Romper Stomper

1992 "Give him smack in head special..."
6.8| 1h34m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 05 March 1992 Released
Producted By: Australian Film Commission
Country: Australia
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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Nazi skinheads in Melbourne take out their anger on local Vietnamese, who are seen as threatening racial purity. Finally the Vietnamese have had enough and confront the skinheads in an all-out confrontation, sending the skinheads running. A woman who is prone to epileptic seizures joins the skins' merry band, and helps them on their run from justice, but is her affliction also a sign of impurity?

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Director

Geoffrey Wright

Production Companies

Australian Film Commission

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Romper Stomper Audience Reviews

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.
Prismark10 In Romper Stomper when the white characters tell the Vietnamese to get out of the country, no one retorts that it is not their country in the first place. Aboriginals were there for thousands of years before the white man set foot in Australia.Then again Romper Stomper is not a film that will give you any kind of intellectual stimulation. It is inspired by the low budget film making of Mad Max with the tawdry violence of A Clockwork Orange but without that film's grisly dark humour.A group of neo-nazi skinheads in Melbourne led by Hando (Russell Crowe) and Davey (Daniel Pollock) are aghast with the rising Vietnamese population taking over the small businesses. They retaliate by first outnumbering their victims and then beating them senseless whether it is men or women. Eventually the skinheads are vastly outnumbered by the Vietnamese and attacked.The group is joined by Gabrielle (Jacqueline McKenzie) who is being sexually abused by her wealthy father. She suffers from epileptic fits and goes on the run with Hando and Davey. Gabrielle and Davey get close but Hando is not keen on her, after all the Nazi's were never keen on disabled people.The film has several prolonged violent scenes that sets out to shock its audience. You actually wonder how the victims managed to get out alive from it all. It also shows the emptiness in Hando's philosophy. Ultimately he is only a violent thug and not a bright one despite his knowledge of Mein Kampf.Russell Crowe gives a glimpse of his talent, the film has a rawness to it, but too many times it is hampered by its low budget even amateurish filmmaking. The film could had benefited with some dark humour but really came across as vacuous.
A Cyndi Lauper likes the Skinheads.Even if this was a gang of characters with high moral fiber who would want to hang out with these lunatics?Nice Nazi lampshade... Do creations need lampshades?What a great friend... Moving him from across the stairs to on the cold hard concrete floor."Thousands of em?"... Clearly it math is not required to join.She was better off with the drug addict.Hando wants revenge for the revenge taken because of him.No water in the bowl?Clearly the police will know who they are.Skinheads falling asleep reading :)That's all you brought?"I surrender"... karma.The problem with being a skinhead is when you want to disguise yourself you can't cut your hair.Almost over... Let's see how they're gonna crash and burn.Hando has no friends left. He's desperate for anyone to keep from being alone.
The Grand Master Romper Stomper is certainly not a movie for everyone. It certainly deserved its R18+ classification in Australia due to its unsettling violent content and sex scenes. It will offend, it will shock and upset some viewers. It's certainly not one for young children. Those that watch Romper Stomper and put aside the controversial content will find that it is a powerful movie. Romper Stomper was also notable for garnering recognition for Russell Crowe.Romper Stomper centers on a group of Neo Nazis led by the charismatic and volatile Hando (Russell Crowe). Hando's best friend and second in command who Hando relies upon is Davey (Daniel Pollock, who committed suicide before the film's release). The gang befriend Gabrielle (Jacqueline McKenzie) a lost cause who is a drug addict and is sexually abused by her affluent father. The gang frequently wreak havoc throughout Footscray in Melbourne, Victoria and target the local Vietnamese in the area. Hando and his gang bash up a group of Vietnamese teenagers at the start of the movie with Hando warning one of them, "This is not your country". After a violent confrontation with a large number of Vietnamese which sees a lot of the Neo Nazi's brutally bashed and their warehouse set on fire, Hando, Davey, Gabrielle and the remaining members struggle to fight for survival to stay alive and not get at each others throats as well as avoid the police and any further retribution.Though this is one of Russell Crowe's earliest roles, Romper Stomper is definitely one of his most memorable movies, right up there with L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and American Gangster (2007).Director Geoffrey Wright pulls no punches in bringing Romper Stomper to the screen, but he has certainly done a commendable job. Romper Stomper has netted a lot of controversy in Australia and worldwide due to its content but it still remains as one of the best Australian movies.Romper Stomper is a movie that may be unflinchingly unpleasant to watch but the rewarding factor is that it is a powerful movie with powerhouse performances all round, particularly from Russell Crowe.9/10.
bowmanblue 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.