Reviews
The Dismissal (1983)
Good political drama with a very Australian flavour
The earlier IMDB comment entry for this mini-series illustrates the contentious nature of its subject matter. I seriously disagree with the reviewer's implied claim that the 11/11/75 dismissal of the Whitlam government was an exercise in democracy. The fact of the matter was that the individual who dismissed the government was in himself NOT an elected representative of the people (he was in fact appointed by the Crown) and the constitutional basis on which he did so was, at best, sketchy.
All of which is to say that this issue divided the Australian public then and still generates hot debate 25 years later. A left-wing, idealistic, socially reformist but economically bungling government caused a groundswell of public optimism and a real belief that significant social reform was possible in Australia. The conservative forces in Australia saw this as a major threat to the established way of things and, naturally, sought ways both commonplace and devious to overthrow the government. This mini-series dramatises these events and is a very capable representation of the key players, in particular Gough Whitlam and Malcom Fraser. In the unlikely event that any non-Australians wish to learn a bit about recent Australian political history, they could do worse than watch this series. Assuming they could get hold of a copy.
Wildside (1997)
Superb series: criminal that it didn't run longer
This is widely viewed in Australia as one of the best cop dramas ever produced here ... and for my money, anywhere. It's raw, gritty, the characters are real, the situations are believable and it doesn't shy away from the darker side of life confronted every day by cops and the criminals, victims, lawyers and other people in their various orbits.
This show ran for 2 seasons and was discontinued because the show didn't sell well overseas. We are all sorry for its loss: however, like Fawlty Towers, we will be able to revere this as a limited-length series of uniformly high quality.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Disappointing in some areas, but still great entertainment
I saw the original release of "Star Wars" when I was 7 and I have never lost the sense of awe that I carried out of the movie theatre that day. My 7-year old mind had never seen anything like it! So I'm inclined to be much less critical than many have been. Sure, it's got plenty of flaws - poorly developed characters, annoying alien sidekick, appalling and cloyingly cute child actor - but it's still great entertainment and candy for the eyes, ears and imagination. Lucas has 2 more prequels with which to really hit his stride - I'm confident he will. I enjoyed it immensely and will see it again.