I had no reason to care. And their spiritual journeys are as predictable as they are pat... It's all voyage at the expense of the voyagers, so lacks any moral power.

| Aug 30, 2018

... a placid, almost pleasant film, so reluctant to offend that it fails to engage.

| Feb 8, 2018

The man-versus-the-natural world story is in Weir's wheelhouse, and Harris and Farrell get into a scene-stealing duel. Worth the trek.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 12, 2016

An exceptional adventure story from one of the founding fathers of Australia's modern cinema.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 5, 2011

Visually, as with all Peter Weir's films, this is really outstanding and really quite memorable.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 24, 2011

Weir has always loved atmospheric locales and group dynamics, and here he makes the most of both

| Feb 18, 2011

Eventually the film itself is something of an endurance test, and not as rewarding as it hopes to be. But it's a worthy venture, earnest and well-produced and occasionally gripping.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 3, 2011

The abiding sensation, at the end, is one not of fulfillment but of exhaustion.

Full Review | Jan 31, 2011

he long stretches between stations make The Way Back an arduous road.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 31, 2011

The Way Back represents an exquisite example of style over substance, of vast visuals dwarfing the characters and nearly swallowing the story whole.

Full Review | Jan 28, 2011

The Way Back fails to connect on the all-important visceral, emotional level.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 28, 2011

The result is a film that seems simultaneously grand and skimpy. For all its faults, it's an honorable effort, though. I hope Weir doesn't wait seven more years for his next film.

| Original Score: B | Jan 22, 2011

Much like the group it chronicles the movie never relents, never stops and, more importantly, never gives up. It keeps moving forward, forward, forward, refusing to back down or give in no matter what sort of hardship or tragedy pops up along the way.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 21, 2011

The Way Back is fascinating until it becomes an ordeal.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 21, 2011

The overall metaphor Weir was aiming for - this idea of enemies so powerful and a war so menacing and confusingly big that no place seems safe except a place absurdly far away - comes through clearly and stays with you.

| Jan 21, 2011

The film largely misses its opportunities to reflect the enormity of communism, choosing instead the route of a conventional adventure yarn.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 21, 2011

Weir's movie is superbly made, but its fancy-dancing around history gives a hint of inauthenticity to a film that otherwise thrives on its reverence for historical detail.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 21, 2011

It's impossible not to cry at their suffering, but whether you'll feel anything is another story.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 20, 2011

There are exhilarating moments, and there are some undeniably tense scenes. Mixed in, however, is possibly more trudging than you're going to see in any other film.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 20, 2011

Whether it's true or not, this portrait of desperate, determined people surviving blizzards and dust storms and crossing mountains and deserts is a gruff and uplifting celebration of how much people can take and how much they value freedom.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 20, 2011