Distributor:
Umbrella Ent Certificate: PG
| 300 minutes
|
2 disc set | all region
pal format Available to buy Writer:Philip
Cornford Written and directed by: David Stevens Extras: Yes Reviewer: Jason
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
John Walton,
Andrew Clarke, Joss McWilliam, Jane Menelaus, Geoff Parry, Celine
Griffin, Helen Jones
WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
Just
after the close of world war one,
pilots Charles Kingsford Smith
and Keith Anderson face hard
times as they try to gain funds
to mount an attempt to be the
first men to fly the pacific.
SO
IS IT ANY GOOD?
First
screened in 1985 this mini series follows the exploits of Australian
aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford-Smith, very popular back in the day
“Smithy” and his fellow aviator Anderson (whom Smith would
eventually break away from) was a Hollywood stunt pilot, flew bi-planes
for one of Australia’s first airlines and of course tried to set new
aviation records, from trying to break the record for a flight from
England to Australia to conquering the Pacific. Superbly glossy (the
production cost some $4.5 million some one third of which was spent on
the planes used in the series) A Thousand Skies is a great portrait of a
single-minded visionary, Kingsford-Smith was determined to fly a
thousand skies and let nothing stand in his way and you get the sense
that after the Pacific attempt Smith didn’t know when to stop and his
final fatal crash is an inevitability that you know is coming right from
the opening scenes.
A
Thousand Skies is one of the key mini-series that helped re-brand
Australian television and make world wide audiences sit up and take
notice and is certainly well worth revisiting now.
ANY
SPECIAL FEATURES?
Extras
include a brief doco on the making of featuring input from cast and
crew, doco Conquering the Pacific and trailers for other umbrella
titles.
