Clip description
Soldiers from the future and Jen-Diki cyborgs wage war in outback Australia, 1988. Annie (Nikki Coghill) and Ballard (Tom Burlinson) are caught in the crossfire. Ballard gains strength from his injured mentor, Sun-wah (Thye Liew Wan).
Curator’s notes
The Time Guardian featured the biggest science-fiction action sequences ever attempted in an Australian film. The visual effects supervisor was Andrew Mason, executive producer of The Matrix trilogy. The classic route of the hero is observed here. In the heat of battle, and at the moment he must prove himself, Ballard receives inspirational advice from his wounded mentor, Sun-wah. In similar surroundings, Ballard says the words immortalised by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cyborg in The Terminator (1984), ‘I’ll be back’.
