Newcastle - You're Only young forever once

This film was shot on Super 16 (mainly because it is a common format for underwater surfing shots) and the film looks great on DVD. A blu-ray disc of "Newcastle Australia" is available in the U.K. but not here.In the U.S. and the U.K. Newcastle is marketed as a gay film. It is and it isn't. The teen surfer boys spend a lot of time in board shorts or less and make nice, blue-eyed, eye candy. The opening shot of Jesse, on a top bunk, opening his blue eyes to look out at the surf, is captivating. Then there is his darker fraternal twin. Fergus (Xavier Samuels), who is a goth, gay kid with a streak of color in his hair. The cover of the U.K. release has Fergus/Xavier front and center, with a note that he is to appear in Twilight: Eclipse. In truth, Xavier as vampire Riley in Eclipse is very different from Xavier the gay, meek Fergus of Newcastle.There is a lot of surf in the film, a lot of dysfunctional family dynamics involving Jesse's older brother who was a better surfer but did not handle the transition to adulthood well, and a lot of teen angst. When the boys and a couple of girls take off for a weekend in the dunes we see some naked boy butts and watch Jesse lose his virginity up close. It is clear that Fergus has a crush on Jesse's friend Andy. When, as odd men out, they pair up that evening, Fergus and Andy progress from stargazing to views on homosexuality to talk of masturbation. Eventually the older brother shows up with friends and ruins the beach party. (And the water changes in color from turquoise to steely blue - on purpose as we learn in the extras.)A lot has been made of the Fergus-Andy "gay" relationship. The gay director, Dan Castle, reportedly did not specifically see them as a gay couple, but had the two guys room together to bond, and told "Andy" to take the gay notion as far as he was comfortable. Australian men are not as chronically homophobic as are U.S. men, hence  Puppetry of the Penis: The Ancient Art of Genital Origami . Level-headed Andy is one of the few who do not make jokes ("Fagus') about Fergus. True, after the accepting Andy gives Fergus permission to "look" the two become close. And, since both are shown buckling up as if they had been up to something, perhaps VERY close. But why not, since Fergus has no other friends and Andy is accepting of Fergus. At one point towards the end of the film Andy is referred to as Fergus's "boyfriend," but it is clear that this is said in a friendly, loving way among friends. So I guess if you must consider Fergus and Andy to be a couple, by all means do. I doubt director Castle, will argue with you, since there is a market for fresh gay films.The film ends with the two brothers, Jesse and Fergus, swimming naked together at a beach that is not clothing optional. It is clear that they are completely comfortable with each other's nudity as they swim like dolphins around an underwater camera in sun-dappled water, and as they run naked through the neighborhood back to their granddad's place. (A deft hand on the controls show they really are running naked if that is your thing.) Of course Xavier Samuels is not gay. Fergus is.The Extras are worthwhile since they discuss the filming and the music. (One actor proved to be a talented musician as well.) The film is not perfect, but accomplishes what it set out to do: Sun, Surf, Skin.

I went into this movie with low expectations. I like watching gay movies, movies where there is interaction between 2 men. I read the other reviews, and knowing that this wasn't really a 'gay love' movie, I bought it anyways, out of curiosity. Some reviews stated that there was a lot of 'eye candy'; a lot of scenes showing men in swim suits. They were right. And, I am not even a surfer type of guy - not really into men surfing the waves. That being said, this movie had a lot of fabulous scenes! The photography that was shot in this movie was academy award material - A+++. I was so impressed with the photography!! Beautiful shots! I was absorbed into the men, and their love for surfing. The characters were beautiful, and they acted their roles extremely well. I thought it was cool, that in the background, there was always a fleet of anchored oil tankers - not sure why, but I thought it was really cool. I look forward to watching this again. One last note; This movie was released by Wolfe Video. 90% of the times, they always release the best in gay movies. When I saw 'Wolfe' on the dvd box, I thought to myself, that this can't be that bad of a movie if it is Wolfe. I was right. This was a really good movie to watch. Very highly recommended!!

There is a general warning in the product description saying this imported disc may not all or in part play on U.S. Blu-ray players. The warning doesn't appear to apply to this title. All features on the Blu-ray copy of the Newcastle: Australia disc I received functioned properly in my PS-3 and Oppo players. At least some of the extras are in interlaced standard definition but both players were able to provide a 1080p/60 output for those extras. You should be able to buy this product with the confidence it will play on a good Blu-ray player.Important to me, I got to see Newcastle for the first time at a private screening at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood where members of the cast and crew were present. In addition to liking the movie, it was exciting to watch their reactions to being on screen at a studio theater in Hollywood. A mostly new to the business cast doing well on their first outing.

