Dark Age (Arch Nicholson, 1987) wr. Sonia Borg, novel Grahame Webb; John Jarratt, Nikki Coghill, Max Phipps, Burnum Burnum, David Gulpilil, Ray Meagher; crocodile hunter after big croc, cf. Jaws; NT
Dark Age is Jaws in the Outback, a giant croc film, thus preceding Rogue (Greg Mclean, 2007) and Black Water (David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki, also 2007), and Black Water: Abyss(Andrew Traucki, 2020 maybe). What surprises me is that it stars none other than John Jarratt (who is also in Rogue, by the way). JJ’s stunning performance in the earlier Mclean film Wolf Creek (2005) together with the unbounded enthusiasm of his greatest fan, Quentin Tarantino, has now got Dark Age out of the archives and onto DVD.
Dark Age does not have quite the impact of Razorback, but it comes close. The emphasis on Aboriginal legend and tradition is interesting, and the ending is strongly conservationist. Stratton: 89.
Garry Gillard | New: 14 October, 2012 | Now: 2 April, 2020