Written Review by John Delia
“Some time. Some Place. Not far from now…” Anthony Hayes Screen Writer
A fight for life and greed is at the center of the action thriller Gold now on DVD. Nicely acted and filmed with a background of an unforgiving landscape, the movie has some incredibly challenging sets and scenes. The story setup comes quickly fleshing out each of the characters leading to the motivation for survival under the dire conditions.
After a long arduous trip hitching a ride in a railroad boxcar somewhere within Queensland, Australia, Man One (Zac Efron) arrives at his jump-off destination. It’s a small isolated outpost on the edge of a vast hardened desert. Man One addresses the outpost manager looking for his transportation that will take him across the desert to a work compound. Man Two (Anthony Hayes) arrives and they start their trip.
Halfway through no-man’ land there is a mishap with the car and Man Two stops alongside the road to fix it. Wandering off, Man One discovers a massive chunk of gold too big to pull out of the ground. So begins a story that will become an incredible attempt at survival for a chance to become the richest man in the world. Director and co-writer Anthony Hayes makes his film cunning, compelling and violent as Man One has to ward off wild dogs, an intruder and the desert elements while keeping guard over the gold.
The acting by the cast of Zac Efron, Susie Porter and Anthony Hayes is very good. They make their characters believable, hardened and vicious in their quest for the gold. You will not recognize Zac Efron in the film as the downtrodden beat up worker at the end of his rope. The make-up ages his character, masks out his handsome face and turns him into a greedy opportunist.
As the driver and new found partner in the massive gold nugget Man Two, Hayes pushes the envelope. He’s a conniver that will go out of his way to use Man One’s unawareness to help himself to a chance at half the of the expected riches. Then there’s the unexpected Stranger played by Susie Porter. Coming across Man One while hiking, she becomes suspicious of what he may be hiding. Porter has 72 acting credits to her portfolio and she shows it as the very unpredictable Stranger.
Bonus feature on the DVD:
“Making of Gold” a 16 minute tell all on how the film came about and was filmed under the toughest conditions.
Gold has been rated R by the MPAA for language and some violent content. For those who like a very good survival action thriller with some excellent twists, this film merits 4 out of 5 stars.
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Zac Efron, Susie Porter and Anthony Hayes
Directed by: Anthony Hayes
Genre: Action, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for language and some violent content
Running Time: 1 hr. 36 min.
Video Release Date: June 14, 2022
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: 2.0 Stereo/5.1 Surround
Video: Anamorphic
Subtitles: English CC
Distributed by: Screen Media
Released on: DVD