Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301972499
Format: NTSC
ISBN: 630197249X
Label: Rhino (Sma)
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageAnalogItalianOriginal LanguageAnalog
Manufacturer: Rhino (Sma)
Publisher: Rhino (Sma)
Release Date: June 11, 1996
Studio: Rhino (Sma)
Theatrical Release Date: 1979-01
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Essential Video:
Nominally a supernatural thriller, Peter Weir's third feature resonates with the director's underlying fascination with the collision between the modern, rational world and the primordial mysteries of older belief systems. In The Last Wave, the keys to an enigmatic murder, as well as baffling disturbances in the weather, are gradually revealed to an Australian lawyer (Richard Chamberlain) within the shadowy, nomadic culture of aborigines living in and around Sydney who until now were presumed to be assimilated into its modern--and white--social fabric. In the process, Weir brings us toward an apocalyptic climax that is foreshadowed with a haunting series of events that cohere around water imagery, from an improbable drowning on dry land to downpours from cloudless skies, sudden hailstorms on the sere Australian land, and ghostly invasions of frogs.
The film's power (as well as what skeptics might regard as its pretension) emanates from Weir's stately, deliberate pace. Violating most of the conventions of suspense, he unravels his mystery with an unsettling calm underscored by its sparse soundtrack, which replaces conventional orchestral cues with the low, brooding rattle and hum of the didgeridoo. Instead of sudden camera movements or quick cuts, Weir circles his subjects almost diffidently. The stillness of that approach only amplifies the mounting unease Chamberlain's character, David Burton, feels as he steps for the first time beyond the bland safety of his privileged life and into the mystical world of the native Australians. Taking on the defense of the aborigines suspected of murdering the drowned man through tribal magic, his own beliefs are tested by the suspects' evident, intuitive connections to nature.
Chamberlain's Anglicized performance seems fussy and epicene, which only heightens the quiet intensity and watchful grace conveyed by the two aborigines, Chris Lee (David Gulpilil) and the shaman, Charlie (Nandjiwarra Amagula), who give Burton his first glimpse of their culture's "dreamtime" and the potent symbolism it contains. --Sam Sutherland
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
the story was just ok and the acting was fair but the quality of the vhs tape wasn't very good. actually the sound was terrible!!!!
actually worse than a homemade movie.
Rating:  -
Frankly,my college degree emphasis was on Philosophy focusing on Aesthetics; this movie is a classic. It is amazing that the time period of movie represents a conception of reality that is difficult for any film to convey. As such, modern film uses the software animation for the art of props which used to be done by artists with skilled hands.
The early movies could not easily portray ideas and concepts which were beyond simple props. An example is a car scene prop - a car with a painting of a scene in the background.
Dreams are the most diffifult imaginal form of concept to convey because a dream is pre-reality. Artists since the dawn of art have tried to portray dreams. From that art we arrive at religion, science and hence psychology.
Art is a communication of the abstract. In this film, the Dream Time is communicated as it is: an imaginal world which overlaps the objects we perceive as a real world.
Future Shamans must always be aware that ... Read More
Rating: -
My father turned me on to this film when I was about 4. He used to play it for me when he was cooking dinner, listening to music, studying, any time he needed some time to himself and needed me to stay in one place. (Chariots of fire and The Warriors work well too. lol ) Well, I am 25 now and this film is as creepy, fascinating and hypnotic as it was then.
I mean, the third wave, for christ sake. It's over. Your outa here. Done. Would you be remembered as a quality addition to the human race? Really, "Who are you?"
I can add no more than my peers here, as all except one giant bozo found this film to be as good as I did.
Rating: -
�The Last Wave� is an eerie, beautiful film by Peter Weir and is a companion piece to �Picnic at Hanging Rock�, which he made two years earlier in 1975. Though �Wave� is set in 1970s Sydney and �Picnic� takes place at the turn of the 20th Century, both movies revolve around the great difficulty the white settlers, who took over Australia, had in fitting in, both with the land itself and with the Aboriginal natives. After all, Aboriginal culture was ancient long before there was an England or, for that matter, a religion called Christianity. Though both movies are highly recommended, both are uniquely Australian. Those with little knowledge of the place will find themselves at a loss as to what is going on.
David Burton [Richard Chamberlain] is a successful, middle-class tax attorney in Sidney. When he volunteers to take the case of several Aboriginal men accused of murder, he has little inkling of where this supposedly simple case will take him. Coincidentally, ... Read More
Rating:  -
I was pretty let down by this film due to the praise it received from a friend of mine whose opinion I value. I just found it didn't really present me with anything I hadn't seen before. The story was interesting but it could have been delivered in a much more original way. This is a good film but far from great.
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