Red Hill
2010 Directed by Patrick Hughes
Synopsis
Revenge just rode into town
Young police officer Shane Cooper's first day on duty, after relocating to the small town of Red Hill, rapidly turns into a nightmare. News of a prison break, involving convicted murderer Jimmy Conway, sends the local law enforcement officers - led by the town's ruling presence, Old Bill - into a panic and leads to a terrifying and bloody confrontation.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Wow, this really surprised me. It starts off with a pretty slow build, but when it got going I was on the edge of my seat. There are times when the suspense is so well paced that it's nearly pulse pounding. You get some good performances from the cast, especially from Ryan Kwanten and Tommy Lewis. The action is thrilling. The cinematography looks great. The director gets some wonderful shots in as well. As a modern western, it's nothing groundbreaking and doesn't establish anything we haven't seen before in the genre, but it's still pretty solid at what it does and manages to still be captivating.
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One badass western! It saddens me that this didn't get a North American theatrical release as this is one of the best genre films of the last few years and one of my favorites of 2010. Criminally under seen!
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I dig this quite a bit.
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In grooveman's review, he described this as 'Criminally under seen!'. He's spot on. This little Aussie western is an absolute gem. Brilliant acting from Ryan Kwanten and Steve Bisley. The cinematography is exceptional, the shots of the barren Australian landscape and the direction of the shootout scene are brilliant. This is definitely worth a watch and it's easy enough , it's on netflix!
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I usually like a good aussie flick and this certainly didn't disappoint. I liked the modern take on the western and the atmosphere was great. Steve Bisley was very good and I was surprised to see that he got his start along with Mel Gibson and that they were in Mad Max together. I loved the score, pretty fucking fantastic. My very favorite parts of the movie were the ones with Shane and his wife, Alice. There was just something about those scenes. They didn't necessarily fit in that well with the overall tone of the movie, but they provided a nice little breather. Very serene in a way.
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Ahora que Patrick Hughes ha sido el elegido para dirigir 'Los Mercenarios 3', ha surgido cierta expectación por descubrir el anterior trabajo de este director.
Los que pudimos ver la película en su momento (en mi caso, durante el Festival de Sitges de 2010) sólo podemos celebrar la elección de Stallone para ponerse en la silla de director de esta tercera entrega de su franquicia, ya que su 'Red Hill' es una película altamente recomendable y que, sin duda, debería haber tenido mayor repercusión de la que tuvo.
Western moderno, drama rural, cuento de terror y película de acción al mismo tiempo, sin que ninguna de sus facetas se imponga artificialmente a las demás, 'Red Hill' posee el valor de…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Hadn't heard of it until the news that director Patrick Hughes is doing the next Expendables. Was pleasantly surprised. Clearly done on the cheap, but suspenseful and engaging. Hughes knew what he was doing. Also great to see death by boomerang.
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Nothing special but quite enjoyable anyway.
Patrick Hughes' direction is a little schizophrenic, somewhere between a generic western, a hyper stylised western like Shoot 'Em Up and generic Aussie human drama films. He sets up a slow, fish out of water drama and unleashes a seemingly unhinged escaped prisoner onto proceedings and it takes a little while to come to terms with this new scenario. He doesn't help himself with playful (and that is me at my most generous) homage to spaghetti western tropes every now and then, bring a surreal or comic edge at moments that are supposed to be tense. My theory on this type of shot is do it all the time or don't do it at all, don't half arse the thing.
Ryan Kwanten was solid enough in the lead but his face is definitely more suited to his role in Griff The Invisible from the same year.
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I'm a bit torn on Red Hill. On one hand, I really liked the film; on the other, I expected more. From watching the trailer a few weeks ago, I concocted this film in my head that was a gritty, dark experience. That really isn't Red Hill, so perhaps the film's shortcomings reflect my own expectations. The lead, Ryan Kwanten, is solid and is particularly good at getting his ass kicked fairly often. His innocence and reluctance did feel overplayed at times, and I felt the need for him to get more involved sooner. Anyway, one of the more interesting aspects of the film is that if you changed a few small details, Red Hill easily transforms into a horror…
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Fantastic modern Australian western. The dialogue (thankfully sparse) and score (a bit heavy handed) don't always hit the right notes but the acting, visual flair and superb pacing set this above and apart from the norm.
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I dig this quite a bit.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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I would never have thought that Ryan could be so good in this film, but he is. This is a pretty great western that feels like a lot of other westerns before but still has a good style to it and the twist that people will see coming yet, it is still a fun ride.