Classic Australian Movies
by unusednameunusedname | created - 3 months ago | updated - 1 week ago | PublicThe best Australian films (in order of nostalgia, and "THAT is an Aussie classic' status, rather than general quality).
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1. Wake in Fright (1971)
R | 109 min | Drama, Thriller
After a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay
Votes: 10,721 | Gross: $0.05M
2. The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972)
R | 114 min | Comedy
Young Australian, Barry McKenzie, travels to England with his Aunt Edna after his father dies and a request is revealed in his will.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Barry Crocker, Barry Humphries, Dick Bentley, Peter Cook
Votes: 742
3. Mad Max (1979)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
Votes: 192,535 | Gross: $8.75M
4. Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988)
93 min | Crime, Drama
Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: David Field, Mike Bishop, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey
Votes: 1,723
5. The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 167,253 | Gross: $12.47M
6. Chopper (2000)
R | 94 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo, Renée Brack
Votes: 36,232 | Gross: $0.23M
7. The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Terry Camilleri, John Meillon, Kevin Miles, Rick Scully
Votes: 3,621
8. The Castle (1997)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama
A working-class family from Melbourne, Australia fights city hall after being told they must vacate their beloved family home to allow for infrastructural expansion.
Director: Rob Sitch | Stars: Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Anthony Simcoe
Votes: 15,122 | Gross: $0.86M
9. Romper Stomper (1992)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama
A group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
Director: Geoffrey Wright | Stars: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Alex Scott
Votes: 37,526 | Gross: $0.18M
10. Bad Boy Bubby (1993)
Not Rated | 114 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Bubby has spent thirty years trapped in the same small room, tricked by his mother. One day, he manages to escape, and, deranged and naive in equal measures, his adventure into the modern and nihilistic life begins.
Director: Rolf de Heer | Stars: Nicholas Hope, Claire Benito, Ralph Cotterill, Syd Brisbane
Votes: 12,532
11. Puberty Blues (1981)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
The mating rituals of two teenage surf chicks from the southern suburbs of Sydney.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Nell Schofield, Jad Capelja, Jeffrey Rhoe, Tony Hughes
Votes: 1,212 | Gross: $0.24M
12. Don's Party (1976)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
Don is a schoolteacher living with his wife Kath and baby son in suburban Melbourne. On the night of the 1969 federal election he invites a small group of friends to celebrate a predicted ... See full summary »
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: John Hargreaves, Pat Bishop, Graham Kennedy, Veronica Lang
Votes: 1,175
13. Road Games (1981)
PG | 101 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A laid-back American truck driver in south Australia starts to suspect a man driving a green van of killing young women along his route, and proceeds to play a cat-and-mouse game in order to catch him red-handed.
Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page
Votes: 5,447
14. Dogs in Space (1986)
R | 103 min | Drama
Two man are the key members of a band called 'Dogs in Space' and share a house in a Melbourne suburb with a variety of young music fans and social misfits, including a college student and a transient and apparently nameless teenage girl.
Director: Richard Lowenstein | Stars: Michael Hutchence, Saskia Post, Nique Needles, Deanna Bond
Votes: 1,170
15. Razorback (1984)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
As a vicious wild boar terrorizes the Australian outback, the husband of one of the victims is joined by a hunter and a farmer in a search for the beast.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood
Votes: 5,873 | Gross: $0.15M
16. Inside Alvin Purple (1973 TV Movie)
48 min | Documentary
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Stars: Abigail, Shara Berriman, Graeme Blundell, Tim Burstall
Votes: 6
17. Monkey Grip (1982)
99 min | Drama
A frank portrayal of a year in the life of a divorced mother living in Melbourne, trying to cope with her daughter and her own relationship with a drug addict while trying to get into the music business.
