From the 3rd episode of David Stratton's take on Australian cinema, his notorious review of Geoffrey Wright's 'Romper Stomper.' You can read all about the movie, and the controversy, here: www.ozmovies.co...
My most enjoyed film of all time! There is a problem in society and the film shows this. Russell crowe was amazing. Yes it's a masterpiece. RIP Davey xxxx
Definitely. He would have been one of the greatest actors in Australia, and in my view, world have achieved worldwide fame. If he'd lived to see the screening of Romper Stomper, perhaps it would have helped him. Perhaps stopped him from committing suicide. Perhaps aided him to come off his heroin habit, and buoyed him sufficiently, in order that he'd have gone on to greater things. Really sad stuff.
Saw this as a 12yr old. What a movie. Although later in life I got the soundtrack CD in a 2nd hand store for its punk rock I liked, raised as a German-Australian it didn’t influence me to shave my head and hate on minorities. Made we wanna explore the history more and understand where it came from.
I saw this movie many years ago after seeing Russell Crowe in LA Confidential. He was and still is an amazing actor. I’m not sure why critics thought this movie glorified the skinheads as it depicted how a violent life ends in violent death.
@@KS-kb4zt A little immigration is good, providing there is something in common. Otherwise it just causes segregation. In that respect multiculturalism fails. Humans are tribal by nature and will always gravitate towards groups and the people who they identify with the most. That's just how it is.
The opening statement makes me cringe. The film was so good. There was so much research done, it was just amazing. It was so realistic to the crazy subculture that it presented. Being intrigued by the film doesnt mean you were enjoying the message or a racist. That was common to have your mind blown by films in the early 90's. Modern films just don't offer this anymore a lot of times. They are mostly mediocre or make you feel like you are being made fun of for having wasted your time expecting something better.
FYI The opening skateboarding scene at "Footscray" station was actually shot at Richmond station. Footscray station at the time had no underground walkway (it probably still doesn't. The movie was shot in Melbourne, Australia).
Funny how in the shooting of the movie, the director had racists slogans written on the walls and the locals was not impressed and complained that after the shooting of the movie, the directors did not erase those slogans
I think this is a movie not about racism, but about family; or rather disunctional family-relationships. Davey is neglected, Bubbs doesn't have a mother, Jacky is abused by her father with mother who commited a suicide, and Hando is so fuckin alone. Anger and racism is just a consequence.
Absolutely love this movie, growing up I used to wear a green bomber jacket and had/still have shaved head.. my friends used to joke I looked like Davey . I had no idea about Daniel pollocks tragic passing until I just watched this video 😢 RIP
born in Sunshine in '67, grew up going to Footscray market/train station/tafe all my life, ended up in uni with the guys who acted in this film. Having lived in the area at the time............ this film is almost a documentary of my life. The train underpass scenes I can smell the urine from when I used that underpass. The roof running scenes, I can see the exact industrial estate near Altona that it was filmed at. Footscray in the 70's was Greek, in the 90's it was Vietnamese, in the 00's it's African. Same shit, same prejudices, different decade. I am glad that Romper Stomper was made because it shows the ugly underbelly of multiculturalism. inclusiveness never came easy
Apparently the train station underpass was filmed at Richmond station as Footscray didn't have an underpass according to an earlier poster. You were smelling the urine wafting from Richmond maybe?
An amazing film, without any shadow of a doubt. It brought the whole concept of racism in Australia into the spotlight, in a very confrontational way. Thankfully, the vast majority of the Australian public are very embracing of other cultures, and the positive influences they bring. The other positive, and dare I say it, more scrutinous side of Aussie culture,is that it strongly rejects any of the negative influences that come from external cultures, for example we love middle eastern food, however we have zero tolerance of the hatred between (say) Jews and Muslims, as you would readily see in other parts of the world. That's not saying that such things don't exist in Australia, it's simply saying that the Australian public as a whole tend to frown on divisions that many other parts of the world would consider as normal. We are very proactive in cohesion in our society, as a whole. It's a big part of what makes Australia such an amazing country to live in.
Not only white people are racist. I'm sick of that bullshit mentality people have of only white people spread racist hate. The Chinese, Indians and Phillipinos are some of the most racist people I've met.
The whole point of the film is that they oppose rich people extorting them and selling out their country. Which is what actually ended up happening to some degree in Australia. So they had a point.
