Atmospheric western set in NZ. Pity about the plot.
The film opens with British soldiers slaughtering an entire Maori village in the 1860s. No reason, it is just what filthy imperialists did. A native born Kiwi soldier returns from the Boer Wars to teach Commando tactics to the nasty, colonialist British snob who commanded the post. The first Boer War started in 1880. During the second, an Australian, Harry Morant, was shot for killing a wounded Boer prisoner after his own commander was murdered. The British Empire wasn't perfect, but it wasn't a cardboard cutout. Amusingly, the Maori 'army' hired by Murphy for this travesty of history was a gang of thugs known as 'The Mongrel Mob'. Great cinematography, atmospheric music. One dimensional plot.score 5/10
llareggub 31 July 2019
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5031093/35465
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