Tomorrow when the war began

[wautd]

I'm just tired of Australian movies that are all stuck in the same weird alternate Australia universe which I don't live in

You Australians should just stick to producing awesome tv shows:

Who needs a lightsaber when I have my fucking transducer beootch.

Hey how was that show named again? A remember watching that ages ago. Pretty much don't remember a thing (looooong time ago) only that it was good.

[PeZook]

Shroom, I didn't say the radio wasn't awesome. The fact its hosts and guests are raving lunatics does not exclude awesomeness

[Shroom Man 777]

(You are right, of course. God I love their deranged radios. The best thing about it is that everyone in GTA, on and off the air, are raving lunatics. This is probably sufficient explanation for what caused the Australian-American War )

[PeZook]

I actually think it's a spoof on raging idiots in America who have no idea about history, and spout hilarious crap about pretty much everything: hence, many characters in GTA believe the US went to war with Australia and Red Dawn was a documentary. Especially gun-toting maniacs spending their weekends in Ammu-Nation stores

There's a guy in San Adreas running a travel show who comments about one caller: "Why don't you go to Las Vegas? I heard they have a casino there that's just like the rest of the world, only with better bathrooms and slot machines!"

[Kane Starkiller]

Hey how was that show named again? A remember watching that ages ago. Pretty much don't remember a thing (looooong time ago) only that it was good.

The girl from tomorrow. And yes when I was a kid I thought it was awesome. Wouldn't recommend watching it now though.

[mr friendly guy]

I'm just tired of Australian movies that are all stuck in the same weird alternate Australia universe which I don't live in

You Australians should just stick to producing awesome tv shows:

Who needs a lightsaber when I have my fucking transducer beootch.

Hey how was that show named again? A remember watching that ages ago. Pretty much don't remember a thing (looooong time ago) only that it was good.

I believe it was the "girl from tomorrow" which spawned a sequel. I only remember seeing bits and pieces of it. The same guys would go on to write numerous other Australian shows, including some with a sci fi bent, eg Ocean Girl, Spellbinder series etc.

[hongi]

Our movies may have been crap, but our kid's shows were awesome.

[Stark]

There was that movie where Heath Ledger was a bogan tryhard petty criminal who dies.

I liked that one.

[JointStrikeFighter]

You mean STRAYAN hero

[LittleLostRobot]

Just got back from seeing this with Chris O'Farrell.

It was surprisingly un-terrible.

Some random initial thoughts:-

* Some of the acting is really bad. Lee (asian dude), especially, is obviously in the running for the Hayden Christensen award. I was always expecting him to start talking about sand.

* The 'Coalition' enemy soldiers are a bit too science-fiction - they're dressed completely in black and have these weird helmets and bulky body armor. Why they're dressed in black is a mystery - it's almost as if they knew that every action scene would take place at night, when their uniforms wouldn't look as ridiculous!

* The CGI can be a bit shonky. Whoever did the CGI model for our F/A-18s canted the tail fins outward at a ridiculous angle.

* I still don't know what the Coalition fighters were supposed to be. They looked like a cross between the HAL Tejas, the Chengdu J-10, the Mirage series - any delta wing you care to name.

Still, the action scenes were pretty entertaining- the chase with the garbage truck was especially amusing, even if it was complete bullshit - I didn't know the cab of garbage trucks was impervious to assault rifle and machine gun fire.

I don't watch most movies, so this won't be a hard one to miss. I can't say this sounds like the worst movie, since it's been topped by the race war movie Machete.

The soldiers with the all black and bulky body armor are probably not meant to be seen as real troops. Movies, even when trying to seem based in a familiar setting often use unrealistic uniforms. It's because they don't want the audience to think "oh I've seen this before" and or have something semi-recognizable by the general public. Thanks for the critique, now I won't be wasting 11 bucks.

[Big Orange]

I must say that I liked Muriel's Wedding with likable, misfit protagonist trudging through life contending with asshole siblings, a grusome father, and very bitchy "friends". I can see where Vympel is coming from this movie having that weird Outback "feeling" shared with the more fantastical Tank Girl and Madmax but in a lot of ways it feels quite real with the couch-potato suburban boredom.

[xt828]

For my money one of the films which best captured the arse end of nowhere quality of the outback was Gone, from a couple of years back. I don't quite remember the story - I think it was some sort of average thiller with murders - but the scenery and sense of isolation was fantastic. I have relatives on properties in rural Queensland and this film brought back memories of being out there.

My brother got back from seeing the topic film last night and said it was worth watching - he's still got a valid student card so it was only $6 or so.

