Good war movie

Rating: 10/10 (10 March 2015)

Crowe did a good job telling the story from the only point of view that matters to Gallipoli - the experience of ANZACS and Turks during and after Gallipoli. ANZACS and Turks were both unwilling participants in a brutal war started by imperialist and nationalistic goals. They paid dearly and in return got nothing, except each other's well deserved respect.
England, France, Italy, Greece, Russia, Armenians, Arabs, Slavs, and even the US (covertly) were allied against the Turks for the sole purpose of carving the Ottoman Empire among themselves. It was a war purely for imperialist and nationalist profiteering, with complete and utter disregard for humanity, justice, or the lives of Turks, or even their own people for that matter. But for Turks, it was much, much worse.
Is it so unfathomable that the Turks suffered more than anyone in WW1? But unsurprisingly, and callously, a lot of Turk haters are here using movie reviews to spread their propaganda. These are the people who ultimately lost to the Turks - Greeks and Armenians. They cannot move on like ANZACS and forgive the Turks - as Turks have forgiven them. They are still fighting their war. They are giving a movie low reviews based solely on their agenda, nothing more. It is sad.
It is as if nobody else in the world can have their own version of events that they were personally party to, or that Russell Crowe risked his career by telling his version that he based on his own research and the experience of his own nation. How dare he not consult the Armenians or Greeks! One thing for sure, this movie would never be made in Hollywood. If you look at some Armenian or Greek reviews, it's as if their version of events is some indisputable holy gospel, and Russell Crowe was bribed to tell lies by evil Turks - and that he put his career and reputation on the line just to serve a political purpose or greed. As if. If you see the movie, you will see his intentions are noble, not based on politics or greed.
Australians and Turks fought for nothing in that battle. They gave their lives for greed and treachery of others (Armenians and Greeks), and got nothing in return except pain and suffering. 100 years later, Crowe tells us, it was not for naught, but for a beautiful friendship forged on the battlefield, by blood, of a common pain, of consecration of new nations of their own, and of proving to the world what both were and are made of. Courage to fight, and to forgive.
Thank you Mr. Crowe for having the courage to stand up to bullies and liars (Greeks and Armenians) even if it was not your intention. Now, if Hollywood would start being more objective, we could have less hatred and more understanding in the world.
It is a great movie. And I give this movie a 10 because of the honor and courage it took in telling the story that nobody else dares to tell, because of fear from reprisals from the Armenian and Greek lobbies. Thanks again Mr. Crowe, you truly are a gladiator!
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
~ Mustafa Kemal Pasha - Ottoman Commander, Gallipoli.