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Travis Fimmel’s ‘Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan’ Movie Trailer Released

By Rachel Tsoumbakos
Published on: 12:24 PST, Apr 23, 2019

As Australia prepares to remember the fallen during ANZAC day, the trailer for a movie delving into the untold story of the Battle of Long Tan has been released.

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, which has an official release date of August 8, stars Australian actor Travis Fimmel, who is better known for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in History Channel’s Vikings. Fimmel plays the role of Major Harry Smith, the man who commanded the ANZACs involved in the Battle of Long Tan.

Alongside him, Danger Close also stars Luke Bracey, Alex England, Daniel Webber, Richard Roxburgh, Nicholas Hamilton, Anthony Hayes, and Lincoln Lewis.

The official synopsis for Danger Close is below.

“One late afternoon in 1966, in a Vietnamese rubber plantation, 108 young and mostly inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers held off a force of 2500. This is their untold story.”

Of those 108 ANZACs, three soldiers were from New Zealand, the remainder Australian men. While the odds were ever against them, as shown in the heartbreaking trailer below, at the end of the battle, only 18 ANZACs lost their lives. In addition, approximately 500 Vietnamese soldiers died.

Danger Close has been a long-anticipated project from producer Martin Walsh. Initially, he came across the story after reading Lex McAulay’s book The Battle of Long Tan and became frustrated at the lack of teaching in Australian schools about the Vietnam War.

As a result of this, and with no filmmaking experience, Walsh set about bringing the story to the big screen after hearing that several veterans were also considering publishing their own stories regarding the Battle of Long Tan.

Initially, a documentary was developed and sold to Australian broadcaster Foxtel. However, the story would not settle in Walsh’s mind and he was determined to introduce a wider audience to the event which occurred during the Vietnam War.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Danger Close was filmed at the Gold Coast hinterland in Australia.

“We did consider Vietnam but it was politically sensitive and problematic,” said Walsh.

During production, Travis Fimmel met with the man he is portraying in Danger Close, Lt. Col. Harry Smith, when Fimmel attended the Wooroolin Anzac Day Service last year in Queensland.

According to ABC Australia, when questioned about Fimmel portraying him, Smith found it rather amusing.

“I suppose when I look back I was an eligible bachelor as well as a 33-year-old in 1966 at the time of the battle, but it’s a long time ago,” Smith said.

While the trailer for Danger Close was initially set to be released on ANZAC Day, the movie’s official Instagram account actually released it a day early. The trailer was also broadcast early on Australia’s Sunrise program.

You can view the official new trailer for Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan below.

Danger Close will be released in theaters on August 8, 2019.

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