<em><strong>Archy: "We don't stop them there, they could end up here."</strong></em>
<em><strong> Camel Driver: "And they're welcome to it."
</strong></em><strong>-- GALLIPOLI, 1981</strong>

There are movies we remember, ones that stick with us because they move us so much. Many of those are war movies, because the issues at hand are so large and there is so much at stake.

Peter Weir's "Gallipoli" is one of the most memorable, particularly when you realize the 1915 battle it commemorates had nothing to do with Americans. On the other hand, the tragedy the ANZAC forces suffered there is the event that is given credit for truly creating a national identity for Australia and also for New Zealand.

In fact, April 25 -- ANZAC Day -- is considered a more important holiday in Australia than Armistice Day/Remembrance Day. Eric Bogle's wonderful song, "And the Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda,'" is incredibly poignant in describing a veteran who came home from Gallipoli maimed for life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI

Weir's movie focuses on only one part of the battle, the sacrifice made by ANZAC troops to protect the British landings at Suvla Bay. It has been called anti-English in its tone, but given what happened there it's difficult not to feel that way. Australian troops and New Zealanders were sacrificed so that fewer English troops would die.

I think it's actually more about the old definition of war as something in which old men sent young men to die. The characters of Archy and Frank, played by Aussies Mark Lee and Mel Gibson, are athletes who clearly want to live. Archy is more naive, a young patriot who doesn't see through the propaganda. One of the funniest moments in the film comes when Archy and Frank meet a camel driver in the middle of the desert.

Spouting an early version of the Domino Theory, he replies when the camel driver asks why Australia is at war with Germany by telling him that they were fighting in Turkey to keep the Germans from taking Australia. The driver looks around and sees nothing but desert in all directions and replies that they were welcome to it.

In Weir's film, war isn't about honor or glory. Rather it's a story of ignorance and waste. When wave after wave of ANZAC troops are cut down almost before getting out of their trenches, it's impossible not to despise the officers sending them to their deaths.

[caption id="attachment_1254" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The film&#39;s final shot"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Gallipoli.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1254" title="Gallipoli" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Gallipoli-300x204.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="204" /></a>[/caption]

And when Archy, who represents the very best of young Australia, comes out of the trench to do his duty at the end of the film, the pointlessness of war is stated almost perfectly.

There have been a lot of movies that call themselves anti-war but don't really measure up. Robert Altman's great comedy, "M*A*S*H," is a perfect example. The characters seem to be having so much fun that it's difficult to believe the Korean War wasn't a barrel of laughs.

But Weir's movie never hits a false note, from the opening scene where Archy recites his runner's mantra to the closing one where the same mantra sends him running to his death.

If you want a perfect example of the

&nbsp;