★★★★★ 0/5

Underbelly 3 “flat out terrific”

The Australian's Graham Blundell has given Underbelly: The Golden Mile the thumbs up.

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The Australian’s Graham Blundell has given Underbelly: The Golden Mile the thumbs up.

Referring to the drama as “flat out terrific” he notes that watching it brings “a mixture of horror and fascination.”

“The first episode, which establishes the Ibrahim gangster plot, seems initially like a circus: an arrangement of high-octane violent acts and comic high-jinks. It opens on a parade of nut cases, screwballs, bloodied psychos, drug dealers, brothel keepers, call girls and cops straight and bent. Their names flash up on the screen to the full-on accompaniment of a big band-pop mashup version of Puttin on the Ritz,” he writes.

“Once it settles, there is an almost calculated restraint about the way the program is presented, offering viewers a chance to think hard about the stories, the different worlds they present and the ideas that underlie the drama. And for all the chaos it depicts, the series is very tidy; within the confines of its tawdry world everything that happens does so for a purpose.”

He also comments on “so many broken scenes, short-cut moments and incidents linked by narration and Burkhard Dallwitz’s brilliant musical score that the first industry joke about the show is to call it Underbelly: The Golden Montage” (could that be the same joke made here?).

You can read his review in full at The Australian.

12 Responses

  2. An expensive series with stunt casting and scripts glorifying the criminal activities. Doesn’t mean it won’t be good. Just wish people stopped cannonising the scummy underworld. Would be more entertaining if they weren’t on the payroll as consultants and the stories were told for real. Sadly they’d sue and it wouldn’t be able to go to air.

    1. Guys please stay on topic. I’m not looking for my site to become drawn into any internet war. Editing of comments, alas, also takes place here for a range of reasons, all of which are covered under Comments Policy. Most of them are transgressions of legal, links, shouting, language or attacking other readers. That said, there is a difference between a public messageboard and a blog by one writer.

      TV Lounge is available for general comments, but I would request to be mindful of drawing this site into any kind of site battles thanks.

      So back to Underbelly….

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