Buy this film if you want entertainment in the form of a gorgeously photographed and staged Aussie surf movie. Full of very pretty people, lots of skin and sun and sand and deep blue water, it's reminiscent of "Endless Summer". The young, unknown Aussie actors are fun and since they were chosen for their surfing skills first, they're clearly comfortable on their boards.However, why this film is touted / marketed as an LGBT friendly picture is beyond me. Jesse's brother Fergus (referred to by Jesse's friends as "Fagus") is an allegedly gay character, but beyond a little almost-snuggle with Andy and some innocent banter about them both liking stars and astronomy, you'll never know for sure. The "gay" subplot in this film is beyond vapor thin and Fergus is stereotypically played as a shy, embarrassed goth-ish kid with black fingernails and constantly living in the shadow of his two very straight brothers. The main themes and scenes in the story are all about the straight boys and girls and, of course, the surfing.The movie's not all that bad. It's reasonably well written and fairly well acted. The cinematography is terrific - particularly the water and surf footage. All in all, it's a well crafted piece of cinema, but everyone's got to STOP referring to this thing as an LGBT movie just because it's released by Wolf.Buy it as an entertaining surf movie. Don't buy it as an LGBT movie.

Can only play on my computer. Won't work on my blue ray player as it is not for my region.

Der Film liefert beeindruckende Bilder: den Kontrast zwischen der Industriestadt Newcastle mit Stahlwerken und Werften, auf der anderen Seite Wellen, Strand und große Weite. Die Surf-Aufnahmen sind wirklich sensationell. Dazu immer wieder der fast schon surreale Blick auf die zahlreichen Kohlefrachter vor der Küste.Diesen Kontrast gibt es auch bei den Figuren: Auf der einen Seite die Leichtigkeit des Surfer-Daseins, nur Sonne, Strand und Wellen. Auf der anderen Seite eine ungewisse Zukunft, familiäre Probleme, Neid, nicht zu erfüllende Erwartungen.Der Film überrascht den Zuschauer immer wieder: Dinge, die man erwartet, passieren dann doch nicht und einfache Szenen bekommen ganz plötzlich eine dramatische Wendung.Sehr gut sind die Gefühle der Figuren herausgearbeitet. Im Verlauf des Films lernt man die verschiedenen Figuren kennen und versteht immer besser ihre innere Gefühlslage.Und wen die Gefühlslage nicht so sehr interessiert, der sollte sich den Film auch nur wegen der Surfaufnahmen anschauen...Anmerkung:Es handelt sich hier sicher nicht um einen Schwulenfilm, er war zumindest nicht so konzipiert. Homosexualtität wird zwar angesprochen (für die einen ganz normal, für die anderen eine Katastrophe), aber sie steht sicher nicht im Vordergrund. Der Film thematisiert eigentlich alle möglichen menschlichen Beziehungen (Männer, Frauen, Eltern, Kinder, Brüder, Freunde, Liebe, Sex...)Anmerkungen 2:Der Film hat englische Sprache (d.h. australisch) und englischen und deutschen Untertitel. Mit dem deutschen Untertitel ist der Zuschauer ganz schön gefordert: Das Australische verstehen, überlegen, wie das wohl in normalem Englisch heißen würde und schauen, wie denn die deutsche Übersetzung lautet...Also lieber den englischen Untertitel anmachen!

