Product Description

Rock superstar Mick Jagger makes his dynamic screen debut in this explosive tale from Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* director Tony Richardson. Based on the fascinating true-life story of the 19th-century Australian Armored Bandit, Ned Kelly is a powerful, action-packed adventure that thrillingly captures a bold and lawless era. When their mother is unfairly persecuted by police, Ned Kelly (Jagger) and his brother Dan earn money for her defense by selling homemade liquor. But what begins as a simple moonshine operation quickly escalates into a series of armed robberies, desperate pursuits and deadly confrontations. Soon, Ned finds himself revered throughout the country as a larger-than-life sagebrush hero even as the law closes in and prepares for an all-out war. *1963: Best Picture, Director, Tom Jones

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56385 in DVD
• Brand: JAGGER,MICK
• Released on: 2004-03-16
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 106 minutes

Amazon.com
Mick Jagger had one of his rare sizable acting roles, as the famed Australian outlaw, in this atmospheric biopic (remade in 2004 with Heath Ledger). The movie has the look and spirit of other Vietnam-era counterculture Westerns, with Irishman Ned Kelly a rebel against the unjust Establishment. Tony Richardson's direction has the free-for-all laxity of the era, though the general sense of mess is tidied up by the often stunning location photography by ace DP Gerry Fisher. What makes the film memorable is the soundtrack, a heavy portion of which is made up of Western ballads written by witty Shel Silverstein and sung by Waylon Jennings; elsewhere, the Amish-bearded Jagger croons "The Wild Colonial Boy." A charitable assessment of Jagger's performance would conclude that he brings an intriguing Pirandellian presence to the role; a more clear-eyed view would say that he simply doesn't have the acting chops to carry it off. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Grossly inaccurate
I'm an Australian and have been researching Ned Kelly for 25 years. I watched this film at the movies when it came out. It was terrible then, and is even more terrible to watch now. If you are interested in the Kelly Gang, there are some very good books: recommended "A Short Life" by Ian Jones. See if Amazon has it! It is a very accurate account of the life of Edward Kelly, which is more than I can say for this movie.

Good movie. Great soundtrack!!
Good performance by Mick Jagger as the out law Ned Kelly. Compelling story of the conflict between the poor Australians and the lordly English. The best part though is the music. Irish ballads by Mick Jaggger and ballads by Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristoferson make this worth buying for the music as well as the movie. The sound track is worth buying separately too.

the music is the thing
Okay so Mic Jagger was an odd choice to play Ned Kelly but so what? Before this movie came out most of the world didn't know who the Kellys were. Perhaps the movie made people decide to learn more which is why we now have at least two very good books on Ned Kelly's life. But this is supposed to be about the sound track and I'll get to that. Waylon Jennings was brilliant on this album. Every song moves the movie along and actually comments on the action on the screen. Once you hear it you'll never forget Blame it On the Kellys or Daddy Does His Ranching (Dad's a cattle thief) in the Evening.