The Australian Outback On Screen
Movies, DVDs and Videos
There are so many films from and about the Australian Outback available on video or DVD...
The top pick from every category is featured here.
More can be found in each category.
Get one, two or even more DVDs and enjoy a relaxing (or exciting, eye-opening, educational...) weekend in the Australian Outback, in the comfort of your own home?
Here is how to find your way around the collection of DVDs and videos:
The most popular item from each section is featured on this page. The three different sections are as follows:
- Australia Travel DVDs and Videos is a great collection of beautifully photographed travel videos, focusing on the nature and the wildlife of the Australia. There are many special interest videos here, some of them quite rare. Check them out, I'm sure will you find something interesting.
- In the Australian Outback Movies section you will find films from all kinds of genres - western, horror, comedy, historical - that are set in the Australian Outback. Some are entirely fiction, but some are based on true events and stories from Outback Australia. They not only offer stunning images but historical information at the same time. (I have also included a few simple entertaining fiction flicks, as well as links to the well known block busters.)
- For wildlife lovers there is a page with Australian Animal DVDs and Videos in the animal section of the site.
Whether you want to learn more about the Outback, about our wildlife, enjoy pictures of amazing landscapes, or just switch off and relax... you should find something here.
If you do know of any movie that is not featured here but should be let me know. And if you know any of the films and want to submit a comment, review or recommendation, please do so! Simply use the form on the contact page.
A word of warning: Some of these items are rare and hard to find. I can't guarantee that your chosen DVD/video will be available today. Most will be, but some are not, and I best apologise for that in advance. If the film you're after is not in stock, please check back another day. And if it is available... Grab it while you can! ("Out of stock, usually ships in 3 - 5 days" means you can order it, it just takes a bit longer...)
Most Popular And Best Value
#1 in the Australia Travel DVD category and overall #1:
Destination Australia
Globe Trekker 2004
This set of two DVDs, each containing two shows, is excellent value. Each show covers one Australian region, and with this pack you just about cover the lot: The Australian Outback, Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, Southeast Australia and Southwest Australia.
If you don't know that much about Australia or if you are undecided where to go, (it's a huge country, you can't see it all in one trip!) this is your opportunity to have a good look around the whole continent. Nearly four hours of run time, that's four afternoons/evenings of dreaming and planning your trip...
Find out more about this video
(If it says "Out of stock, usually ships in 3 - 5 days" it means you can order it, you just have to wait 3 to 5 days longer than you normally would...)
#1 in the Australian Outback Movies category:
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Philip Noyce, Australia 2002
A heartfelt and stirring story about the "Stolen Generation", set in 1931 Australia, when it was custom to take half-cast Aboriginal children (children with one Aboriginal and one white parent) from their parents and raise them in orphanages to "civilise" them.
Three young girls, the sisters Molly (14), Daisy (8) and their cousin Gracie (10) are taken from their mother and their small village Jigalong to the orphanage at Moore River. They are supposed to learn the path of duty, service and responsibility of a good Christian woman. But these girls are different, and when the opportunity arises they escape...
The film chronicles their journey as they attempt to make their way back to Jigalong, 1200 miles of Outback desert away, a seemingly impossible trek. They find the rabbit proof fence that stretches north-south across most of the Australian continent and follow it north, pursued by an Aborigine tracker who is steadily closing in...
A movie about the social injustice that led to the "Stolen Generation", but also a road movie.
The outstanding film is based on the novel "Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence" by Doris Pilkington, which tells the true-life story of her mother, Molly.
The three young actresses playing the girls are excellent, so is David Gulpilil as tracker Moodoo. The music is haunting and very effective, an adaptation of Aboriginal melodies by Peter Gabriel. And the countryside of course is simply glorious... The fact that the beauty of the Outback only underlines but never distracts from the human element of the film is an exceptional feat...
As is the whole movie. Strongly and whole heartedly recommended.
Find out more or buy the DVD here
#1 in the Australian Animal DVDs and Videos category:
Wild Wonders of Australia
This is a set of three VHS videos, with a total run time of nearly four hours. The two titles Forest - Ocean and Urban Arid & Wetland will introduce you to a wide range of Australian habitats, and to many unusual animals that have adapted to these habitats in the most amazing ways.
Most of Australia's dangerous animals are portrayed here, like the Death Adder and the Fierce Snake, the Funnel-web Spider and the Saltwater Crocodile and many more.
The third title in the pack is Red Kangaroos of the Outback, a portrait of Australia's largest land animal. Though nearly everybody knows the Red Kangaroo by name, most people know very little about the life of these awesome creatures. Learn how these well adapted animals survive in the harsh desert climate of the Australian Outback and discover many mysteries and little known facts about them.
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