Sad that they did not make the movie longer and deeping out the characters and made a sequel to it. Now you have a serie with a gab of 25 years and even more questions about what happend after the movie. A prequel would not be a bad think either , where they explain the background of the skins and why they are like that. When you watch the movie Tiger had allready had some confrontations with the skinheads.
great movie! im watching the series romper stomper that has just popped up in the UK on ITV boxsets. episode 3 has McGoo in it!!! its kinda a follow on, great watch. I always remember my old man shitting a brick when he came home back in 92 and i was 18 blasting the romper stomper soundtrack full blast :)
great classic review by David Stratton and Margaret pomeranch one of my favourite movies and a great Australian classic movie without a decent review but I give it 5/5
Russel crownexplained it well. Just because the film shows negative aspects of that culture doesn’t mean that u should think about it in a negative light. It’s better to think about it in a positive way in that there are people like that out there and it’s important to understand that bonding over ones race and what not can be taken too far and the days of the wthnostate will never come. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that the look of skinheads is appealing as there aren’t any around anymore; no different than looking at old rebel gear from the civil war.
To give some context to what David was saying; i moved to Adelaide in 2001 and started working at the Holden car factory in 2003. Whilst working on the line one day, the subject of Romper Stomper came up, and the bloke working opposite me said the him and his mates saw it together at the cinema, and after the screening they all went out in their cars looking for any foreigners they could find to beat up. Clearly, this guy and his mates were predisposed to this moronic behaviour before seeing the film. But he said he felt pure joy and adrenaline whilst watching the film, that he just couldn't wait to go and hurt any foreigners that were unlucky enough to get in his path. It was sickening to hear, and being a "Pom" i could tell from his body language that he considered me fair game also.
I remember watching this in year 6 and it was one of those films where you asked have you seen romper stomper, the reason I'm commenting is because it was on TV last night and that actor Daniel really looks like a mate of mine. But yeah it just addresses the social problems that this nation faced during that period, it wasn't glorified because the ending was on point...
Outside of Australia most wouldn't understand why the director chose Footscray as a backdrop for the movie. There was a great influx of Vietnamese immigrants into Footscray at the time. Sadly racial bias was a problem. The first Vietnamese students were taught in seperate classrooms at my school. Mostly I think due to teaching staff worrying about the violence and discrimination that would be targeted at the new immigrant students. They had their classes in a small annex next to the library. They were treated badly. Bias was very ingrained in parts of the Western suburbs of Melbourne for along time. I won't sugarcoat it. It was there and still is effecting other nationalities that have immigrated.
So Pollack died before the movie ended, I didn't even know that. How did he die ? That's sad. That he didn't even get to see the first screening. I thought he was equally as good an actor, in that film, as Russell Crowe.
The irony of this film is that the skins wanted to wage a war against their country being over run. They took it out on the Vietnamese, who could have taught them how to do it and win. Hando spent his time reading Mein Kamph which was written by loser; he should have been studying Ho Chi Minh. Like it or not, the Viet's beat the worlds best trained, best paid and best equipped fighting force.
Romper Stomper could've been so much better had it developed/explored the characters of the gang. We only learn a little about Davey living in a granny flat - ironically - at the back of his Grand mothers house. Getting to know the characters is an important aspect of enjoying a story.
I remember first watching Romper Stomper in 97 I think (would've been 13 at the time) as much as it has a great deal of racism, I still think it's a strong and gripping movie that indeed boosted Russell Crowe's movie career. Still sad as to Daniel Pollock's passing.
There is no racism there, this is just a very strong and powerful statement on the topic of what such a way of life and thinking leads to. And it's a shame that critics have not understood such a direct message.
really think that Stratton missed the point - does anyone who saw this film think that the 'toxic beliefs of the gang were presented unopposed'?! it was evident with the retribution of the Vietnamese - they smashed them - found their squat and destroyed it. They were shown that they didn't have a true sense of solidarity and unity - when they lost out to the Vietnamese only the hardcores wanted to keep upping the anti. The others fled - even Davey, Handos seargent, bailed. And he was shown as not going anywhere - he was living out the back of his grandparents and they were all on the dole - when Davey wanted the SS knife - Hando chipped in and he said 'you can pay me back next dole check'. Seems to me if you look at it, the message is if you take a line of hate you end up losing out including self destruction. Alternatively it also had that age-old theme - no male bond - not even blood can withstand the wiley ways of a female.
