Romper Stomper - - Any good?

[Yonathan Gal]

Saw the dvd of this at HMV for £4.99!!! they had loads!! very tempted, but I don't know anything about i, is it poor or is it good? Out of 10?? Cheers people!

[Bolch]

Film 10/10
DVD 2/10 (DD2.0, 4:3, Trailer, Stills)

I picked one up, for a fiver it's worth it. I think theres also a 2 Disc R1 version but it's OOP and very expensive.

[Hendrik]

...$23,00 (US List Price) "very expensive"...?... for a two-DVD SE...?... really...!?!...

http://www.dvdangle.com/reviews/review.php?Id=1397

. . . :confused: . . .

[Jimmyboy]

I thought about getting it for a fiver, but as its 4:3 you may as well wait for it to be shown on TV yet again.
The film itself is good but over rated, its just mindless violence without any real point, the dvd is rubbish even at 5 quid.

[Adge]

Great film, poor R2 disc though, I sold mine last week when my R1 anamorphic disc arrived, there is an interesting feature on the extras showing the difference between the 4:3 print that had been used in the past and the 16:9 one that they used for this disc.

But a good film to own, I disagree with Jimmyboy (but then I usually do) there is a strong plot, it's an honest look at skinheads at that time in Australia, it's not just violence for violence’s sake.

Marks out of ten, film 8, disc 3.

[Bolch]

Originally posted by Hendrik
...$23,00 (US List Price) "very expensive"...?... for a two-DVD SE...?... really...!?!...

http://www.dvdangle.com/reviews/review.php?Id=1397

. . . :confused: . . .

I thought it was OOP (which meant the S/H copies where expensive).

[tomfun]

Just buy it you bloody gook!!

[gazdude23]

Just buy it you bloody gook!!

Oh dear oh dear. Some editing needed methinks.

[urruri]

I bought the dvd region 2 even though there are no special features and the picture is pretty grainy.The film is excellent worth buying especially for 5 quid.

[jroadley]

Originally posted by urruri
I bought the dvd region 2 even though there are no special features and the picture is pretty grainy.The film is excellent worth buying especially for 5 quid.

But its full screen... :mad:

[Jimmyboy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Adge

But a good film to own, I disagree with Jimmyboy (but then I usually do)

Eh ?.
I dont remember having a debate with you once !.



there is a strong plot, it's an honest look at skinheads at that time in Australia, it's not just violence for violence’s sake.

Marks out of ten, film 8, disc 3.

Its not a bad film & I havent once called such. Its just far to predictable.
Only the Chinese (iirc) seem to become involved with the SkinHeads, are we suppose to believe that radical neo-nazi's only single out the Chinese or can we assume the director didnt have the balls to include racial hate against blacks ?.

Personally I prefered ID.
A slightly different plot I know, but deals with extremists, violence and ignorance far better than Romper.

[NexusSheep]

I think it's a very good film. A tad violent perhaps, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest. (The ONLY thing I find difficult to watch is sexual violence. Nothing else bothers me).

[homerjhandley]

Great film. Good storyline and TBH the fight scenes are very well made.

What is the anamorphic version like? I would buy the film but its one of the 'is it worth it' types.

And as for the chinese. Its part of the story! And also regarding the blacks, why not the jews? Indians? the film was not about racisim in australia, it was about a skinhead gang (nobody has mentioned the main actor yet :D) who had decided they didnt want a chinese family buying 'their' pub.(amongst other things)

And the girl who gets befriended, her mother was from italy (from what i remember) and thats why some of the tension started, because she wasnt from a pure australian family.

For £5 its worth a watch, if you dont like it put it in the classifieds!

[Tim Fleming]

Originally posted by Jimmyboy


Its not a bad film & I havent once called such. Its just far to predictable.

Well, you did actually say that the film was over-rated and that at 5 quid the DVD is rubbish - it is easy to understand how someone could interpret that as saying it was a bad film.

Originally posted by Jimmyboy

Only the Chinese (iirc) seem to become involved with the SkinHeads, are we suppose to believe that radical neo-nazi's only single out the Chinese or can we assume the director didnt have the balls to include racial hate against blacks ?.

They were actually Vietnamese (not Chinese) and the reason why there was no reference to the blacks was that the area in which this gang operated was an area that was being heavily populated by Vietnamese. At the time of this film, Australia was experiencing a large influx of Vietnamese boat people and there was consequently a lot of resentment felt towards them and a lot of racial vilification and violence directed at them.

Originally posted by Jimmyboy

Personally I prefered ID.
A slightly different plot I know, but deals with extremists, violence and ignorance far better than Romper.

I have never seen ID, but I do feel that Romper Stomper is probably the best film dealing with issues of racially based violence I have seen. It does not try to moralise and it does not try to preach. What it does do is provide us with a very raw and realistic snapshot of what was happening at that time and lets us form own opinions on the situation.

regards, Tim...

[Jimmyboy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tim Fleming

Well, you did actually say that the film was over-rated and that at 5 quid the DVD is rubbish - it is easy to understand how someone could interpret that as saying it was a bad film.


I would strongly dissagree.
Claiming a film is over rated is in no way the same as saying a film is bad.
and my comments about the DVD have no relation to the film itself.


I have never seen ID, but I do feel that Romper Stomper is probably the best film dealing with issues of racially based violence I have seen.

But to be fair, its not like racial violence is an exploited genre.
(If you can call it a genre).


It does not try to moralise and it does not try to preach. What it does do is provide us with a very raw and realistic snapshot of what was happening at that time and lets us form own opinions on the situation.