This film was shot on Super 16 (mainly because it is a common format for underwater surfing shots) so there is only so much improvement that you can expect in the blu-ray version of the film. That said, the film looks great.In the U.S. and the U.K. Newcastle is marketed as a gay film. It is and it isn't. The teen surfer boys spend a lot of time in board shorts or less and make nice, blue-eyed, eye candy. The opening shot of Jesse, on a top bunk, opening his blue eyes to look out at the surf, is captivating. Then there is his darker fraternal twin. Fergus (Xavier Samuel), who is a goth, gay kid with a streak of color in his hair. The cover of the actual Peccadillo blu-ray disc is not as pictured currently. It looks more like the  Newcastle - Australia [DVD] [2009 ] cover with Fergus/Xavier front and center, with a note that he is to appear in Twilight: Eclipse. Despite having his picture on the front cover, Fergus/Xavier is not the highlight of the film.There is a lot of surf in the film, a lot of family dynamics involving Jesse's older brother who was a better surfer but did not handle the transition to adulthood well, and a lot of teen angst. When the boys and a couple of girls take off for a weekend in the dunes we see some naked boy butts and watch Jesse lose his virginity up close. It is clear that Fergus has a crush on Jesse's friend Andy. When they pair up that evening, Fergus and Andy progress from stargazing to views on homosexuality to talk of masturbation. Eventually the older brother shows up and ruins the beach party. And the water changes in color from turquoise to steely blue - on purpose as we learn in the extras.A lot has been made of the Fergus-Andy relationship. The gay director, Dan Castle, reportedly did not specifically see them as a gay couple, but had the two guys room together to bond, and told "Andy" to take the gay notion as far as he was comfortable. Australian men are not as chronically homophobic as are U.S. men, hence  Puppetry Of The Penis [DVD] [2001 ]. Andy is one of the few who do not make jokes ("Fagus') about Fergus. True, after the accepting Andy gives Fergus permission to "look" the two become close. And both are shown buckling up as if they had been up to something. But why not, since Fergus has no other friends and Andy is not freaked out by Fergus. At one point towards the end of the film Andy is referred to as Fergus's "boyfriend," but it is clear that this is said in a friendly, loving way among friends. So I guess if you must consider Fergus and Andy to be a couple, by all means do. I doubt director Castle, will argue with you, since there is a market for fresh gay films.The film ends with the two brothers, Jesse and Fergus, swimming naked together on a beach that is not clothing optional. It is clear that they are completely comfortable with each other's nudity as they swim like dolphins around an underwater camera in sun-dappled water, and as they run naked through the neighborhood back to their granddad's place. (A deft hand on the controls show they really are naked if that is your thing.) Of course Xavier Samuel is not gay. Fergus is.The Extras are worthwhile since they discuss the filming and the music. The film is not perfect, but accomplishes what it set out to do. Newcastle - Australia [DVD] [2009Puppetry Of The Penis [DVD] [2001

こんなに酷評されているとは思いもしなかった･･･。（汗）　公開から一年以上、最近この映画の存在を知って大好きになり、即行DVDを購入しました。「サーフィン映画」というよりは、「人間模様」を描いた作品だと思います。　ただちょっと･･･描写力不足デスが。しかし、あの”主人公”ジェシーの描き方はヒド過ぎです。　あれでは「若者特有の苛立ち」というよりは、単に「自己中でイジワルな奴」にしか見えない。　だからとて、彼が人間的に成長する姿を描き切っているワケでもない。　この辺が観ている者に「この話は何が言いたい？」と思わせる原因だと思います。　一番重要なところなのに、とても残念。反面、双子の弟ファーガスは上手く描けています。　周りの人間にバカにされても、人を思い理解しようとする彼の姿は、徐々にジェシーにも影響を与えていきます。（ただ描写がイマイチ･･･）　断然、ファーガス側の話の方が面白いです。ファーガスが恋をしている”ジェシーの友達のアンディー”は、どこか優雅で、優しく、とても魅力的です。　多分、彼の雰囲気が”王子様”然としているのは、演出では無く演じているカーク・ジェンキンスに因るところなのでしょう。　美しい人です。　カークは俳優ではなく、プロサーファーです。　ビックリ！＆納得！　多々難有りの作品ですが、アンディーが最高に素敵だし、ファーガス＆アンディーの話もいい感じだし、若者の弾けている様も楽しい。　オーストラリアの風景も美しい。　音楽も最高！　などなど、単純に大好きな作品なので、星＝５！です。

Ich habe mir den Film spontan gekauft und ich wurde nicht enttäuscht.Er hält alles, was er verspricht. Viele Szenen auf dem Surfbrett, hübsche Jungs und eine Story rund um die Beziehung zwischen drei Brüdern.Gerade die Story hat mich positiv überrascht: Sie war tiefgründiger und komplexer, als ich es erwartet hätte, und wird dabei dem Genre des Drama durchaus gerecht.Der Film nimmt sich die Zeit um die Geschichte ruhig und stimmungsvoll zu erzählen.Natürlich hätte man einige Szenen/Aufnahmen kürzen können, ohne der Handlung zu schaden, aber darunter hätte die Stimmung des Films stark gelitten. So aber war ich nach 103 Minuten Film vollkommen zufrieden.Die Schauspieler leisten durch die Bank weg gute Arbeit, die Kameraführung ist gelungen.FAZIT: Ein schöner Film, ruhig erzählt, stimmungsvoll mit guten Aufnahmen.Kleiner Tip am Rande: Es lohnt sich am Ende des Films nicht gleich auszuschalten, sondern den Abspann noch anzusehen.