Breaker Morant (1980)

Breaker Morant (1980), directed by Bruce Beresford.

Based an actual events, a courtroom drama about war crimes committed during the nasty Boer War in South Africa.

The director says that his point is not that the accused were innocent -- they weren't -- but that they had no fair trial and were railroaded by the British for political purposes.

Edward Woodward and Bryan Brown are fine as the tough, cynical soldiers who know the score. The kid is more innocent and tends to expect a bit more justice and decency from the generals and politicians.

Filmed in Australia. You get the feeling Aussies think they were badly used by the Brits in defense of empire; see Gallipoli (1981).

Available on Blu-ray. I saw this in the theater but it's been so long I can't remember what it looked like. The Blu-ray seemed very decent to me.

http://watershade.net/public/breaker-morant.jpg