Based on anecdotes pulled from the real diaries of ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) who fought on the western front during World War I, primarily in the days and months after the Gallipoli campaign, this film follows a young man named Jim (Levi Miller) who leaves his family’s sheep farm in the Outback in Australia to fight on the front lines in the war to aid his countrymen in battle. When he arrives and is thrust into the cold, hard realities of trench warfare and the horrors of his fellow soldiers suffering and dying around him, he begins to regret ever leaving home. Will he be able to face his cowardice and become a hero or die like a dog in the mud?

When people think of the Australian contribution to World War I, inevitably Gallipoli is what immediately jumps to mind if anything at all. But in reality, in the wake of the Gallipoli campaign, ANZACS were routed to the western front and the Middle East to continue the fight, and these are some of the stories that Before Dawn seeks to tell. While the characters in this film are fictional, many of the situations are apparently based on real journal entries written by ANZACs on the front. What this does is show a more human face on the war. This isn’t a rah-rah, charge forth John Wayne pro-military piece but neither is it strictly a mass slaughter ‘war is Hell’ anti-war screed either. Much of Before Dawn focuses on a small group of soldiers and how they cope with circumstances beyond their control, living in the trenches, watching friends die and wanting to prove themselves but not being sure if they are capable. It’s melancholy and introspective at its core, showing us someone who wants to do good but whose actions often cause even more pain to those around him than if he had done nothing. As such, this isn’t an action film and those expecting one may come away disappointed. The film is clearly shot on a budget, but I feel like that gives it a scrappy quality that may have gotten lost in Hollywood gloss in other circumstances. From an acting standpoint, while much of the cast isn’t going to be winning Oscars for their performances, I feel like they acquit themselves pretty well with the standout being Myles Pollard as the “seen it all” jaded sergeant. Unfortunately there are times where the lack of budget is felt a little too much with some awkward green screen in particular. Still, it’s an admirable effort given the constraints placed on the crew.

While the cinematography itself is a bit sickly looking (perhaps intentionally to drive home the unpleasantness of the war experience), Well Go USA’s transfer is crystal clear and looks very clean with balanced saturation and well-calibrated black levels. On the audio front we get both a 2.0 Stereo and a DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The 5.1 mix in particular sounds very good with nice immersion across the channels, particularly during bombing sequences. The extras are on the light side, limited basically to a series of 1-minute ‘making of’ featurettes that are basically press kit pieces and a trailer. I would’ve liked to see a more extended behind the scenes feature or an audio commentary. I’m always interested to see how films on a budget are able to stretch a dollar.

While Before Dawn is constrained somewhat by its limited budget, the film still does an admirable job of shining a light on a lesser known aspect of World War I that has rarely been captured in film before. As usual, despite skimpy extras, Well Go USA has given us a very nice technical presentation on which to view this solid war flick.