Romper Stomper certainly should NOT be not reviewed, censored, etc. It is a poorly written film. It never explains why the characters become skinheads and join a gang. Still, the story held my interest. And the film put Russel Crowe on the map. (Curtis Hanson has said in interviews that Romper Stomper led him to cast Russel Crowe as police officer Bud White in LA Confidential.) I give Romper Stomper two (out of four) stars.
Seeing how many of the documentaries that covered white power youth gangs in the 90s illustrated that most of them are children running away from broken homes, and that all of the skins are on the dole, I'd say its pretty clear these guys (and much like their real life counterparts) are homeless goons that just wanted to feel a part of something. Hence why the gal falls in with them so easily.
I'd like to thank the director, cast, and crew for making this impactful film. It hit me as hard as "Once Were Warriors." It and "Romper Stomper" are two films that opened my eyes to the terrors of extreme right-wingers. It's truly horrifying to see fascism once again becoming fashionable among certain segments.
Margarat Pomeranz was good looking in the early 1990s. Also regarding the movie. If you enter half through the movie you would be forgiven for thinking this is London in the mid to late 1970s with its Neo Nazis and skinheads. Until you realise the cars are early 1990s, you see holden commodores, really nice houses and shopping centres and pristine clean roads and a skyscraper skyline the city seems too nice and clean and welll maintained to be London in the mid to late 1970s then you realise no this is actually Melbourne, Australia in the early 1990s. However make no mistake a very similar neo nazi culture existed in London in the 1970s and 1980s.
Movies with good intentions can't help to inspire the wrong people. The movie clearly shows what a bunch of failures and hacks Hando's bunch is. They get run out of their hide-out. They can't take care of themselves. Hando refuses to eat but can't get food for himself. They mess up their robbery and have to escape in the Japanese-made car that they bashed and vandalized. They suffer from infighting. I find it interesting how people worried about this film do not say the same thing about American films like "Menace to Society," which fed the imaginations of many of a gangster who got the wrong ideas from the movie.
I actually like Stratton. I mean, he had a stick up his arse when he decided not to rate this film, but he clearly respected it as a great work. Apart from having a bit of a stick up his arse sometimes, he always offered academic and objective insight in his reviews, whil Margarette was always opiniated and would fucking cut david off everytime he was saying something interesting.
We did cutting edge stuff back then (Romper....bad Boy Bubby....Reservoir Dogs etc............no way you could this now in 'woke' Hollywood land..........PS - I met Russell in Perth (while he was shooting 'Love in Limbo' in 1991), he was kind of an asshole :) maybe he was already thinking ahead to his role on Romper
What did you expect to happen Mr Stratton.....? How does the film promote racism... the gang is virtually all beaten up, dead or in jail by the end of the film...? Surely not a positive goal for the average racist...?
Who cares what David Stratton thinks? He is a nonentity....he's not a film critic, he's a frightened moralist afraid of his own shadow. If he thinks a movie in which the main characters fight to the death and blaze out in futility is a racist film, then he's a poor judge of films, and of human character....
The odd thing is the film was meant to come out 10 years before when it actually mirrored a reality in the late 70s early 80s. Gangs of marauding Skinheads in Melbourne in 1992 ? Nah all long gone.
