Romper Stomper (1992)

Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Romper Stomper is an early film starring (now international) star Russell Crowe. This indie Austrailian flick is a brash and gritty tale of neo nazi skinheads that terrorize the Asian immigrants in Melbourne. I have heard Romper Stomper described as A Clockwork Orange with skinheads. That description is pretty accurate. The film is much like the subculture that this is about. It is very chaotic, violent, gritty and nihilistic. Crowe gives one of his best performances as the leader of the skinhead gang Hondo. He is hard as nails and is very brooding, intense and intimidating. Russell Crowe brings it big time in this very intense, rough and tumble film. The portrayal of these youths does not glorify their actions,nor does it condemn them outright. Although it does show the consequences for their hateful and violent actions. Romper Stomper is much more authentic than and I prefer this to American History X(which also is a good film, but way different). It is no surprise that Romper Stomper has become a cult classic, it is a very good film and has aged well.

In the decaying urban squalor of Melbourne's back streets a gang of racist Skinheads live out a crude existence of nazi-rock parties, heavy drinking, and brutal assaults on immigrant youth. Led by psychotic neo-nazi Hando, the gang comprises Davey (his best mate), Bubbs (the underage mascot), Sonny, Cackles, Brett, Champ and Luke, along with their female 'camp-followers' of two dubious Goths and some tough-talking Skin-Girls. Several scenes (one presumes intentionally) eerily remind of "A Clockwork Orange" which adds marvellously if not chillingly to its overall tone, although the film is otherwise a piece of no holds barred realist cinema.When Gabe, a lost soul and deeply troubled young woman, strays into a back-street pub claimed by the gang as their hangout, the subtle cracks in the dynamics between Hando and Davey gradually unfold. As no-less a violent and unrelenting racist as Davey is, he is evidently a gentler more mild personality than Hando, and is to a large extent in Hando's shadow. As Gabe gets it on with Hando becoming the gang's latest auxiliary, Davey is smitten and his interest is not lost on Gabe, who for her part at least encourages his attention…if not craves it.Then a vicious attack on two immigrant men, which starts as an impulsive act of 'political activism', becomes the beginning of the end for the Skinhead gang and for the relationships between Hando, Davey and Gabe. After a terrifying mass fight against an overwhelming mob of Vietnamese men, which towers leagues above anything I've seen in any other 'gang film' and which arcs the entire middle of the movie, the Skinheads end up well and truly on the run. Resorting to basic human instincts and no longer able to conceal their worst personal defects (or in Davey's case, his affections for Gabe), the remnants of Hando's gang try to survive the dire circumstances their actions have brought upon them, and as they continue a catalogue of lawless deeds against those perceived as their enemies, the proverbial time-bomb continues to tick. One by one they fall, as Hando's once iron grip slips to sub-gutter (quite literally in one scene) leadership, forcing Davey to abandon his 'idol' and attempt to go it alone. With a tragically magnificent finale, this is a timeless story which delves into the raw and ugly of our times.

It's hard to imagine many times when you actually think to yourself, 'Hey... I really fancy sitting down to watch a film about Nazi skinheads, beating up people they perceive as different.' However, just because the subject matter is pretty distasteful, doesn't mean that the film's that bad.Naturally, a lot of people claim that this film is 'racist propaganda' and refuse to watch it. However, after spending just over ninety minutes in the company of these 'Hitler worshipping' Aussie thugs, I can't see that their lifestyle would come across as very appealing to anyone – even the very impressionable among the audience. You could hardly want to be like these guys.The other thing 'Romper Stomper' is remembered for is Russell Crowe's performance as the main skinhead character. He does play him well – scarily well. It's amazing that he was able to build what became quite a diverse career on his angry, monotone performance here. Russell and his crew spend their days hunting down 'non white' residents who they're convinced are bringing down the neighbourhood and taking it away from the 'natural' white race. And, when they're not hitting other people, they're also hitting each other while jumping up and down to 'shouty' type skinhead music, spouting the wonders of 'bald-headed fighting men.' Just like 'Trainspotting' was a film about undesirable junkies, this is a film about undesirable skinheads. Neither tells you to behave like those on screen, but both offer a world into a (thankfully) niche group of people and the way they live their lives. You certainly don't have to like what to see to enjoy the film. Just be thankful you don't have Russell and co living next door to you.

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!