A fine movie. Not a masterpiece, because such movies are non-existent; consequently, I don't go looking for such a thing. My test is that if a movie reaches or exceeds my expectations, it succeeds. In my book, this beats "The Hurt Locker" hands down-- which may not mean anything to those who disliked that Oscar winner. Perhaps foolishly, because of the Oscar hype, I had expectations of THL which were not met. So it failed. "Beneath Hill 60" does not. It's more realistic, more accurate, more tension-filled, and not at all pretentious. No need for me to repeat the plot outlines that others have mentioned. But I will declare that the above-ground battlefield and underground scenes-- the wet, the mud, the cold, the misery-- are amazing for their reality. And they were shot mostly in tropical north Queensland.

This is a great, sturdy film relying on good acting and story telling.

There is nothing to get too excited about in the way of action or affects but the story is engaging and the characters feel very real and it is easy to empathise with them.

The 'war is hell' motif is there but isn't forced down your throat.

Production is high and the battlefield scenes look very real and the director made a great decision not to shoot everything in pitch blackness.

I don't know how accurate the film is but the events are definitely plausible.

Not quite Friday night material but definitely worth a watch.

"Beneath Hill 60" is about an Australian military company that dug a mine beneath the German position known as Hill 60 in order to detonate a cache of explosives. The operation was led by a mining man named Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell).

This movie was an atmospheric one, meaning the setting and the conditions of the setting established the mood. It was always dark, muddy, and dreary. Pretty much what war is. There was very little action which made the little action there was more poignant. The movie moved slow at times and could've benefited from some trimming. It was based upon true events and real people, and you could see they were trying to recognize Oliver for what he'd done.