Wake in Fright

As usual, casting and directing by Aussie filmmakers is excellent.

But watching one episode of this was about as fun as being stabbed repeatedly in the throat .

I found it so incredibly depressing on every single level that I couldn't recommend it in any way for any reason, you know?

It was just so dark and so horrible.

Don't put this stuff in your head if you can help it.

Also :: strongly recommend people in alcoholism or recovery don't watch !!! Massive trigger warnings !!

This remake of a classic really does work...for the most part. I was reluctant to watch this new TV adaptation having recently seen the 1971 film again. The story meanders considerably from the original novel and screenplay...primarily I would think to cater for more recent generations. It does not detract... although minor irritations become more than obvious..For instance, John Grants cell 'phone continually displays "No Signal" even when he is located in the middle of a fairly sizeable mining town in 2016!

The cinematography is splendid, certainly rivalling the original movie. The sun-bright, yet dark, landscape and decaying town paints a delicious background for Grants seemingly endless nightmare. Part two of the mini series, with Grant on the run, is classic "edge of the seat" movie making, although, I found the frequent "speed of light" hangover and drug tinged collages to be rather too long and a distraction at times. Other viewers may feel the opposite...

The acting varied. Sean Keenan plays Grant with even more desolation and desperation than did Gary Bond whilst maintaining the characters basic personality. Highlight is David Wenham as the cop..playing a bigger role than did Chips Rafferty, and with an even larger degree of congeniality,descending into a sinister menace and back again! I feel the weakest role was the new character on the Wake In Fright block, Anna Samson, overacting to the hilt as the harridan Mick Jaffries, with a performance lifted straight from the 1970s series Prisoner!!! Similarly, Alex Dimitriades was no match for the slimy Donald Pleasance in the part of Doc Tydon. Overall, I recommend this remake.The good considerably outweighs any negatives. The spirit of the original remains very well intact despite most of the modernisation.

Well, it's not exactly the same story, but a straight remake was unnecessary; it was done perfectly the first time.

Giving it a little re-imagining was the right way to go. The story is updated to now, and the motivation of nearly all the characters has changed; Jack Thompson's character becomes a scary female kick boxer and the booze is supplemented by amphetamines. The denizens of the 'Yabba' are a bit more sinister this time around and you can't be sure how it will end.

I don't think the story is necessarily all that Australian any more. Except for superficial reference points and the accents, the whole thing could be happening in a dusty town off a highway in Texas or even somewhere in "Straw Dogs" country.

With that said, Sean Keenan makes a good John Grant, you can almost feel his hangover.

He is an Aussie as he was in Kenneth Cook's book. In Canadian Ted Kotcheff's 1971 film, Englishman Gary Bond played Grant. He brought a sense of the outsider view to proceedings, starting with an air of superiority that ends up as near insanity. Sean Keenan picked up on that quality and it works for him too.

David Wenham had a tough act following Chips Rafferty's police sergeant, but he gives an edge to the copper who is hard to read.

The evolution of Donald Pleasance's 'Doc' Tydon to Alex Dimitriades' 'Doc' Tydonas is the biggest change. However, in an era where the "Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras" is a major event, the scene in the 1971 film where 'Doc' jumps on John Grant's semi-conscious bones wasn't worth dwelling on in this outing. It's no longer the crunch point that tips John Grant over the edge; other things do that here; lots of other things; the revelations just keep coming.

This version misses the vibe of Bundanyabba. Kotcheff's film was shot at Broken Hill, outraging the citizens who felt it had defamed them. However it projected the feeling of an isolated city that was big enough and insular enough to be the source of the inordinate pride that so bemused John Grant.

Admittedly, this 'Yabba' is portrayed as past its best.

The 1971 movie turned out to be a piercing outsider view of aspects of Australian culture, even more so than Kenneth Cook's book. However, comparisons aside, this reworking delivers an unusual and taut little drama in its own right.

I just love this movie. It is a totally under rated and moving story. Really cool layered drama that is played beautifully by all of the actors and the end carries with it a certain guilt over your own judgment and delivers a sad empathy to the characters you previously dismissed as complete losers.

What started out as what could of been a great 2 part storyline quickly turned into what can only come across as they ran out of budget or forgot what they was doing!

There was no real ending, no meaning to any of it!

Your left debating if the actions were his or the towns! The storyline of his girlfriend in the end played no relevance! nor did any of the storyline in the end!

With that it keeps you thinking and your eyes open just wondering what will happen next, but it just somehow feels unfinished!