The movie begins with great promise. Two brash young lads prepare for a small track meet in Australia of the early 1910's. Archy, played by newcomer Mark Lee, belives he has a footrace race sewn up, but Frank, played by another unknown, Mel Gibson, surprises him by narrowly winning. The two become instant friends and set off in search of adventure.
And they do have great fun as long as the movie lasts. They win more races, chase some skirts, cross a desert, and meet a mysterious sage. Then they both join the army and head for Istanbul to fight the Turk. They have some more adventures in the Orient, are split up, then rejoined.
And then the movie comes to an abrupt halt. One moment they are having a grand time popping around in an exotic land, then Lee is sucked into a suicidal battle and dies without firing a shot. End of film. His death is absolutely pointless -- it does not further the battle or the war in any way, and he is permitted no final deathbed scene with his buddy. What's worse, the movie does not show Gibson going out to avenge his mate's death, as a good Sly Stallone or Chuck Norris adventure might have done.
So the movie has no real conclusion, no rounding out of the story or the characters. The lads' boisterous romp around the world finally leads nowhere. The great investment of time, money, and effort that all kinds of people -- from producers, directors, and actors, to construction crews, lighting and sound men, and script girls -- have made in the the movie is for nothing. Ultimately, Gallipoli represents only a monumental waste of human effort.
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(Updated September 30, 1998.)