Elephant Men: Operation Dumbo Drop (1994)

Operation Dumbo Drop (1994), which celebrates – albeit with muted fanfare – its 30^th anniversary this year, is based on the true story of American soldiers who helped transport an elephant across enemy territory to a small village during the Vietnam War. Because the film is a live-action Disney product of the 1990s, it brushes only very faintly against the darker realities of the Vietnam War – as might be expected from the writers of Police Academy 3 and 4 and Snow Dogs, among other credits – and stars Danny Glover, Ray Liotta and Dennis Leary, all headliners in more corrosive entertainments, are amiable but sedated, all rough edges sanded down.

Of films from recent memory, George Clooney’s The Monuments Men – about military personnel in World War Two retrieving stolen art back from the Nazis – is Operation Dumbo Drop’s closest companion. But Operation Dumbo Drop is the better film and Australian director Simon Wincer a less heralded but far more consistent director than Clooney. For one thing, he has repeatedly defied the proverbial mandate to never work with children and animals – evidenced here, Free Willy, Phar Lap, and elsewhere – and generally elicited solid performances from both.

Of the four Wincer films I’ve discussed on Down Under Flix – see also The Lighthorsemen, Lightning Jack, and The Cup – I wouldn’t necessarily peg one as better than the others, which speaks again to his consistency but also lack of special sauce. Nonetheless, as 1990s Disney programmers go, this is enjoyable and boasts dome skillful location shooting by Wincer’s Phar Lap DP Russell Boyd.

Ben

Malcolm (1986)

When penning my review of Black and White , starring Robert Carlyle, I was reminded of my two theatrical viewings of The Full Monty : one in a packed theatre with patrons lapping up the film, the other a few weeks later in a large theatre with less than a dozen, far more polite punters. As a dumb teen, I took away the wrong lesson: that the film didn’t work/wasn’t successful outside a packed auditorium. As an adult, I have a more rounded appreciation of the film and its grace notes that aren't dependent on an enthused opening weekend crowd — the thoughtful, non-condescending working-class milieu it sketches (much more effective and less caricatured than the likes of Billy Elliot ), the lovely work from Lesley Sharp, and so on—but the two distinct viewings remain an instructive lesson in the role of an audience in galvanizing each other and collectively elevating a film experience [1]. Malcolm (1986) is a film I’ve also watched twice—albeit at home and with a much longer interva...

Six pack: Furiosa (2024), Force of Nature (2024), No Escape (1994), The New Boy (2023), Mary and Max (2009), and Sweet As (2022)

There used to be a nerdy adage—at least until contrary instalments countered the point—that even-numbered Star Trek films were better than their odd-numbered counterparts. I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar adage emerges about the Mad Max films: while the obviously odd-numbered original was a trailblazer, it’s The Road Warrior and Fury Road that have commanded universal acclaim, while Beyond Thunderdome and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) have proven divisive. There are striking moments—as expected in both a George Miller film and a Mad Max film—in Furiosa , and Miller remains the most idiosyncratic generator of sequels: Furiosa (technically a prequel) is his sixth, after a Babe sequel, a Happy Feet sequel, and three other Mad Max sequels, with none of these offshoots feeling the same. However, if you’d told me Furiosa was based on a five-part prequel comic book series, I’d believe you, based on its chapter structure and the narrative dead end it arrives at. As it stand...

John Hargreaves double feature: Hoodwink (1981) and Sky Pirates (1986)

Published 2017 on Down Under Flix Discounting the film Blackfellas , in which he plays a minor role as a racist policeman, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to cover any John Hargreaves films on Down Under Flix. A six time AFI Award nominee (including for Hoodwink ) and triple winner, Hargreaves is one of the best leading men to emerge from the Australian New Wave, and I have particular regard for his work in Don’s Party, Long Weekend , and The Odd Angry Shot . Hargreaves was a natural performer: gifted and charismatic, but not unnecessarily flashy; handsome, but not movie star handsome, and slightly crumpled like a creased jacket. He was a quintessential Australian everyman ala Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown, though he’s less familiar to young filmgoers today, partly due to his untimely passing in 1996 at age 50. This article looks at one of Hargreaves’ best films… and one of his other films…

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