Chopper (2001)

Load of rubbish!!

Great Film overall

As Good As It Gets

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Chopper is one of the most iconic Australian films to have been made. With not only an amazing work of the Cast, but also the very dedicated job of the entire team behind it. From the writers to the extra's. Chopper delivers on every single category of great classical films.Eric Bana plays the role of Mark "Chopper" Read, one of Australia's most notorious criminals. Chopper is a man who, through circumstance and necessity, uses violence as a tool. He is a man of intense emotion - most of the time he is torn between fear, remorse, horror and despair.Film at its best makes think and makes you uncomfortable. It explores emotions and feelings which the viewer understands but wants to comprehend. This is such a film.Chopper is a man of morals and is angry at himself when he has to compromise in what he believes in. He wants to be loved and this is the reason why life has become infamous to him. There are many criminals out there, but few have captured the imagination quite like Chopper did.Some people criticize the film because it is obviously not an exact account of events, they obviously didn't read the films tag line: "The truth, the whole truth and nothing like the truth!" This film was intended to be a "dramatization" of events and was co-written by Mark "Chopper" Read himself. And he never tries to hide the fact that he makes up a story or two.

I watch a lot of noir, 'B', and independent films - perhaps 5 a week, certainly more than 200 a year. I try to avoid the stinkers by watching only those rated 7 (maybe 6 if the actor or plot is of unique interest). Most are fair-to-middling. Some are diamonds in the rough. This is in the other category. I could not finish it, the story line and acting were so bad. This puts it at the very bottom of those I deign to watch. Eric Bana plays a psychopath but as good an actor as he is normally, he either can't overcome the high-school script, or, was allowed to improvise way too much. His actions are not the least believable, and the reason i stuck around for most of the film was I had to believe it was a spoof, Unfortunately, it isn't - too bad. Save yourself an hour and a half and pass this one by.This isn't comparable to other, well- known portrayals of psychos. I must have been watching a different film than the one some of the other reviewers raved about.

Chopper is the nickname of Mark Brandon Read, a notorious real life criminal whose crimes were chronicled in a best selling book by him. Eric Bana plays Read to perfection. An early scene brings to mind the Michael Madsen ear slicing portion of Reservoir Dogs. The camera stays on Bana for 90 percent of the hour and a half running time; and not a minute is wasted. The style is similar to the equally vicious Bronson, which also deals with an infamous Australian criminal. Both are must see movies for anyone who is a fan a the crime genre. The sardonic humor is the sort typically associated with films from Down Under. Just to watch Bana chew up the screen with the look of an actual sociopath, is worth the price of the DVD rental. The New York Times of April 13, 2013 has a profile of Mark Brandon Read which is an excellent companion to this adaptation. Do not miss Chopper.

In an Australian prison, knife-wielding Eric Bana (as Mark "Chopper" Brandon Read) slashes a fellow prisoner in the jugular. Possibly, this is because Mr. Bana does not like his victim's hair. He has covered bald spots with shoe polish. The man bleeds to death. Soon thereafter, Bana's boyhood pal and jail buddy Simon Lyndon (as James "Jimmy" Richard Loughnan) repeatedly stabs Bana. This scene appears to symbolically "copulate" Bana and Mr. Lyndon, who has very nice hair. Bana survives penetration super-hero-style and then chops off his ears to get out of maximum security. Out of jail, he hooks up with old acquaintances and decides to shoot some of them. He pulls out both his pistol and his penis. All of this is nicely acted. The character "Chopper" comes across well, but the film manages to say very little intriguing about him.****** Chopper (8/3/00) Andrew Dominik ~ Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, David Field, Daniel Wyllie