@@garybusey9689 Australia's first iteration of Skinhead was the Sharpies, one of a few variants from London after the first skinhead wave in the late 60s. it wasn't a white supremacist thing, just raw working class, bored teenagers drinking and fighting. We would consider them in Australia our first westies or at least the parents of what culturally became known as westies ( particularly western Sydney, which is everything west of Parramatta to the foot of the blue mountains ). We had a wave of Oi Skin in the early 80s like UK and USA but to what degree that wave was White supremacy was a driving factor i don't know. Angry teens who love violence are more likely to put on the Boots n Braces without much thought to the consequences of what they are signing up for, if it means they will get some fist action on a Friday night. ;) here's a clip of Melbourne Sharpies, sorry bout the quality ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JNcdUbVWH8E.htmlsi=26pJy-6i097is-X_
I have to agree with the fact it was very well photographed, and the premise was very interesting to engage in with the white supremacist narrative. I don't believe the subject matter was objectionable for its time, I thought Melbourne was a terrific setting where crimes against Asians were more targeting than Aboriginals for that matter. I also felt that Russell Crowe's performance was energetic at best as a leader of a skinhead clan, he knew how the cleansing of ethnics was a top priority in order to keep society out of any color outside of white. However, I was disappointed by the overall results of the screenplay. It felt hackneyed at times, when many of the characters surrounding Russell Crowe's character wasn't properly developed. The problem with the supporting cast was they were overwrought, especially with Daniel Pollock's character. It's unfortunate he ended his life at a young age, he could've been one of the more aspiring actors of 90s Australian cinema. But back to his performance, Davey wasn't fully prepared to be encouraged in gang crimes before neo-Nazi skinheads disintegrated like wildfire. Also Davey's romantic relationship with Gabrielle played by Jacqueline McKenzie was piecemeal at best. All that time Gabrielle thought it was fun to attack Asians and then calling the neo-Nazis out for their atrocities was very good, particularly if Davey went away with her, but such romantic discourse and a fair few physical orientations between the two wasn't captivating. I don't mind the violence and its philosophy surrounding racial discrimination, but the film fell flat halfway through the film. 👎⭐⭐1/2 stars out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the film that made me act way more kind as a kid... I saw this when I was probably 10ish and I thought it was awesome but also saw that it wasn't cool back when racisim was rife
Always found directors like this who make provocative films and then bitch about getting poor reviews the most childish. Apparently he poured wine over the critic years later at some event. The soundtrack alone repeatedly pushes the film into a glorifying mode. At times it feels like playing some Skinhead action game. It has none of the cynicism of Clockwork Orange or Made in Britain to exonerate the violence and aesthetic admiration.
I first saw this in 1993,as a teenager....along with the likes of "made in Britain"...."Bad liutenant"....and people are stupid,...i saw the ART,...along with strong social commentary!!!!....it did not instill my beliefs in any way,although i liked the fashion....flight jackets,doc martens,shaved head...i grew up on long island NY,and in the 1990's....doc martens were aquired footwear for N.Y.C hardcore scene,anyway,thought of this movie came to mind,i find it on u-tube...and,...."HOLY SHIT!!!!... DAT MAN RUSSELL CROW!!."GLADIATOR!!!😷😁😎🙊🙉🙈🐂💩
IMHO it did incite a small amount of racial violence and at least one group was saying it would be a good thing for them recruitment wise. Saw it in 93, had to get someone to go in and rent it for us on VHS which was a primitive version of a DVD which was a primitive version of a Blu-ray which was the pinnacle of technology until streaming services. Can't wait to get chipped up and dispense with all that nonsense.
6 лет назад
Brilliant film. Promotion of racial supremacy? It was about two blood brother's who's bond is weakened when they fall for the same girl. Fucking wanker Stratton was.
Were you? I was there you idiot. Have you watched the film? Where do you think the music they played in the film came from? It was punk rock picked up by the skins. You don't know what I'm talking about? Wtf? Mate, there was a crossover and woke punk rockers and nationalist skins were both at odds with each other and going to gigs with each other. I'm not talking about the 90s, I'm talking about the late 70s early 80s. There were the crass wokists and there were English inspired skins. One of them, Mick lips, was a mate, he had no hesitation in bottling people. I was right there, right in amongst. Riots in George St in 81. You don't know what I'm talking about because you weren't there, you ignorant arse.
It’s violent and vicious to show you how wrong these people are. I didn’t have a problem with that. This kind of anti Asian violence happens and it must be revealed and exposed and denounced.
Australia is the most racist country in the World People talk about Television - It should represent diversity in society..... I remember watching Home and Away and Neighbours There was no black or asian characters in either of them for DECADES!!!!!!
Australia is racist, yes. In the world, no. Yes, due to the indigenous deaths in custody. No, compared to the issues raised by BLM in the US. No, compared to the genocide by Burmese towards the Rohingya No, compared to the "re-education" of Uyghurs in China. No, compared to Tutsis and Hutus towards each other in Central Africa No, compared to extremists of all religions towards people not of their belief. Besides you watched Home and Away and Neighbours. Shows your taste.
damn, man I didn't know about Davey's passing i can't believe he did commit suicide a sad fact is that the first quote from Romper stomper i always remember is The girl shouting: "Oi, Davey" and then she fills his mouth with booze.
