Customer Reviews

The Lighthorsemen (Import)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

It isn't possible to produce worse video than you get on this imported DVD of the great movie "The Lighthorsemen". Another reviewer was being generous when he likened it to a bad dub of a VHS tape. It's more like someone copied it from a TV movie with a VHS video camera, then burned it to a disk using a very old PC. Don't waste your money! What a pity that those of us who crave great movies and TV series have to waste time and money on these cheap imports because regular DVD companies can't seem to be bothered with making them.

The picture quality of the DVD is poor, you can't turn off the sub-titles and most of the time the sub-titles don't match the dialog. It's too bad the DVD is so poor because the story is so good. If you just have to have it, it maybe the only game in town.

Jim

This is a fantastic movie! Buy it on VHS and then wait until a real studio releases it before you buy it on DVD. The picture quality is TERRIBLE! It appears that some Chinese dudes got a VHS copy and made a bad transfer to DVD. The picture is fuzzy throughout the entire movie.

What a waste of money and what a shame that some smalltime studio would do this to such a great movie!

Like so many others, I wanted to replace my tattered VHS copy of this great Australian film. Sadly, the DVD I received was no improvement. The most intense part of the movie, the charge and battle itself, was so grainy as to be barely visible and the sound dropped out entirely much of the time. The rest of the film was of acceptable--though not typical DVD--quality.

The movie itself is great but the DVD is truly terribly done. It is probably the worst DVD I have ever paid money for as far as picture and sound quality. Far worse than a VHS copy of a VHS copy of a VHS copy from TV. Save your money and pray for a better quality of the DVD.

The Lighthorseman was a film I hated when I saw it years ago, but which I was overly harsh about. It's not a great film by a long shot, but it is extremely well directed by Simon Wincer in the days when he was the go-to guy for anything with horses, extremely well edited and quite beautifully photographed by Dean Semler in vivid colour. Retelling the Australian Light Horse's famous charge on Beersheba in WW1, the subject of the earlier and generally superior propaganda picture 40,000 Horsemen, it desperately wants to be another Gallipoli, but despite lavish production values is let down by a script that covers the history well enough but doesn't give us particularly well-drawn characters to care about - the mates the film focuses on may well be based on real people, but they play as pure stereotypes. As a result there's not much emotional pull. Indeed, the most touching scene is when Sigrid Thornton fakes a letter to a non-existent soldier to add a touch of credibility to some false documents to be 'captured' by the Turks. However, the pre-CGI carnage of the final charge is genuinely impressive stuff and well worth waiting for. The remastered PAL Australian disc, though only coming with text extras, is the best transfer available at the moment.

Apparently I was expecting an actual movie, not a chinese copy (look carefully at the cover) from the movie theater. It appears to be a recorded (with a video camera) off of the movie screen (Just looks really funny, especially with the picture moving when it should be still). The picture quality is poor, the lettering in english is blurred, the music and voices sound odd.

I have seen many of these types of movies in Korea, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Typically for this type of version (Quality) overseas Soldiers would actually pay approximately $1.00 or a little more (no more than $1.50) for their personal use and definately wouldn't sell it to another. These movies are typically left for the next unit's enjoyment (free of charge).

Be very wary of what you purchase. $10.99 is way too much for this type of a cheap copy, to include the amount of time to receive (purchased on 05-Aug-2011...received on 06-Sep-2011). I was taken and it's my mistake for not paying more attention. Lucky for me it was just a video.

I will no longer purchase movies from this dealer in the future. I'd rather spend the $10.99 and drive down to Wallmart, Target, Best Buy or any other store.

Thank you and have a great day.

The capture of Beersheba by the Australian Light Horse was a spectacular, if little known, feat of World War I. Finally, it is documented on the silver screen. Unfortunately, this Chinese edition is not quite up to par in terms of quality, but in the absence of better alternatives...

I have this movie on VHS. It is one of the few movies I can watch over and over. The actors are totally believable, as is the story (which is taken from a true event) and action. It's the good old days and a young man feels the need to join the lighthorsemen, an Aussie group of horse bourn light infantry. The story that follows brings you into close touch with the day to day lives of a group of very interesting personalities. Historically accurate, emotionally taxing, visually stunning, and all too real. I've been to war, and this is what it's like.

As a bonus, the film closes by showing, in brief, the rest of the lives of the main characters. Very fulfilling in itself. I believe that you can both enjoy --- and learn from this well done movie.

---Metalsmith

PS I really don't think the movie is worth $99.99!

I've had the VCR copy of this movie for many years and wanted a DVD copy. Reading all the reviews was kind of split as to quality with a slight edge to bad rather than good. So I decided to take a chance. Without question the movie itself is a classic and one that can be watched over and over. But....this DVD copy is so bad it is unbelievable. The color is washed out with a red tint and very blurry as if it was recorded with a camera that was out of focus, at least that's the case of the copy I got. However, all is not lost. I discovered the VCR version that I have is not copy protected. So if you have one of those duel DVD/VCR player recorders, then I suggest you buy the VCR copy and record you own private movie. Quality will be the same as the VCR but it is still a good copy that you can enjoy. Don't waste your money on the DVD version.