Product Details

• Actors: Peter Phelps, Nick Waters, John Larking, John Heywood, Di O'Connor
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate
• VHS Release Date: September 17, 1996
• Run Time: 116 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304152876
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,172 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charging into history, December 4, 2001

By 

John Elsegood (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lighthorsemen [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It has been called,the 'last great cavalry charge in history,' and this film, like the famous charge at Beersheba on 31 October 1917, is an epic event that relates the courage of the Australian 'digger' (soldier).

In fact the charge was not carried out by cavalry but instead by mounted infantry (who do not have sabres) and also the Poles would dispute the claim because their cavalry charged the tanks of the Wermacht in the 1939 conflict which ushered in the second great global conflagration.

The authentic nature of the film is highlighted not only in the classic charge but in small details such as the map in the Turkish commander's office being in Arabic-which was the alphabet the Turks were using in World War 1.

'Lighthorsemen,' like two other Aussie war films, made in the 1980s, (Breaker Morant and Gallipoli) reflected some antagonisms that existed between Australian and British troops, and which have been heightened by film makers of the modern generation. Fortunately, this is not over-played in this fine film and when it does surface it is obvious that the astute British intelligence officer, Major Meinertzhagen ( played superbly by Anthony Andrews), deliberately wants to foster such feelings as part of his plans of deception against the Turks. The real-life importance of a letter from a female army nurse, in an attempt to deceive the Turks into withdrawing a division from Beersheba to Gaza, is also highlighted by a fine piece of acting between Andrews and Sigrid Thornton.

The ride into hostile territory by the bird-loving Meinertzhagen and an Aussie soldier is a interesting sub-plot and will give American viewers some indication of the cultural differences between egalitarian Australia and the class society of Britain.

Perhaps it is also worth noting that the appointment of Australia's Lt. Gen. Sir Harry Chauvel as commander of the Desert Corps, was derisively greeted by one British brigadier with the words, " fancy giving command of the biggest mounted force in history to an Australian." Fancy that!
(Fortunately such views were not held by the two British commander-in-chiefs, Murray and, his replacement, Allenby).

Maybe that explains why, when Chauvel was faced with a choice between assigning British cavalry (under Fitzgerald) or the Australian mounted infantry ( under Grant), to lead the momentous charge on Beersheba, he quietly said to Gen. Hodgson, "put Grant straight at it."

The stage was then set for one of the most dramatic rides in history and this film captures the lighthorsemens ride into the pages of history.

FOOTNOTE: Chauvel's two boyhood heroes were Saladin and JEB Stuart. Like the great Islamic leader of the Crusades the Australian leader would strike hard at tired and isolated armies and also like the great Confederate cavalry leader, Chauvel's armies covered great distances-in 1918 he isolated 2 Turkish armies after travelling 640kms in 12 days. Chauvel referred to it as his "Jeb Stuart ride."

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True story, May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lighthorsemen [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It was the last great cavalry charge in history. But ironically, the Australian Light Horse were not cavalry, but mounted infantry with rifles. They had to charge armed with bayonets, not swords or lances.

One of the great tragedies of the Light Horse was the fate of the horses. Most of the horses were the men's own, brought overseas from farms, sheep and cattle stations across the continent. Because of Australia's tough quarantine laws, at war's end the soldiers were given the option of selling their horses in the Egyptian markets or shooting them. Most, tearfully, took the latter option as a fairer fate for their "mates" who had carried them through the desert campaign. Lighthorsemen continue to weep at the thought of having left their brave equine companions behind. Of the 14,000 horses that departed Australia, only one returned.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More on "The Lighthorsemen", May 22, 2004

By 

"matheson75" (Toronyo) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lighthorsemen [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Some US viewers have wondered exactly what was cut from this epic movie in the truncated US version, minus 15 minutes! Well one immediate clue was the inclusion of the lady's name on the complete film credits found on <www.us.imdb.com> who played Dave's Mother. After the scene of Dave at the station talking to the sgt on the trainload of horses & then unsaddling, jumping the gate & riding home, we lose the entire scene at the supper table when his mother, mute, worries about his joining up & his father says "If he wants to join, we can't stop him". A photo of his dead brother already kiled in action is in the backgound, but we don't know of this until later when the group are talking after tucker & Taz upsets Dave not knowing the brother is dead. Another important spot is just as the regiment is moving out, prior to the patrol when Frank gets shot, a Bedouin spy watches them ride off! Later still before the big push, Taz is writing a belated letter home to his wife & Chiller comes over to ask what his mate is doing? Taz is short with him & he backs off. This is perhaps our first intimation that Taz is at risk? The scene that follows when the postal orderly refuses to take Taz's letter & Chiller obliges, thus getting back in his good books I think WAS included in the US cut, now not too well understood due to the early part being missing. I need to run both versions side by side & compare them to be sure that the ultimate charge was not emasculated perhaps for US viewers as being too graphic??? There are some great horse falls & stunt riders' "deaths" falling out of the saddle at full gallop! One man has his bandolier of ammunition across his chest explode when hit by a Turkish machine gun bullet. In the fierce hand to hand trench fighting there's a Turk getting his throat cut by bayonet, others on both sides being bayoneted in the belly, the one horse seen being blown up in mid air was a rubber dummy. Suntmen even rode this for some shots I understand. When Simon Wincer reused the climactic charge in the "Young Indiana Jones" tv episode "Daredevils of the Desert", in the end credits poor Jon Blake was given a stunt credit for the fall he seemed to make when the nearby well blew up in Beersheba just before he found the wiring. It wasn't him! It was the lead stunter on the film. Of interest was the late eldest daughter of General Sir Harry Chauvel, who was both a well-known Australian writer of childrens' books & a wonderful rancher up into her eighties, loaned a copy of her fine book on the Light Horse to Wincer when he was preparing the film. The opening sequence of the horse round-up was shot on her family property with its magnificent scenery. In fact Wincer's much earlier film "PHAR LAP" was filmed on a race track adjacent to that property! I'm hoping he may be able to engineer a new DVD release of that classic racing film at least Down Under, as he has recently done with a much improved new DVD version there of "The Man from Snowy River", which he produced. Both his "The Lighthorsemen" & "Quigley Down Under" starring Tom Selleck seem currently to be undergoing a huge renewal of interest on the part of viewers in North America. Nobody can overlook his immense success either with the "Lonesome Dove" Us mini=-series or the two Selleck westerns. sincerely, John.