But as I said previously, its completely predictable & The Neo-Nazi's are passed off as near insane as an explaination for their hatred. I dont regard this as a realistic snapshot of racial tention and violence because stereotyping the skinheads as unstable mindless villians is a cop-out.
If Romper had attempted to deal with Neo-Nazi University students, Neo-Nazi's who have a career, a family, who are generally quite normal other than their extreme racial views then that would be a more accurate snapshot.
Instead Romper plays with the idea that all racists are somehow unstable which is what cause's them to think that way, which is very much a cop out imo.

[Tim Fleming]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jimmyboy
But to be fair, its not like racial violence is an exploited genre.
(If you can call it a genre).

Racism has popped up in films for decades (it does not have to be violent) - I would not call it a genre, but it has been well documented in its various forms from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner to To Sir With Love to Cry Freedom, to American History X. I probably should have left out the reference to racially based violence and left it at simply racism.

But as I said previously, its completely predictable & The Neo-Nazi's are passed off as near insane as an explaination for their hatred. I dont regard this as a realistic snapshot of racial tention and violence because stereotyping the skinheads as unstable mindless villians is a cop-out.

This is where I have to strongly disagree. This film was NOT dealing with skinheads in general and was NOT dealing with racists in general. It did however deal with a specific ongoing conflict between two specific gangs. It certaiinly did not portray them all as insane - in fact the director came under intense criticism when the film was first released in Australia as it was thought that the film was too sympathetic to the cause of the skinheads.

If Romper had attempted to deal with Neo-Nazi University students, Neo-Nazi's who have a career, a family, who are generally quite normal other than their extreme racial views then that would be a more accurate snapshot.
Instead Romper plays with the idea that all racists are somehow unstable which is what cause's them to think that way, which is very much a cop out imo.

Surely you must have noticed that Hando was not portrayed as an unstable lunatic but rather as a charismatic and relatively intelligent person. Yes, some of his followers might have fit your description, but that is not too far from the truth... the foot soldiers are often easily led.

regards, Tim...

[Jimmyboy]

I agree with most of what this reviewer feels about Romper -
http://dvdmg.com/romperstomper.html

Main points being -
The film doesn’t really attempt to investigate the origins of their thoughts with any depth; one gets the impression that their negativity is based upon feelings of worthlessness - pretty accurate feelings, if you ask me, since most of the ‘heads seem like total buffoons - but there’s little exploration of these thoughts.

That’s why I found Romper Stomper to remain only mildly interesting at best. The movie portrays the actions of the skinheads but does little to examine them with any depth.

RS reminds you of something most of you already recognize: racist fascists are a bad thing. There’s nothing more substantial at work here, so RS remains a compellingly visceral experience at times that may open some eyes to the existence of skinheads but it does little more than that.

Although Romper Stomper offered a well-acted and moderately compelling experience, it ultimately left me a little cold. The film lacked much sense of depth or freshness and just reminded me of facts I already knew.

[Tim Fleming]

Originally posted by Jimmyboy
I agree with most of what this reviewer feels about Romper -
http://dvdmg.com/romperstomper.html

Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

I appreciate this film from the perspective of having lived in Melbourne (prior to moving to Sydney) in the locales this films depicts (Richmond etc) and of having lived in Sydney and run into the likes of Hando - and I believe this film to be a very accurate representation of the mood of the time.

Unfortunately your reviewer views it from a more current perspective noting that it did not tell him anything he did not know already - perhaps if he had seen the film when it first aired at the cinemas in 1992?

regards, Tim...

[Adge]

Originally posted by Jimmyboy
Eh ?.
I dont remember having a debate with you once !.


I didn't mean we had debated anything in the past, I just meant that I disagree with a lot of the things you post.

[Jimmyboy]

Originally posted by Adge


I didn't mean we had debated anything in the past, I just meant that I disagree with a lot of the things you post.
I dont really see how considering I rarely give a strong opinion on whether or not I like a film one way or the other.
Even in this thread, I havent explicitly stated whether I like or dislike Romper Stomper. Many people do like Romper and their opinion is just as valid as my own, If you disagree with something I've said it would be nice to see your own opinion rather than sitting on the fence and slating mine. ;)

[Adge]

Originally posted by Jimmyboy

I dont really see how considering I rarely give a strong opinion on whether or not I like a film one way or the other.


*cough*

Originally posted by Jimmyboy
Many people do like Romper and their opinion is just as valid as my own, If you disagree with something I've said it would be nice to see your own opinion rather than sitting on the fence and slating mine. ;)

Indeed you are entitled to your opinion, I just find that when I read the forums a lot of the points I disagree with are made by you, but is not a bad thing, it's an opinion thing.

I'm just saying that disagree with you in general, it may also be that you seem to have a post in almost every thread on this board, so I've got a lot of oppurtunity to read and disagree with you ;) .

Don't take this as a personal attack, it isn't, I'm just saying that we have different viewpoints, that's what makes the forums interesting. I do sometimes agree you with you, I think mainly over Eliza Dushku though.

[jroadley]

This is now available in Australia in widescreen:

http://www.familyboxoffice.com.au/movie.asp?ID=9371

[Me Too]

Not cheap from Aus (waiting for my copy from EzyDVD) - but spec is similar to the R1 OOP Special Edition and similar price too.

[MarcusUK]

Originally posted by jroadley
This is now available in Australia in widescreen:

http://www.familyboxoffice.com.au/movie.asp?ID=9371

Hmm who told you that info eh? :razz: ;)

[jroadley]

Originally posted by MarcusUK
Hmm who told you that info eh? :razz: ;)

:wave: :blah: :rolleyes:

[Cirrus888]

The R1 is cut compared to the theatrical release I saw ...