NED KELLY

Year: 2003
USA: Universal Studios
UK: UIP (UK)
Cast: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Naomi Watts, Laurence Kinlan, Philip Barantini, Joel Edgerton, Kiri Paramore, Kerry Condon, Kris McQuade, Emily Browning, Rachel Griffiths, Geoff Morrell, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Saskia Burmeister, Peter Phelps, Russell Dykstra, Nick Farnell, Russell Gilbert, Brooke Harman, Molly McCaffrey, Tim Wright, Nicholas Bell, Anthony Hayes, Jonathan Hardy, Karen Davitt, Declan Simpson, Andrew S Gilbert, Jerome Ehlers, Robert Taylor, Warwick Sadler, Morgan Evans, Warwick Yuen, John Muirhead, Bernard Fanning, Eddy McShortall, Sharlene Yeh, Damian Walshe-Howling, John Davidson,Peter Forster, Chris Birt, Peter O'Shea, Nick Bourke, Christopher Baker, Brian Wray, Thea Gumbert, Gregan O'Leary, Chris Wilson, Graham Jahne, Clayton Jacobson, Cody O'Prey, Tasman Vaughan, Greg Saunders, Victoria Eagger, Peter Young, Jessica Hall, Sarah Pass, Monty Maizels, Alexander Ramsey, Samuel Shepherd, Dan Bourke, Anthony O'Neill, Paddy O'Neill, Steve Simmonds
Director: Gregor Jordan
Country: Australia
UK: 110 mins
USA Rated: R for violence and brief nudity
UK Certificate: 15 contains infrequent strong violence
USA Release Date: 26 March 2004 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 26 September 2003


Synopsis

Australia, 1880s. After a brutal childhood at the hands of the police and the subsequent death of his father, 16-year-old Ned Kelly is imprisoned on the trumped up charge of stealing a horse.

Emerging four years later, Ned is hardened but vows to go straight. He works as a farm hand on the estate of an English landowner, while making money on the side as a bare-knuckle boxer.

But the system is prejudiced against first-generation Irish immigrants, to the point that when a police officer assaults Ned's sister Kate, it is Ned and his mother who are charged with attempted murder.

Forced to go on the run, Ned is determined to avenge his family and strike back at a system that wrongs them all. He forms a gang with his young brother, Dan and two friends, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne. Together, they cut a trail through the Outback, holding up towns and robbing banks while giving the police the run-around.

Ned's reputation as an invincible outlaw grows. But while a folk hero to the masses; to the establishment, Ned Kelly is the most wanted man in Australia. When the authorities bring in the formidable Superintendent Hare and an army of police to catch Ned Kelly, Ned plans an extraordinary showdown at the Inn at Glenrowan. It is an event which will cement his status as the legendary revolutionary hero of the Australian underclass forever.