THE MOVIE

I know that as a child I saw many TV shows and movies. It is strange then that only a few of these seem to stick with you. The Lighthorsemen is one such film. I can clearly remember watching (and probably recreating) the charging horsemen, so it was good to relive the film on this new DVD from Magna Pacific.

The film is set during World War I and focuses on the lead up to the battle for the city of Beersheba in the Middle East.

At the center of the story are four of the Australian horsemen, the Lighthorse. When one is injured a new recruit, Peter Phelps, replaces him. Phelps must now prove himself to the others and he soon does this by saving the other’s horses from attack. We then see the troops living day to day life in the camp as well as preparing to go into battle.

Whilst this film is interesting to look at and contains some truly exciting battle scenes it isn’t really as good as I remembered it being. It is long and doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. It would have been better off focusing on the relationships between the men in the heat of battle rather than in the lead up, you feel cheated that after all this lead up the battle isn’t given as much priority as what preceded it. I guess the biggest problem I have with it is it is too ‘Australian’. Whilst I am sure it is reasonably realistic in its depiction of soldiers at the time, it seems to have too many Australianisms and cliched (‘larakin’) behavior. It can get annoying hearing ‘bloody’ ‘mate’ and other colloquialisms all the time.

The battle scenes in this film are impressive, especially the final charge, which is riveting filmmaking. In fact the battle scenes are so well handled one wishes that there was more of them.

Overall, a fairly decent film of an important part of Australian history. Certainly worth another look, or if you’ve never seen it, worthy of a viewing. It is one of the better Australian films that have been made.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Onto the video, and we have a 1.78:1 widescreen presentation that is 16x9 enhanced. Given that the film is filmed by the famous Australian cinematographer Dean Semler and features some breathtaking shots it is a shame to see it not showing up in its original 2.35:1 widescreen.

Overall the best way to describe this transfer would be serviceable. Whilst for most people who just watch a film and aren’t too worried about the nitty gritty of edge enhancement, aliasing and other such things it is decent enough. For those who do focus on these things it is problematic.

The image detail isn’t as sharp as it could be and whilst at stages it displays a nice degree of definition at others it looks like an episode of some bad daytime soap. Colors also vary from strong to washed out. The colors never get oversaturated though, which is nice. Blacks are also okay but the shadow detail is sub par.

As I said above this transfer is serviceable but features several flaws which will annoy videophiles.

Audio:

This DVD features two audio tracks, a DD5.1 track and a DTS one, Magna Pacific’s first. Both tracks are remastered but the differences between the two are only subtle, with the DTS being the one of choice, but only just. Either way you will get the same effect.

Whilst these tracks are decent enough, like the video, they aren’t great. I find that with remastered tracks, unless done really well, they tend to sound a little hollow and, for want of a better term, over-enthusiastic. This is evident in the early scenes in the Australian Highlands where the sounds of whips cracking seem too loud to be realistic. Also most of the effects tend to come from the center speaker which can get annoying when dialogue is going on at the same time as a lot of action.

Still, dialogue is clear and for the most part easy to hear. Sound effects are okay but as I said aren’t realistic enough. Whilst all of the speakers get used the surrounds aren’t used as much, or as effectively, as I would have liked and the subwoofer doesn’t really get to do much. Which is disappointing as there are plenty of opportunities for it to show its stuff.

Overall, this track is utilitarian. It gets the job done but could be better.

THE EXTRAS

Now the extras. Aside from your usual menus, scene selections and biographies we have a series of ‘slide shows’. These shows feature pictures accompanied by text, which provides information about the production. They focus on the making of the film as well as the horses featured. Whilst this is an interesting way to provide some extra material it doesn’t really add that much to the film experience. Still they are better than nothing.

SUMMARY

Certainly worthy of a look. The Lighthorsemen is an at times exciting war movie about an important time in Australia’s history. This DVD is decent and is better than any other versions of the film that are out there. It is certainly the way to go if you want to see this film.