What better time than Australian Day to reflect in the best movies our country has ever produced?
We’ve covered more than 220 movies since we kicked off The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen podcast in 2021 – and many of those were Australian films.
Here are our top five favourite films.
The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen podcast covers one movie a week that host Stephen Fenech knows very well and that co-host Trevor Long is watching for the very first time.
And we’ve had a lot of feedback from listeners who use our weekly selection of movies as the suggestion for them to watch as well – for many it is also the first time they are watching the film as well.
We’ve had many Australian movies on the show but we’ve decided to rank our favourite five movies made by some of Australia’s greatest talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Here we go:
No 1. Crocodile Dundee (1986)
The movie that made Paul Hogan an international star and put Australia on the map as a tourist destination.
Crocodile Dundee tells the story of Mick “Crocodile” Dundee who is the subject of a story by an American reporter about how he survived a croc attack before heading to New York for a real “fish out of water” experience.
No 2. Gallipoli (1981)
The 1981 film stars Mark Lee and Mel Gibson and was directed by Peter Weir.
It tells the story of athlete Archy Hamilton (Lee) who joins up to join the Australian forces in Gallipoli. Along the way he meets Frank Dunne (Gibson) who joins him on the journey.
No 3. The Castle (1997)
The Castle tells the story of the Kerrigan family who fight a compulsory acquisition order to keep the house they love which happens to be right next to the airport.
The film has become one of most quotable and heart-warming Australian movies ever produced.
No 4. Phar Lap (1983)
Phar Lap tells the story of the champion galloper who became a beloved hero in Australia during the Great Depression – but the path to greatness wasn’t an easy one.
If you think you know the real story of Phar Lap you need to listen to our podcast to fully appreciate the journey.
No 5. Chopper (2000)
Chopper is an episodic look at Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read’s criminal life and escapades taken from his series of best-selling books.
It is the film that established Eric Bana as a serious actor after spending much of his early career as a comedian.
