conflict between the recent arrivals and the nation's indigenous people, whose rich cultural heritage which bore little resemblance to that of the Europeans. By the mid-19th century, when white settlers had gained political control of the continent, many aborigines found themselves removed from their lands and their children taken from them, under the belief that the youngsters would be better off in a more "civilized" environment. Through most of the 20th century, it was official government policy that half- or quarter-caste indigenous children were to be taken from their families and raised as "white" children in orphanages, where they would be trained to work as domestic servants or laborers. In 1931, Molly (Everlyn Sampi) and her younger sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan) were three half-caste children from Western Australia who were taken from their parents under government edict and sent to an institution, where they were subject to physical and emotional abuse as they were taught to forget their families, their culture, and their lives up to that point and re-invent themselves as members of "white" Australian society. Gracie and Daisy cling to Molly for support, and Molly decides they need to return to their parents. Molly plans a daring escape, and the three girls begin an epic journey back to Western Australia, travelling 1,500 miles on foot with no food or water, and navigating by following the fence that has been build across the nation to stem an over-population of rabbits. A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), the government functionary in charge of relocating Western Australia's aborigines, takes a special interest in the case of the three girls, and brings in a veteran tracker, Moodoo (David Gulpilil) to help find them, secure in the belief he's acting in their best interest. Rabbit-Proof Fence was based on the acclaimed book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, whose Aunt Daisy was one of the three children who made the extraordinary journey and helped her with the research for the book. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Coma meets Heathers in this Australian black comedy about crime, revenge, and kidney thieves. Brad (Matt Day) and Gregor (Jason Barry) are eager med students struggling to make ends meet. Thanks to government cutbacks, they are forced to share a cockroach-infested one-bedroom apartment, which they rent from their odious landlord (Reg Evans), and they're even forced to share the same bed (an inflatable sex doll in a nurse's uniform divides the mattress and reasserts their nervous heterosexuality). Their living situation is made even worse by their obnoxious neighbors; one guy who lives upstairs (Robert Carlton) engages in loud parties and noisy lovemaking at all hours of the night while another guy's car alarm constantly goes off. Unable to sleep or eat, much less study, the two are on the brink of giving up their studies. To make matters even worse, they are up to their stethoscopes in debt to gangster/western-enthusiast George Roy Rogers (Chris Haywood). Though his penchant for cheesy western memorabilia and silly hats seems a bit daft, he is deadly serious about collecting, and his two muscle-bound thugs Dale and Trigger are hell-bent on enforcing the debt. Brad and Gregor's luck changes when they learn of a noted surgeon, Marcus Browning (Rod Mullinar), who is willing to pay top dollar for organs, just before a sharply-dressed yuppie takes a flying leap and splatter-lands at their feet. Thinking quickly, Brad yanks out a kidney, crams it in an ice cream carton, and carries it over to Browning. Counting their cash, they realize that they have happened upon a neat little way of getting out of the red. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Based on one of the most bizarre hostage-situations ever, this Australian comedy-drama is set in the late '60s when the youth were beginning to rebel against war and government. Set in 1968 Sydney during a scorching summer the whole mess begins when convicted car thief Wally Mellish gets out of prison, rents a hovel on the town's outskirts and gets involved with Beryl, the single mother of a two-year-old daughter. They move into together and dim-bulbed Wally, wanting to show his affection steals the shiny ornaments from a pair of Jaguars. Unfortunately he is not a clever thief and the police soon show up at his door. Not wanting to return to prison, Wally panics and grabs his gun. Thinking he is holding Beryl and her daughter hostage, the police soon surround the house and start a lengthy siege. Unfortunately, the police commissioner, aware of youthful civil unrest spawned by an unprovoked police attack on peaceful anti-war demonstrators a few weeks before realizes that situation requires kid-glove handling and so orders his deputy to negotiate with Wally. Word quickly gets out and soon the media stampedes to the situation. This in turn attracts hoards of tourists and opportunistic street vendors to create an unparalleled circus outside. Meanwhile, in the house, Wally and Beryl are delighted by their new found fame and decide to celebrate by getting married and having the police commissioner himself act as best man. The state premier, appalled by the brouhaha and afraid for his own career, demands that the commissioner be more aggressive and as a result gets taken hostage himself. It only gets stranger from there, but that is half the fun. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Aimed at the ten- to 18-year-old demographic group, the Australian-Japanese science fiction series Escape From Jupiter actually began on the Jupiterian moon of Io, where a mining colony of Earthlings was located. Forced by a series of devastating volcanic eruptions to vacate Io immediately, a group of young people, accompanied by a handful of surviving adults, piled into the derelict space station KL5. The rest of the series detailed the escapees' various adventures while agonizingly trying to make their way back to their home planet. Created by Martin Daley, David Ogilby, and John Patterson, the series represented a collaboration between Japan's NHK and Australia's ABC network. Thirteen 25-minute episodes of Escape From Jupiter were produced in all, beginning in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When a policeman from Scotland moves to Australia and joins together with an Aussie partner, they find themselves up to their necks in a land development scheme in which crooks are trying to gain title to some of the prime real estate in Sydney. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

Al (Richard Moir) lands a job as chef at a resort in Fraser Island in this situation comedy. He has been fired several times for accusing fellow employees of sleeping with his wife. Al finds comfort in the arms of the waitress Cindy (Helen Mutkins), which makes the hotel manager Bob (Steve Jacobs) jealous. Jennifer Cluff and Tina Bursill co-star with Ken Radley as more characters who end up at the resort to overcome their previous romantic disappointment. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Blue Lightning stars Sam Elliot as an American private eye operating in the Australian outback. Robert Culp is co-starred as a super-criminal in search of a valuable opal. Culp is forced to fight the ethically suspect Elliot for possession of the gem, while Rebecca Gilling vacillates as the heroine. Written by William P. Kelley, who won an Oscar for Witness but no awards for this, Blue Lightning has the distinct aroma of a busted TV pilot. It was first telecast May 7, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi