Not Quite Hollywood: Your Guide to Ozploitation on Blu-Ray!

[bruce holecheck]

NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD
Your Guide to Ozploitation on Blu-Ray*
* and maybe a Kiwi flick or two...

Ozploitation (a portmanteau of Australia and exploitation) films are exploitation films – a category of low-budget horror, comedy, and action films – made in Australia after the introduction of the R rating in 1971. The year also marked the beginnings of the Australian New Wave movement, and the Ozploitation style peaked within the same time frame (early 1970s to late 1980s). Ozploitation is often considered a smaller wave within the New Wave, "a time when break-neck-action, schlock-horror, ocker comedy and frisky sex romps joined a uniquely antipodean wave in exploitation cinema".

U.S. Releases:




Australian Releases:




International Releases:

Not Quite Hollywood - TRAILER - Ozploitation! - YouTube

[bruce holecheck]

Post reserved, in case I need it for something...

Also, feel free to let me know if I missed anything! (I know there's like a million releases of the Mad Max movies, but does anybody think I really need to list all of them?)

[FlexMentallo]

Awesome thread - seeing Ozploitation stuff always brings back video store memories from my youth.

Picked up Man from Hong Kong last time I was back in the mother country, was as good as I hoped.

[EvilNed]

Tell me a bit about some of them.

[L.J.]

Cool thread.

[The Great Owl]

Great thread. I own most of these, and I'm a happy camper.

[KMR]

I think of the "-ploitation" term as something that would apply to films made quickly and cheaply for the chief purpose of taking advantage of a particular market niche. I don't consider films such as Walkabout and Picnic at Hanging Rock as falling into that category. Seems to me that the term is being applied to a broader category that includes almost any Australian film that got wider notice during that era.

[sb5]

Wake in Fright is amazing.

That’s all I have to add to this thread.

[Hazel Motes]

Picnic At Hanging Rock and Walkabout are not ozploitation. Good idea for a thread though.

[Gerby]

Missing:

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by KMR

I think of the "-ploitation" term as something that would apply to films made quickly and cheaply for the chief purpose of taking advantage of a particular market niche. I don't consider films such as Walkabout and Picnic at Hanging Rock as falling into that category. Seems to me that the term is being applied to a broader category that includes almost any Australian film that got wider notice during that era.

Wake In Fright isn't Ozploitation either. It's based on a serious novel.

That documentary has so many problems I don't know where to begin. It's completely revisionist.

[MifuneFan]

If not Ozploitation, they're all considered part of Australian New Wave, so perhaps the thread could serve double duty for both of those things.

[malakaheso]

Yes but that's only part of the problem. These terms need to be distinguished. Ozploitation is part of the Australian New Wave but it is also needs to be considered separately, as a distinct branch.

I'd say that most foreigners wouldn't pick up on the biases in this documentary. Most Aussies don't seem to either from my experience. It's a very typical piece of 'anti-elitist' revisionism that's trying to pretend that there was a great genre industry in this country that was ruined by the move towards 'serious' prestige based cinema. If you look at the deleted scenes, they left out scenes where it was explained why this 'great genre industry' eventually fell apart. I believe this was purposely left out of the documentary for various reasons. I'll stop short of saying that it's also a great advertisement for dvd's too.

Overall, it's really part of a wider industry discussion of why Australians tend to avoid their own films and needs to be understood in light of that context.

Perhaps that's of no interest to 'foreigners' though, and that's fine.

[bruce holecheck]

I was on the fence about the inclusion of Peter Weir's films and especially Roeg's WALKABOUT (which is a UK co-production with a UK director and cast members), but at the end of the day I figured they contained enough genre elements to provide some crossover appeal.

I definitely think a lot of Australian New Wave titles qualify, however I can't see putting something like MY BRILLIANT CAREER on here.

But that does bring up the question -- what about stuff like ATTACK FORCE Z or DEAD CALM? They may fall outside of the traditional "Ozploitation" parameters, but they deliver on the types of genre thrills viewers look to these films for, they're at least partially Australian-funded, and both fit the years I'm limiting to (1970 - 1999). Thoughts?

[bruce holecheck]

Site review for Umbrella Entertainment's new-ish Blu of Tim Burstall's ATTACK FORCE Z (1981), part of their "Ozploitation Classics" line:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Attac...190470/#Review

[bruce holecheck]

Vinegar Syndrome have confirmed on Facebook that they'll be releasing Philip Brophy's splat-happy BODY MELT (1993) on Blu-Ray in 2018.

