Attack Force Z | |
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Directed by | Tim Burstall |
Screenplay by | Roger Marshall |
Produced by | Lee Robinson |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Hung-Chung Lin |
Edited by | David Stiven |
Music by | Eric Jupp |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Roadshow Film Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Box office | $88,000 (Australia) |
Attack Force Z (alternatively titled The Z Men)[1] is a 1982 Australian-Taiwanese[2] World War II film directed by Tim Burstall. It is loosely based on actual events and was filmed in Taiwan in 1979. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 1981.
The film is noted for starring Mel Gibson and Sam Neill, who were relatively unknown in the US at the time but who went on to become international stars. The plot concerns Captain P.G. Kelly (Gibson), who leads a team from the elite Z Special Unit against the Empire of Japan during the Second World War. The film fictionalises the exploits of the Z Special Unit, which was also known as Z Force. It was a joint Australian, British and New Zealand commando unit. Its main brief was to conduct reconnaissance and sabotage missions throughout Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia.