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Colin Friels, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Caitlin Stasey, Deniz Akdeniz, Lincoln Lewis ... see more see more... , Phoebe Tonkin , Ashleigh Cummings , Christopher Pang , Andrew Ryan

Tomorrow When the War Began is a pulse-pounding action thriller that follows the journey of eight high school friends in an Australian coastal town whose lives are suddenly and violently upended by an... read more read more... invasion that no one saw coming. Caitlin Stasey stars as 17 year old Ellie Linton, a precocious teen who leads her best friends including Corrie (Rachel Hurd-Wood) and Kevin (Lincoln Lewis) to an isolated, deep in the woods camp site named 'Hell.' Upon returning, they come to grips with the fact that their country has been overrun by a mysterious, invading army. When the hostile armed forces become alerted to the presence of the teenagers, Ellie and her friends, along with a new recruit (apathetic stoner Chris Lang, played by Andrew Ryan) - must band together to escape, outwit and strike back against the mysterious enemy that has seized control of the their town and imprisoned their friends and loved ones. -- (C) Freestyle

Flixster Users

62% liked it

8,323 ratings

Critics

64% liked it

55 critics

R, 2 hr.

Directed by: Stuart Beattie

Release Date: February 24, 2012

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Scoping out the prison camp 2moro when the war began Caitlin Stasey Explosion Cast
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Flixster Reviews (994)

  • superclerk25
    March 19, 2012
    superclerk25
    I love the concept and execution of the novel but there were times when I could tell this was created from a young adult series of books. While Red Dawn didn't hold back when it came to the reality of the risk the characters put themselves in this one seems to shy away from it. I... read moret's a great start to what could be a great series of films.
  • kiriyamakazou
    March 16, 2011
    kiriyamakazou
    A film about teenagers at war. However, these aren't REAL teenagers in a REAL war. This is all fictional crap, leaving our protagonists as self-obsessed prats, that will chat about kissing boys when they are in the middle of blowing up a bridge. The film is just a teenagers fanta... read moresy. Dumb-ass teenagers will come out hoping a war will break out soon. They are able to take out highly trained soldiers, which have just seized a developed country. It doesn't make sense, and this lack of sense leads to huge shifts in tone which collide traumatically. There's some slapstick humor, quickly followed by insane rants about the nature of the soul and life. Even after just 45 minutes these rants come across as out of character. The tension is non-existent. In the right hands, a film like this could have had be biting my finger nails, instead I was clipping them due to boredom. The film also muddles its themes. Is it against war or not? Perhaps this is due to the characters having to muse on such complex questions, but then it all hangs on whether or not the dog will live. A short and subtle moment where Ellie sees a painting of Aborigines doesn't raise any interesting discussions. Instead, they find a bullet-proof rubbish truck and have a high speed chase. Like a child trying to get involved in a debate with an educated adult, this is interesting to watch at first, but ultimately embarrassing.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    February 21, 2011
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "What does your instincts tell you?
    That it's time to go to war."

    When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight unlikely high school teenagers band together to fight.

    REVIEW
    ... read more>
    The gaps in logic in this film are glaring as we see scene after scene of exaggerated actions coming into play to force scene conclusions that are supposed to guide the plot dramatically, bridges that should be building audience confidence in their immersion into a relationship with each of the characters as well as with the narrative itself. The author seems to me to be the major part of the failure of this film to deliver anything close to a well-done film project. But that also must include the main production executives who also made the decision to allow an apparently film industry novice to make such important decisions on how to take from a piece of literature the obvious thematic merits that this film so sadly tries to demonstrate to the audience. Things like the struggle for adolescent courage, morality, ethics, etc.. Sometimes what comes to us in words cannot easily be translated into the abstract aspects that reside in film where our eyes can see the process and we interpret what the eye sees and we make decisions concerning the meaning. It was like I was watching a child make decisions about how to go about the intellectual translation process. I found myself getting angrier and angrier at the consistent lack of cohesion between abstract concepts and their concrete imagery that exists in the film because of the lack of understanding about this basic concept taught in film school. It created a terrible embarrassment in me for the people responsible for this project and the characters in the film as they were being turned into puppets where the audience must fill in the gaps of movement imaginatively because of the essential nature of puppeteering where movement cannot flow realistically. Thus we have characters who do things that people living the contexts in which they find themselves would not and should not do realistically because the mind does not flow that way, nor does the body. I have tried to give a review where there are no spoilers and have used "Red Dawn" as my metaphorical device that one can use to compare and contrast what is good and what is bad in a similar plot and in the production process of a similar project. If you want to analyze this film, I suggest watching "Red Dawn" first. I hope this helps, not to make a choice on whether or not to watch this film, but to understand from where its flaws come.
  • c0up
    November 11, 2010
    c0up
    'Tomorrow When The War Began'. Some cheesy dialogue and a few cliche moments, but decent action and suspense made it quite enjoyable
  • deano
    September 19, 2010
    deano
    Great Australian action film with the version of 1984's Red Dawn. The action scenes are generally exciting as well as Ellie (Caitlin Stasey) and Homer's (Deniz Akdeniz) character growth is strong and impressive, impressive enough to carry the film past its problems.
    From t... read morehe striking aerial shot of the enemies' nocturnal invasion to the final bridge assault, director Stuart Beattie handles the action with giddy zeal. High-speed chases and frenetic machine gun battles rage in some of the most picturesque parts of New South Wales. This is the biggest Aussie action film since Max Rockatansky went beyond Thunderdome.
    Surprisingly - for the man who wrote Collateral and a pirate's swag of Hollywood blockbusters - Beattie seems more at home behind the camera than pushing his pen. For a film based on such an intriguing central conceit, the script is adequate at best. There is no spark in the teen banter and it threatens to derail the film early on.
    Tomorrow, When the War Began also isn't helped by the delivery from his young, inexperienced Soapie cast. Only Rachel Hurd-Wood shows signs of character development as Ellie's BFF Corrie. The rest of the teen underdogs are mere cyphers designed to win over the film's transparently targeted demographic.
    Luckily the set pieces win the day, aided by shattering sound design and breathtaking cinematography.
    I hope to look forward for the sequels with the same director and the rest of cast because that proved a massive hit at the box office in Australia.
  • Peandpi
    April 17, 2012
    Peandpi
    It's an interesting concept executed badly. The movie will be over before you ever feel like it has begun thanks to nothing much ever really happening. The script is terrible at time but the actors do well with what they have to work with. It ends with with the hope of a sequel w... read morehich probably wont happen which cheapens the entire movie. Its a shame, Tomorrow when the war began could have been a great film with global success, but that will never be...
  • John2223
    March 6, 2011
    John2223
    ¨Tomorrow, When the War Began¨ a good start to a new adventure/war movie franchise from Australia. It is all around a solid film with a very good script, good actors, direction and decent action scenes and thrilling moments all of which comes together in quite a neat little packa... read morege.
    Looking forward for the next two sequels>>>>>
  • chadroesti
    September 18, 2010
    chadroesti
    Pretty good, a good attempt at copying Red Dawn. Most of this first movie is the set up of the kids getting together and the beginning of the occupation of Australia. Looks like they are tying to make this into a trilogy which I bet, with the interest showing here and all the f... read morereaking advertising, that they will be big hits in Australia.