Fresh from Australia. The original negative has never been used before in any restoration or transfer of the film.

Body Melt - Trailer (1993) - YouTube

[bruce holecheck]

Umbrella Entertainment's new Ozploitation double-bill is now available at Diabolik, for those interested. It features James Bogle's cursed Aboriginal burial ground horror KADAICHA (aka Stones of Death, 1988) and Colin Eggleston's P.J. Soles-starring serial killer thriller, INNOCENT PREY (1984). Extras include trailers for both films, and an interview with Soles. DVD only, unfortunately.

Kadaicha (1988) Trailer - YouTube

[bruce holecheck]

Australia's Umbrella Entertainment have revealed their March release slate, including a pair of pertinent titles. The first is Bruce Beresford's MONEY MOVERS (1978), a criminally overlooked heist flick that ranks among the best the genre has to offer. If you're a fan of gritty '70s crime cinema, definitely give it a shot. Unfortunately, this one's DVD only.

The counting house at "Darcey's Security Services" is a fortress. Security is intense and any would-be-robbers have little hope...unless they get "inside" help. MONEY MOVERS is a fast-moving, ultra-violent telling of Australia's biggest and bloodiest armed robbery - the theft of $20 million from a payroll counting office. Directed by acclaimed film maker Bruce Beresford (Breaker Morant, The Club) and boasting a top-notch Aussie cast including Bryan Brown, Charles (Bud) Tingwell, Tony Bonner, Ed Devereaux and Terrence Donovan, MONEY MOVERS "delivers an intriguing plot and hair-raising suspense with incredible pace and ferocity. A combination that thriller addicts cannot afford to miss!" (MOVIE NEWS).

EXTRA FEATURES:
* Count Your Toes - a making-of featurette with Writer/Director BRUCE BERESFORD and cast members BRYAN BROWN, TERENCE DONOVAN, TONY BONNER and CANDY RAYMOND.
* Theatrical trailer
* Umbrella Propaganda

Money Movers (1978) Trailer | OZploitation | Action - YouTube

The second is the Blu debut of Fred Schepisi's THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH (1978), a turn of the century crime drama that gained notoriety for being included on Britain's Video Nasty list.

Fred Schepisi's internationally acclaimed masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Keneally, is the shocking tale of an indigenous man driven to madness and revenge. Jimmie Blacksmith (Tommy Lewis) is a young Aboriginal half-caste raised in central NSW at the turn-of-the-century, a boy initiated by his tribe but also educated by a stern Methodist minister (Jack Thompson). Looking to gain respectability in European society, Jimmy finds a white bride while performing back-breaking work on local farms, but cannot escape his skin colour, suffering ongoing racism and oppression. Discovering that he may not be the father of his wife's child, and fired without pay, Jimmy explodes in a fury of violent revenge and escapes into the bush with his brother Mort, cutting a bloody path of retribution upon the society that has forsaken him. In 1901, the year Australian democracy is born, Jimmy Blacksmith finally faces his fate, and with it the fate of his people.

EXTRA FEATURES:
* Play feature with introduction by Fred Schepisi
* A Conversation with director, Fred Schepisi & cinematographer, Ian Baker (66 mins)
* Melbourne Premiere from Willesee at Seven, June 1978 (7 mins)
* CELLULOID GYPSIES: Making Jimmie Blacksmith - Interviews with key cast and crew, including director, Fred Schepisi and actor, Tommy Lewis
* Interview with Tommy Lewis (26 mins)
* Audio Commentary with Fred Schepisi
* Q& A session with Fred Schepisi and actor, Geoffrey Rush at MIFF(Melbourne International Film Festival) 2008 (34 mins)
* Making Us Blacksmiths - Documentary on the casting of Aboriginal lead actors, Tommy Lewis and Freddy Reynolds
* Stills Gallery
* Theatrical Trailer

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith Trailer (HD) - YouTube

[bruce holecheck]

The Beav reviews Umbrella's new Blu of THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film6/dvd_r...th_blu-ray.htm

[cropduster]

Just discovered this thread. Great thread idea, Bruce.

Should Bad Boy Bubby be added to the OP? The film was an Australian-Italian co-production, was filmed in Australia, and the story takes place in Australia.