Director: Ken Cameron | Stars: Noni Hazlehurst, Colin Friels, Alice Garner, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 226
18. Gallipoli (1981)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Mel Gibson, Mark Lee, Bill Kerr, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 36,991 | Gross: $5.73M
19. Storm Boy (1976)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Family
Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
Directors: Henri Safran, Ian Goddard | Stars: Greg Rowe, Peter Cummins, David Gulpilil, Judy Dick
Votes: 1,152
20. Muriel's Wedding (1994)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young social outcast in Australia steals money from her parents to finance a vacation where she hopes to find happiness, and perhaps love.
Director: P.J. Hogan | Stars: Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Bill Hunter, Sophie Lee
Votes: 35,709 | Gross: $15.19M
21. The Sex Therapist (1973)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Romance
Waterbed salesman Alvin consults a psychiatrist about his irresistibilty to women.
Director: Tim Burstall | Stars: Graeme Blundell, Abigail, Lynette Curran, Christine Amor
Votes: 455
22. Patrick (1978)
PG | 96 min | Horror
A comatose hospital patient harasses and kills through his powers of telekinesis to claim his private nurse as his own.
Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Susan Penhaligon, Robert Helpmann, Rod Mullinar, Bruce Barry
Votes: 3,005
23. Stone (1974)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Drama, Adventure
After one of its members witnesses a political assassination, an outlaw motorbike gang becomes the target of a string of murders, prompting a cop to join their ranks to determine who is responsible.
Director: Sandy Harbutt | Stars: Deryck Barnes, Sandy Harbutt, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Lex Mitchell
Votes: 1,233
24. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse
Votes: 33,974 | Gross: $0.23M
25. The Proposition (2005)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Western
A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Richard Wilson
Votes: 50,418 | Gross: $1.90M
26. Death in Brunswick (1990)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Carl Fitzgerald is down-on-his-luck until he meets Sophie, a beautiful Greek girl. He gets a job as a cook, but accidentally kills a fellow worker. He turns to his unscrupulous best friend for help and they attempt to dispose of the body.
Director: John Ruane | Stars: Sam Neill, Zoe Carides, John Clarke, Yvonne Lawley
Votes: 1,053
27. Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974)
93 min | Comedy
Barry McKenzie's Aunt Edna is kidnapped by Count Von Plasma, the vampire head of an isolated Eastern European dictatorship who mistakes her for the Queen of England and thinks that ... See full summary »
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Barry Crocker, Barry Humphries, Donald Pleasence, Ed Devereaux
Votes: 233
28. Malcolm (1986)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Sci-Fi
Malcolm is a chronically shy mechanical genius who has just been fired for building his own tram. He gets Frank, who has just been released from jail, to move in to help pay the bills. ... See full summary »
Director: Nadia Tass | Stars: Colin Friels, John Hargreaves, Lindy Davies, Chris Haywood
Votes: 1,936 | Gross: $0.54M
29. Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988)
47 min | Documentary, Comedy
A documentary detailing the spread of Hawaiian sugar-cane toads through Australia in a botched effort to introduce them as counter pests.
Director: Mark Lewis | Stars: Tip Byrne, H.W. Kerr, Glen Ingram, Bill Freeland
Votes: 1,164
30. The Club (1980)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Boardroom and dressing-room intrigues spill on to the field at the Australian Rules football club.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Jack Thompson, Graham Kennedy, Frank Wilson, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 930
31. Fatty Finn (1980)
91 min | Comedy, Family
Fatty Finn raises dough for a new radio. Along the way, he encounters mishaps with a gang of bullies.
Director: Maurice Murphy | Stars: Ben Oxenbould, Rebecca Rigg, Jeremy Larsson, Martin Lewis
Votes: 244
32. Body Melt (1993)
AO | 81 min | Horror, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Residents of peaceful Pebbles Court, Homesville, are being used unknowingly as test experiments for a new 'Body Drug' that causes rapid body decomposition (melting skin etc.) and painful death.
