War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's

founding right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased

its size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. your host, James Early. Welcome to a special episode of Key Battles of World War I.

I'm James Early, your host.

This is another of a projected mini-series of episodes in which a distinguished guest and I

will discuss several of the best movies about World War I. In today's episode, we will discuss

the award-winning 1981 Australian film Gallipoli. My guest is fellow history fanatic in

World War I and World War II buff, Sean McIver.

Sean is also a co-host of the excellent podcast Come and Take It, which deals with all things Texas.

I strongly recommend that you check it out.

Sean is also a major movie buff, and I'm excited to have him with me.

How you doing, Sean? Doing well.

All right, great. So a little bit of introductory information about this movie and then Sean

will give you a little bit more and then we'll just jump right into the story and our commentary on it.

Gallipoli, as I mentioned, came out in 1981. This is actually the first one that Sean and I have done that I remember. I remember

when this came out. I was only 13, though, and it was rated R. I think it was rated R. So I didn't

even consider it. I just didn't really interest me I wasn't really that into

history at the time but at least I do remember it and it is one of the first movies in which

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