User reviews

A charming, oddball documentary that charts the progress of an invasive species of Central American toad across Northern Australia and the experiences of the townspeople it encounters along the way.

Introduced to Queensland in the 1930s in an attempt to alleviate the blight of the cane beetle which was ravaging the crops of the regions' sugar cane farmers; the cane toad, in a manner all too painfully predictable, manifestly failed to live up to its billing as miracle cure for the farmers' ills, but rapidly became a fast spreading pest in its own right.

Mark Lewis's film traces the history behind the original introduction, and then follows the invading force, mile by mile, and year by year, in its unstoppable march across the continent, whilst intercutting the stories of a cross-section of experts, officials, and shall we say... "locals" caught up in its path.

If all this sounds like a job for the David Attenborough, that's understandable, but you'd be missing the point. There is real environmental science to be learned here, to be sure, but Cane Toads: The Conquest treads this ground lightly, offering an easily digestible sprinkling of facts that could comfortably be crammed into a fifteen minute PowerPoint session. What it delivers in spades is an understated, blackly comic mix of horror parody and absurdist social docu-drama as we meet the wonderful parade of folks who paint them, stuff them, pet them, curse them with Old Testament wrath and launch them from home made rockets!

Sometimes fascinating, and frequently funny, this is less a film of amphibious analysis and more an affectionate portrait of Australians in all their eccentric glory.

If you want to know about the infamous Cane Toad and its invasion of Australia, have I got a documentary for you! "Cane Toads: The Conquest" is wonderfully written, very interesting and has a nice sense of humor--exactly what the layperson would want in such a film. Sure, top-notch researchers from around the globe might not enjoy it as much because it is all 'sciency', but it is very well done and worth your time. The film follows the insane rationale behind the dreaded amphibian being deliberately released in the country as well as the inextricable spread of the creature. In addition, the film interviews lots of folks--some which hate the things and a few weirdos who actually think the Cane Toad is pretty neat (why, I have no idea). Overall, the show has a nice balance of humor, information and entertainment and it's well worth seeing.

I've watched this a few times. You've got the extreme anti toad folk and the cane toad sympathisers but inbetween the humour from the two 'wings' are the frustrated politicians, farmers and pet owners. It's hilarious and tongue in cheek but at the same time gives a fascinating insight into how Australia became inundated with an animal that can survive even the harshest of conditions. Fantastically done.