    The acting is pretty good, the story is semi-believable, and the lines are not corny as you would expect. I will definitely watch the sequels.
  • stephenesq1
    May 16, 2012
    stephenesq1
    I'm really giving this a 4.25, but 4 stars seemed like it would be underrating the film. Tomorrow, When the War Began is a great screen adaptation of the bestselling Australian book series by John Marsden. This film is a good mix of suspense and action that any viewer can find ... read moreenjoyable. Really, it's Red Dawn set in Australia...and there's nothing wrong with that, because Red Dawn is amazing!!
  • brentage5000
    April 16, 2012
    brentage5000
    Although it is based on a YA book series (as most everything seems to be these days), there are some definite similarities to Red State, the american "teenagers waging a guerilla war in their invaded homeland" movie (and it's unfortunate remake, natch). That being said, each of t... read morehe seven leads does a great job, giving solid performances worthy of pretty much any movie. There's rarely a moment that the post-occupation atmosphere isn't fully realized, and their nervous distracting chatter about who's kissing who and such actually felt pretty genuine, as a way of keeping them from thinking too much about the fact that they could die at any moment (much like real soldiers will make plans for when they strike it rich back home). On that point, the script is very serious, never losing sight of the fact that these are still teenagers waging war with their own viewpoints on the situation, rather than a group of specially trained black-ops mercenaries as some reviewers below seem to forget they're not. The ending is extremely open, leaving things very up in the air for the characters should the production team get clearance to film the rest of the series. Even if they don't, the open ending still works well, showing that these kids aren't goping to save everything all at once and that they are still humans prone to failing, making this one excellent film by the time it's all over.

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Critic Reviews

Bill Goodykoontz
February 23, 2012
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Just fast-moving fun, enough so to gloss over its shortcomings. Full Review

Megan Lehmann
September 6, 2010
Megan Lehmann, Hollywood Reporter

Australia may finally have a homegrown blockbuster on its hands with the terrifically engaging Tomorrow, When the War Began, an action-packed war film for and about teenagers. Full Review

Philip Martin
April 29, 2012
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

...despite the R-rating, this isn't really a movie for grown-ups, Tomorrow When the War Began can't be completely dismissed as a teen movie either. It's a curious thing, with sleek, fluid action set p... Full Review

Burl Burlingame
February 23, 2012
Burl Burlingame, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

"Tomorrow" is less realistic than "Red Dawn," if you can wrap your head around that without making it pop off. Full Review

Jeff Shannon
February 23, 2012
Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times

You know the drill: A small group of unsuspecting adventurers wanders into danger, and not all of them will get out alive. Full Review

Bill Gibron
February 23, 2012
Bill Gibron, Filmcritic.com

a nice combination of high school angst and blockbuster action Full Review

Mike McGranaghan
February 23, 2012
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat

This is a movie that packs in a lot of very cool action while still addressing its themes intelligently. It's one to seek out. Full Review

Dustin Putman
February 23, 2012
Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com

Quite a crafty genre mash-up that deserves to find an audience. Full Review

Brian Orndorf
February 22, 2012
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com

Undeniably entertaining, but also profoundly silly, making Red Dawn look like a documentary by comparison. Full Review

Calum Marsh
February 21, 2012
Calum Marsh, Slant Magazine

So full of stock types and clichés it makes The Breakfast Club look like Nashville. Full Review

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