Director: Philip Brophy | Stars: Gerard Kennedy, Andrew Daddo, Ian Smith, Regina Gaigalas
Votes: 2,653
33. Stork (1971)
85 min | Comedy
A gangly, awkward, would-be revolutionary loses his virginity to the vivacious hippie girlfriend of his two flatmates, and becomes hell-bent on sabotaging her wedding to one of them.
Director: Tim Burstall | Stars: Bruce Spence, Jacki Weaver, Helmut Bakaitis, Graeme Blundell
Votes: 148
34. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Music
Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
Director: Stephan Elliott | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Rebel Penfold-Russell
Votes: 46,728 | Gross: $11.22M
35. The Dish (2000)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, History
A remote Australian community, populated by quirky characters, plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing.
Director: Rob Sitch | Stars: Sam Neill, Billy Mitchell, Roz Hammond, Christopher-Robin Street
Votes: 15,417 | Gross: $2.25M
36. Turkey Shoot (1982)
R | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
In a totalitarian future where deviants are held in rehabilitation camps, a freedom fighter and a wrongly accused prisoner form an alliance to survive their decadent oppressors' game of kill-or-be-killed - and turn the tide against them.
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Stars: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Carmen Duncan
Votes: 3,212
37. Bloodlust (1992)
R | 85 min | Action, Horror
Three vampires wander the streets of Melbourne killing, screwing and taking drugs. They decide to carry out a heist, stealing three million and attracting the attention of various ... See full summary »
Directors: Jon Hewitt, Richard Wolstencroft | Stars: Jane Stuart Wallace, Kelly Chapman, Robert James O'Neill, Phil Motherwell
Votes: 211
38. Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The true story of Irish outlaw Daniel Morgan, who is wanted, dead or alive, in Australia during the 1850s.
Director: Philippe Mora | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Frank Thring
Votes: 1,344
39. Alvin Rides Again, and Again! And Again! And Again! (1974)
89 min | Comedy
Alvin Purple, the world's most unlikely sex symbol stumbles from woman to woman and job to job in this zany, sexy Australian comedy.
Directors: David Bilcock, Robin Copping | Stars: Graeme Blundell, Alan Finney, Gus Mercurio, Noel Ferrier
Votes: 172
40. The Big Steal (1990)
99 min | Comedy
To impress a girl a shy teenaged boy buys a used Jaguar.
Director: Nadia Tass | Stars: Ben Mendelsohn, Claudia Karvan, Marshall Napier, Damon Herriman
Votes: 968
41. Ned Kelly (1970)
GP | 100 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The impoverished son of Irish immigrants is pushed by wrongful police persecution into becoming Australia's most notorious bushranger.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Mick Jagger, Clarissa Kaye-Mason, Mark McManus, Ken Goodlet
Votes: 1,116 | Gross: $0.25M
42. The Delinquents (1989)
101 min | Drama, Romance
A small town in Australia, in the late 1950s: Brownie and Lola are deeply in love. But because they are under-age, their parents are against their relationship and try to separate them.
Director: Chris Thomson | Stars: Kylie Minogue, Charlie Schlatter, Bruno Lawrence, Todd Boyce
Votes: 869
43. Walkabout (1971)
GP | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
Two city-bred siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback, where they learn to survive with the aid of an Aboriginal boy on his "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Luc Roeg, John Meillon
Votes: 23,142 | Gross: $0.02M
44. The Year My Voice Broke (1987)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Romance
In rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his best friend falls in love with a small-time criminal, setting off a violent chain of events.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen, Ben Mendelsohn, Graeme Blundell
Votes: 1,953 | Gross: $0.21M
45. Idiot Box (1996)
R | 83 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Looking for the fast track out of suburban hell, two natural born losers scheme an impossible heist. Two undercover cops and a highly strung speed dealer are not far behind.
Director: David Caesar | Stars: Ben Mendelsohn, Jeremy Sims, John Polson, Graeme Blundell
Votes: 813
46. The Babadook (2014)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery