Reckless Kelly

Reckless Kelly
Reckless Kelly
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	April 1993
Label	Picture This
Singles from Reckless Kelly
	"Wild Thing"; Released: March 1993; "I Fought the Law"; Released: April 1993;

Reckless Kelly
Reckless Kelly
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yahoo Serious
Written by	Yahoo Serious; Warwick Ross; David Roach; Lulu Serious
Produced by	Yahoo Serious; Warwick Ross
Starring	Yahoo Serious; Melora Hardin; Alexei Sayle; Hugo Weaving
Cinematography	Kevin Hayward
Edited by	Lawrence Jordan
Music by	Anthony Marinelli; Tommy Tycho;
Production; company	Serious Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (though Roadshow Distributors)
Release date	8 April 1993;
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$20 million (est.)
Box office	A$5.4 million

Reckless Kelly is a 1993 Australian comedy film produced, written, directed and starring Yahoo Serious. It co-stars Melora Hardin, Alexei Sayle and Hugo Weaving. The story is a satirical take on a modern-day Ned Kelly, a famous Australian outlaw.

Plot

A modern-day Ned Kelly robs banks in Australia and gives all the money to the poor people. Ned is forced to go to Hollywood to make enough money to save his family's land. As it goes against his belief, he cannot simply rob banks there for his own benefit. Ned is forced to find another way to come up with the $1 million required to save his family island. That is when a movie producer shows up and gives Ned an offer he cannot refuse.

Cast

Yahoo Serious as Ned Kelly
Melora Hardin as Robin Banks
Alexei Sayle as Major Wib
Hugo Weaving as Sir John
Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Delance
John Pinette as Sam Delance
Bob Maza as Dan Kelly
Martin Ferrero as Ernie the Fan
Anthony Ackroyd as Joe Kelly
Max Walker as Newsreader
Willie Fennell as Mr. Arnold
Tracy Mann as Miss Twisty
Tyler Coppin as Hollywood Bank Teller
Lulu Pinkus as Hollywood Supermarket Checkout

Production

The film was financed by Warner Bros, Village Roadshow and the Australian Film Finance Corporation. Serious used many of the same key creatives he had on Young Einstein.^[3]

Reception

Neil Jillett, film critic for The Age wrote, "There are some good gags along the way, and a few of the plot's twists have an entertainingly surreal zaniness. But there is much heavy going too. Most of the messages Serious loads into the film—protect the environment, hate violence and banks, mock the British, go for a republic, sneer at American fads and religious hypocrisy—are presented with a smugness that was missing from Young Einstein".^[4]

Box office

Reckless Kelly opened at number one at the Australian box office with a gross of $2,036,224.^[5] It remained at number one for a second week and went on to gross $5,444,534 at the Australian box office.^[6]^[7]

Soundtrack

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Born to Be Wild" (by INXS)	Mars Bonfire	3:52
2.	"I Fought the Law" (by The Dukes)	Sonny Curtis	2:57
3.	"Wild Thing" (by Divinyls)	Chip Taylor	4:15
4.	"Awabakelly" (by Yahoo Serious)	Yahoo Serious Alan Dargin	1:18
5.	"Djäpana" (by Yothu Yindi)	Mandawuy Yunupiŋu	4:03
6.	"Ride" (by Mental As Anything)	Martin Plaza	3:16
7.	"Handle the Flame" (by Anthony Warlow)	Serious David Roach Tycha	2:32
8.	"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (by The Dukes)	Lennon–McCartney	3:03
9.	"Reckless Angles" (by Yahoo Serious)	Serious Tycha	0:39
10.	"From a Million Miles" (by Single Gun Theory)	Single Gun Theory	4:36
11.	"Faith" (by The Dukes)	Sean Kelly Geoffrey Stapleton	3:20
12.	"As You Like It" (by Steve Kilbey)	Kilbey	4:28
13.	"Bedazzled" (by Succotash)	Succotash	3:52
14.	"Reckless" (by James Reyne)	Reyne	6:06
15.	"Happy On My Way" (by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver)	Pete Pyle	1:59
16.	"Such Is Life" (by Yahoo Serious and Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra)	Serious Tycha	0:57
17.	"Handle the Flame (finale)" (by Anthony Warlow)	Serious David Roach Tycha	0:26

Charts

Weekly chart performance for *Reckless Kelly*
Chart (1993)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[8]	22

References

^ "Reckless Kelly (1993)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
^ "Reckless Kelly-Review". Ozmovies. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b Andrew L. Urban, "Yahoo Serious: Reckless Kelly", Cinema Papers, April 1993 p31-35, 72
^ Jillett, Neil (15 April 1993). "This Is Serious, Ned". The Age. Retrieved 6 January 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "International box office". Variety. 19 April 1993. p. 34. $1,466,081; $A1=$0.72
^ "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
^ "International box office". Variety. 26 April 1993. p. 38.
^ "Australiancharts.com – SOUNDTRACK – Reckless Kelly". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2025.

External links

Reckless Kelly at IMDb
Reckless Kelly is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
RECKLESS KELLY : 1ST RE-CUT VERSION (Australian video release) at the National Film and Sound Archive
RECKLESS KELLY : 2ND RE-CUT VERSION (U.S.A. film release) at the National Film and Sound Archive

[NYTimes_credits-1] "Reckless Kelly (1993)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2015.

[2] "Reckless Kelly-Review". Ozmovies. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[andrew-3] Andrew L. Urban, "Yahoo Serious: Reckless Kelly", Cinema Papers, April 1993 p31-35, 72

[4] Jillett, Neil (15 April 1993). "This Is Serious, Ned". The Age. Retrieved 6 January 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "International box office". Variety. 19 April 1993. p. 34. $1,466,081; $A1=$0.72

[6] "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2010.

[7] "International box office". Variety. 26 April 1993. p. 38.

[ac_Australia_SOUNDTRACK-8] "Australiancharts.com – SOUNDTRACK – Reckless Kelly". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2025.

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