The Best Movies Set in Australia

Ranker Film
Updated April 29, 2022 2.6k votes 474 voters 27.1k views
Voting Rules
Vote up the best major film releases in which Australia is a setting so important, it's nearly a character itself.

These are the best movies set in Australia, ranked from best to worst by user votes. Some of the top films set in Australia are full of action and adventure, while other great Australian movies are love stories. A few of the greatest movies set in Australia are pieces of multi-film franchises.

What films will you find on this best movies set in Australia list? Of course the original Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson, has to be near the top of any Australian film list. The first three films in this classic series were filmed around Australia, but the newest edition, Mad Max:Fury Road was filmed in Namibia. Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, is another engaging film set in Australia.

The 2013 movie, Tracks, finds Mia Wasikowska hiking across the Australian desert accompanied only by her animal companions. Other good movies that are featured on this top movies set in Australia list include Walkabout, Crocodile Dundee and Muriel's Wedding.

Which Australian film is your all-time favorite? Vote the best movies up to the top of this list and share some of your favorite Australian movie moments in the comments section.
Photo: Australia (FOX)
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  • Mad Max
    1

    Mad Max

    Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne
    145 votes
    • Released: 1979
    • Directed by: George Miller
    In a not-too-distant dystopian future, when man's most precious resource -- oil -- has been depleted and the world plunged into war, famine and financial chaos, the last vestiges of the law in ...more

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  • The Dressmaker
    2

    The Dressmaker

    Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth
    26 votes
    • Released: 2015
    • Directed by: Jocelyn Moorhouse
    Accused of murder when she was a child, a dressmaker (Kate Winslet) returns to her small Australian town to seek revenge on the locals who did her wrong.

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  • Gallipoli
    3

    Gallipoli

    Mark Lee, Mel Gibson, Bill Kerr
    108 votes
    • Released: 1981
    • Directed by: Peter Weir
    Archy (Mark Lee) and Frank (Mel Gibson) are two young Australian sprinters who want to join the army to fulfill their sense of duty. Turned down because they are too young, the pair hop a freight ...more

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  • Crocodile Dundee
    4

    Crocodile Dundee

    Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Blum
    156 votes
    • Released: 1986
    • Directed by: Peter Faiman
    A New York reporter heads to Australia to interview the living legend Mike Dundee (Paul Hogan). When she finally locates him, she is so taken with him that she brings him back with her to New York. ...more

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  • The Castle
    5

    The Castle

    Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry
    94 votes
    • Released: 1997
    • Directed by: Rob Sitch
    The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves -- with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail -- a few yards from the edge of Melbourne, Australia's busy ...more

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  • The Man from Snowy River
    6

    The Man from Snowy River

    Kirk Douglas, Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton
    72 votes
    • Released: 1982
    • Directed by: George Miller
    After the death of his father, proud young Jim Craig (Tom Burlinson) sets out to become his own man. Taking a job with horse rancher Harrison (Kirk Douglas), Craig is treated poorly by the more ...more

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