[Darth Hoth]

I've heard it suggested they're Japanesian, a combination of Japan and Indonesia/Malaysian. No idea about their language, though.

In the book their writing and language are gibberish. No mention of where they came from, but supposedly they are from a Commonwealth nation or former British colony otherwise, due to some uniform detail; a colonel had stars and a crown on his rank insignia, or something.

[MKSheppard]

Apologies for the necro, but this film is now showing in redbox rental kiosks in the States; and I rented it.

My favorite part was how the 'war' managed to go on and on, with the Asian Coalition putting ashore 500,000 troops (mentioned on a radio broadcast) -- somehow the US Navy mysteriously ceased to exist.

[tim31]

This is explained(handwaved?) in the later books; I'm surprised they didn't mention it. Apparently the US decided to ignore ANZUS for their own reasons.

[thejester]

Wait, you mean a mysterious Asian power invading central NSW is implausible? Thanks for lifting the veil from eyes!

[hongi]

I don't mean to be mean to my own state...but what's there to invade? I mean, after staying in Orange for a couple of weeks, I'm convinced that the only thing worth anything there was the pub.

[Gandalf]

I don't mean to be mean to my own state...but what's there to invade? I mean, after staying in Orange for a couple of weeks, I'm convinced that the only thing worth anything there was the pub.

Coal mines in Newy spring to mind.

Maybe they want to capture Tamworth, and seize the giant guitar?

[cosmicalstorm]

Apologies for the necro, but this film is now showing in redbox rental kiosks in the States; and I rented it.

My favorite part was how the 'war' managed to go on and on, with the Asian Coalition putting ashore 500,000 troops (mentioned on a radio broadcast) -- somehow the US Navy mysteriously ceased to exist.

In the book they mentioned that the US were kind enough to airlift the government and then leave them be. Even as an ignorant 11 year old that part bothered me.

[Stark]

Wait, you mean a mysterious Asian power invading central NSW is implausible? Thanks for lifting the veil from eyes!

Imagine how things would have turned of if the boys from Police Rescue were around! New VS - TWTWB vs Water Rats!

[weemadando]

Even if they made it ashore Police Rescue would have MacGyvered our nation free.

[Patrick Degan]

Having looked this up, can I ask if this gives any clue as to who the evil foreign invaders are? Do they speak some gibberish language or have some funny accents that suggest anything?

I've heard it suggested they're Japanesian, a combination of Japan and Indonesia/Malaysian. No idea about their language, though.

An Eastern Coalition, headed perhaps by Lloyd Bochner...?*

*an old-Battlestar Galactica reference —and shamelessly lifted from the old SciFi Universe magazine

[Eternal_Freedom]

Having looked this up, can I ask if this gives any clue as to who the evil foreign invaders are? Do they speak some gibberish language or have some funny accents that suggest anything?

I've heard it suggested they're Japanesian, a combination of Japan and Indonesia/Malaysian. No idea about their language, though.

An Eastern Coalition, headed perhaps by Lloyd Bochner...?*

*an old-Battlestar Galactica reference —and shamelessly lifted from the old SciFi Universe magazine

The Eastern Coalition turn up in STFC as well, apparently they were the Bad Guys (TM) in WWIII.

[Alkaloid]

IIRC the reason given that the US didn't get involved because they were afraid of another Vietnam and were the ones that eventually brokered the peace deal, but were more than happy to more or less give heaps of gear to New Zealand to help out, which is kind of adorable now that I think about it. Like a Jack Russell with a rocket launcher trying to fight a Grizzly bear.

It also makes more sense if you realise the author wrote it because he was alarmed at the complete lack of thought the country was giving to its own defence, assuming the US would do it all, and that it was written in the mid 90's, when the US seemed far less likely to go war fighting anywhere, really.

[mr friendly guy]

IIRC the reason given that the US didn't get involved because they were afraid of another Vietnam and were the ones that eventually brokered the peace deal, but were more than happy to more or less give heaps of gear to New Zealand to help out, which is kind of adorable now that I think about it. Like a Jack Russell with a rocket launcher trying to fight a Grizzly bear.

It also makes more sense if you realise the author wrote it because he was alarmed at the complete lack of thought the country was giving to its own defence, assuming the US would do it all, and that it was written in the mid 90's, when the US seemed far less likely to go war fighting anywhere, really.

So did the author give thought to how a neighbouring power would actually successfully manage the logistics to attack us? Because from other threads the invaders apparently land in South Australia, which makes no sense logistically when all other powers of note are North of us.