this film is worth seeing for those who want to see what mick jagger looks like when sporting an abe lincoln beard . the rock and roller is asked to carry the film as the action antihero of australian legend . . . ned kelly , the so-called robin hood of the aussies . but he fails to be convincing , in my opinion he is better suited to play gene kelly than ned kelly . the film opens to a b/w prologue of ned kelly bravely going to his execution . then it goes to technicolor and ned is seen in what goes for flashback , coming home from jail after a 3-year sentence to see his mom and reacquaint himself with the large kelly family . this scene is set in 1871 . in the background we hear the booming voice of waylon jennings , as he sings shel silverstein's lyrics , which tells -- of ned's hatred for the british rule and hope for ireland to be a republic . ned says a debt must be paid . . . as he hears voices from his dead father , his class-divided country , and his conscience , all telling him to get revenge . so begins ned's romp through australia's outback , seeking justice for all the wrongs his people have suffered . he begins by stealing horses , after complaining about the unfair tax law on horses that stray , which favors the rich landowners . when he's only 20 he forms a gang , causing him to hide the rest of his life from the police , who put a price on his head of two thousand pounds . when ned's mother ( clarissa kaye ) is jailed on a false charge of abetting criminals and sentenced to 3-5 years , ned offers to surrender in exchange for his mother's freedom . when the authorities refuse , the kelly brothers go on a robbing rampage , burning mortgages of the poor found in postal vaults and murdering some soldiers . rampaging through the outback , they gather sympathy among the poor and lower classes , who don't trust the traps ( police ) . spoiler to follow in the next paragraph . in the climax , kelly and his gang plan to ambush a train with british police , but someone kelly trusted tips the police on the train and kelly is trapped in a saloon and captured . ned's brothers commit suicide rather than be taken alive . but kelly's gang escapes , as ned heroically has the police go after only him and his brothers , as they become decoys . this was a flat presentation , hardly touching an emotional button on what all the fuss was about over ned kelly's call for justice . jagger didn't have a prayer in succeeding in this dry script offered by ian jones and tony richardson . the story failed to focus on australia , seemingly a more british film than australian . under richardson's lackluster direction , all jagger seemed to do , was proclaim his innocence and vow revenge , which soon became a shrill cry . if you want to see a better film about ned kelly , catch " mad dog morgan " ( 76 ) , a much truer and more daring version , with dennis hopper giving a much better characterization of ned kelly's madness , something this film could only do in a ho-hum manner .
