Amazon.com: Based on the writings of Australian author Mark "Chopper" Read, a real-life criminal who recounts his misdeeds (including the severing of his own ears to win release) in books with titles like How to Shoot Friends and Influence People, Chopper is a stomach-churning spectacle from which you cannot pull away. In the opening scene of Andrew Dominik's vicious first film, Chopper jabs a man's face full of holes with pliers and proceeds to offer him a cigarette while he lies bleeding to death on a prison floor; contrite but obviously mad, he then asks sincerely, "You don't like me much, do you?" Somehow it's grotesquely funny. Shooting in bleached-out blue prison cells and corrosively lit nightclubs and flats, Dominik sets a spare stage for the film's true revelation, standup comic Eric Bana's explosive debut. Reminiscent in scale of Russell Crowe's first lead outing as a sadistic skinhead in Romper Stomper, Bana's performance is at turns fearsome, hilarious, and mesmerizing. --Fionn Meade
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Weird, much like the book
Much like the book, this movie gives you a glimps into the life of Mark "Chopper" Read. I just happened across this moves years & years ago. It was weird then & it's still weird now. It's about ... Read More
Rating: - A short sharp film
This is a well-made biopic of Mark 'Chopper' Read, an extremely violent Australian criminal who has gone on to become a successful writer. The story, although based on 'Choppers' own books has been spiced ... Read More
Rating: - Weird but captivating
Like a train-wreck - with probably about as much gore.
An interesting look into the soul of the 80's Australian crime scene (or at least a dramatisation thereof).
Rating: - A Black Life
This is easily one of the most disturbing, and yet intriguing films I have watched in recent history. Andrew Dominik has created a tragically empathetic examination of professional criminal Chopper Read. Being ... Read More
Rating: - Eric Bana 'IS' Chopper.
Before having watched this film I never really had much of an idea of who Chopper was and i was interested in seeing the film from all the little things id heard, but I have got to say I never expected to get as ... Read More
- A short sharp film