Bruce Beresford

Breaker Morant

Breaker Morant

At the turn of the twentieth century, three Australian army lieutenants are court-martialed for alleged war crimes committed while fighting in South Africa. With no time to prepare, an Australian major, appointed as defense attorney, must prove that they were just following orders and are being made into political pawns by the British imperial command. Director Bruce Beresford garnered international acclaim for this riveting drama set during a dark period in his country’s colonial history, and featuring passionate performances by Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, and Jack Thompson; rugged cinematography by Donald McAlpine; and an Oscar-nominated script, based on true events.

Film Info

  • Australia
  • 1980
  • 107 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #773

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Bruce Beresford, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary from 2004 featuring Beresford
  • New interviews with Beresford, cinematographer Donald McAlpine, and actor Bryan Brown
  • Interview with actor Edward Woodward from 2004
  • New piece about the Boer War with historian Stephen Miller
  • The Breaker, a 1973 documentary profiling the real Harry “Breaker” Morant, with a 2010 statement by its director, Frank Shields
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Neil Sinyard

    New cover by Sean Phillips

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Bruce Beresford, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary from 2004 featuring Beresford
  • New interviews with Beresford, cinematographer Donald McAlpine, and actor Bryan Brown
  • Interview with actor Edward Woodward from 2004
  • New piece about the Boer War with historian Stephen Miller
  • The Breaker, a 1973 documentary profiling the real Harry “Breaker” Morant, with a 2010 statement by its director, Frank Shields
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Neil Sinyard

    New cover by Sean Phillips
Breaker Morant
Cast
Edward Woodward
Lieutenant Harry “Breaker” Morant
Jack Thompson
Major J. F. Thomas
John Waters
Captain Alfred Taylor
Bryan Brown
Lieutenant Peter Handcock
Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Lieutenant George Witton
Charles Tingwell
Lieutenant Colonel Denny
Terence Donovan
Captain Simon Hunt
Chris Haywood
Corporal Sharp
Vincent Ball
Colonel Ian ”Johnny” Hamilton
Ray Meagher
Sergeant Major Drummond
Alan Cassell
Lord Kitchener
Russell Kiefel
Christian Botha
Rob Steele
Captain Robertson
Rod Mullinar
Major Bolton
Credits
Director
Bruce Beresford
Produced by
Matthew Carroll
Screenplay
Jonathan Hardy
Screenplay
David Stevens
Screenplay
Bruce Beresford
Adapted from the play “Breaker” Morant by
Kenneth Ross
Story editor
Harold Lander
Lighting cameraman
Donald McAlpine
Film editor
William Anderson
Assisted by
Jeanine Chialvo
Production design
David Copping

Current

Breaker Morant: Scapegoats of Empire
Breaker Morant: Scapegoats of Empire

Bruce Beresford draws on a controversial episode of Australian colonial history from 1901 to create an electrifying drama that questions the moral certitude of war.

By Neil Sinyard

Talking to Bruce Beresford
Talking to Bruce Beresford
This week, veteran director Bruce Beresford joins the collection with Breaker Morant and Mister Johnson, two early twentieth-century period pieces about colonialism and its destructive legacies. Beresford (seen above on the set of Mister Johnson) has…