Clocking in at 165 minutes, Baz and co. spin a mammoth yarn of cattle driving (or “droving” to use Aussie parlance), Aboriginal culture, "the stolen generations”, and the biggest armed conflict humankind has ever known.

And how’s this for a plot: posh Sheila Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) races from England to Oz suspecting her hubby is playing hide the didgeridoo with local ladies, but discovers his fate is far worse and she’s saddled with a ranch teetering between fortune and failure.

Mangy mongrel meat monopoliser King Carne (Brown) dispatches son-in-law and all-round no-bloody-gooder Fletcher (Wenham) to sabotage Sarah’s attempt to get the cattle to Darwin, so he can grab her land.  

Luckily, she’s joined by bonza bloke Drover (Jackman), friend to the Aborigine and saddled with a tragic past and muscles in his spit.

Together with a ragtag posse, including an Aussie drunk (the great Jack Thompson), and mixed race Aboriginal lad Nullah (Walters, also providing the hushed narration), they hit the plains.  But Carne, the Japanese, and the kid snatchers are never far behind.

Strewth mate, that’s a heck of a lot for a blockbuster to support, and Australia veers between Strictly Ballroom camp, Crocodile Dundee humour, and Lawrence of Arabia splendour.

But, the movie is proof that an average script – overcooked and over-complicated – can become a good movie through sheer directorial willpower and four X charm.

As unsubtle as Luhrmann's other films (The Wizard of Oz figures prominently) it remains unabashed entertainment pitched somewhere between the mysticism of Walkabout and the chutzpah of Priscilla – Queen of the Desert.

Intimate drama may not be Baz's forte - Jackman and Kidman’s chemistry crackles despite the characters they’re given – yet he remains king of the thunderous set-piece: Nullah’s near abduction by the coppers, a cliff-edged stampede, the Darwin bombing raid, and the climactic rescue of Aboriginal kids left for the Japanese all tick the box marked "thrilling".  

Man of the match is Jackman, keeping everything on track with an earthy, likeable performance – thank crikey humourless first choice Russell Crowe asked for too much money.

Three edits away from being a classic, the cynically inclined will be kicking Australia in the down unders. 

But this is huge rollercoaster fun and there’s little danger of going walkabout before the final fade.

Rob Daniel