maretteln
Early Russell Crowe flick that become popular again with the star's international celebrity status, Romper Stomper is the kind of film that will make you hate racism to your core. The movie makes you feel like getting an inside glimpse into the closed world of young skinheads of the late 20th century in Australia and it's good in that sense, yet it also lacks a balanced portrait as almost everything these young kids do, say or feel seem to be tainted with pure evil - there's too much black and white here, I think.
sol-
Frequently compared to 'American History X', this likewise is a tale of young skinheads and the hate-filled, violent lives they lead. The most obvious difference between the two films is the setting, with 'Romper Stomper' set in the streets of Melbourne, but this is actually a vastly different take through and through, location aside. Whereas the Edward Norton film centres on a skinhead reforming his ways, there are no such character progressions here. The film is extremely non- judgmental of the skinhead characters; there are no discussions of right and wrong with it instead left up to us to judge their actions for ourselves. Another nice touch is how intelligent and well-read Russell Crowe's character turns out to be, knowing Mein Kampf inside out, and yet we only get to know two characters aside from his in any depth. Fortunately, the are both intriguing: Jacqueline McKenzie who has joined the skinheads to escape sexual abuse and Daniel Pollock who acts circles around Crowe in a heartfelt turn as Crowe's only underling who begins to think for himself. More attention to McKenzie would have not gone astray; the atmospheric music score is also sadly often pushed into the backdrop to make way for less moody Nazi-themed songs. Generally speaking though, this is an interesting alternative to 'American History X', even if never quite as powerful.
gavin6942
A group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighborhood is changing.So this was Russell Crowe's breakout performance? Being a tough guy who beats people up? Sounds about right, at least as far as his image is generally concerned.I do not have much to say about this one. It lies on a plane somewhere between "A Clockwork Orange" and "American History X", with the racism turned against the Vietnamese rather than African-Americans. I know nothing about racial tension in Australia, so I cannot comment on this aspect -- I did not know they had a Neo-Nazi movement, even a small one.
Jackson Booth-Millard
Before he became the big star, the New Zealand born Australian raised actor had varied parts in just a few films, and later he would get the bigger role in The Quick and the Dead, then the lead in L.A. Confidential, and of course the Oscar for Leading Actor in Gladiator, so it was interesting for me to see one of his earliest leading roles, from director Geoffrey Wright (Cherry Falls). Basically a gang of violent neo-Nazi skinheads from Footscray, Victoria, Australia, led by Hando (Russell Crowe), with his friend Davey (Daniel Pollock) as second in command, are not afraid to express their racism by attacking anyone of the Asian community. Gabrielle 'Gabe' (Jacqueline McKenzie) joins them, not after being beaten up by her drug-taking boyfriend, who was hired to do the beating by her sexually abusive and rich father Martin (Alex Scott), and she and Hando form a close blond. The gang are joined soon by friends visiting from Canberra, and they find out their local pub has been sold to a Vietnamese Australian businessman, so they go and attack the owner's sons, and in the situation one of the Vietnamese youth phones for help from fellow community members. They outnumber the skinheads and surround their rented warehouse, but they manage to escape the chaos as the community break in and ransack and set fire to the place, so the skinheads retreat to another warehouse that has squatters. Hando convinces his fellow gang members that they should get revenge against the Vietnamese, starting with the purchase of a gun, and Gabe's suggestion is to burgle her father's mansion, as payback for the years of abuse, she also tells Davey she plans to get away with Hando from the violent lifestyle. Davey has doubts about his current lifestyle and leave the gang, and the same time Gabe dumps Hando, the two of them spend the night together, and she informs the police where the gang is, and the gang are hoarded by police, with the youngest skinhead shot dead, and the rest arrested. Hando was not there at the time though, and even though he does catch Gabe and Davey in bed together, he wants to convince his friend to stick by him, and he does, so they all go on the run, robbing a service station, and the leader strangling the Asian store owner to death. They stop on a beach, and the two male friends have a conversation where there is an argument about the girl, she meanwhile sets fire to the car and admits to them that she called the police. This enrages Hando and he chases her, trying to kill by drowning her in the sea, but Davey stabs him in the back of the neck with a knife, he dies, and Gabe and Davey hug together, while a bus load of Japanese tourists watch from above. Also starring Leigh Russell as Sonny Jim, Dan Wyllie as Cackles, James McKenna as Bubs, Eric Mueck as Champ and Frank Magree as Brett. Crowe gives a great performance as the leader of the gang, he is suitably the most unhinged of the characters, and the support of Pollock and Scott is terrific as well, the raiding of the warehouse is the most engaging scene, but many moments of disturbing exploits of skinhead violence and abuse get you gripped, there are good reasons to put this in the book of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, a good drama. Worth watching!
