The Lighthorsemen

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.

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."

Buy The Lighthorsemen Now

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!

Read Best Reviews of The Lighthorsemen Here

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

Want The Lighthorsemen Discount?

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.