Aussie Park Boyz (2004)

People are voting emotionally.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Blistering performances.

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

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Aussie Park Boys (hereafter APB) is how the inexperience of writer/director Nunzio La Bianca, and his lack of knowledge about making action films and the finer points of representing gender on screen, has unintentionally manifested a gay porn aesthetic. Homoeroticism and homosexual tension in tough guy action films is a mainstay. Obvious examples include 'Tango & Cash'; 'Bad Boys'; 'Point Break'; and 'Lethal Weapon'. Normally filmmakers introduce such narrative devices as heterosexual romance, active homophobia (mudslinging and homosexual panic), or other devices that attempt to legitimate male intimacy on screen (death scenes are one such device that permit men to be emotionally and physically intimate) while simultaneously disavowing the homoerotic elements of men's bodies on display to one another and to male cinema audiences. The absence of devices of disavowal in APB indicates an underdeveloped awareness on the part of La Bianca about the unwritten, unacknowledged "rules" of action cinema. Consequently, APB displays flagrant homoeroticism that is never disavowed. Between fight sequences, dialogue is scant and the silences between words are occupied by lengthy drawn-out shots of men's bodies: walking, posturing, waiting, climbing stairs, riding trains, working out, gazing at themselves and each other. Indeed, there is so much on screen male- gazing that the film inadvertently implies that these normative homosocial relationships are homosexual. In addition, the long shots, tight close ups, tilts, shot-reverse-shots of men staring at one another, and tight shots of muscles and eyes creates a porn aesthetic. Lots of bloggers find this film hilarious, and some describe it as gay. I argue that it is because of the film's porn aesthetic, together with its male homosocial relations that audiences find it so humorous. There may not be any erect penises or explicit sexual contact on screen (despite an extreme close-up crotch grab during the opening titles sequence), but there is certainly an abundance of man-on-man physical action, as well as displays of semi-naked men (especially the leather-clad skinheads in their black B&D costumes) and men violently penetrating each other with phallic knives, fists and fingers. APBs porn aesthetic is further suggested through the use of muted electronic music that underscores most of the film. It is the muted and repetitive quality of APBs music in particular that suggests the porn aesthetic. As a rule, music in porn is generally written and recorded as cheaply as possible. Typically it is muted so that the sounds of sex (slaps, grunts, moans, sighs) are not drowned out by a throbbing score. The monotony of such scores also means that they can be looped and repeated without drawing attention to themselves, or distracting viewers from the action on screen. The music used in APB has much in common with porn. For instance, rather than build character, highlight on screen action or create suspense, the music in APB simply plays over the top of the action as an accompaniment in much the same way as porn. On a different point, some reviewers have suggested that the music used in APB is like that used in gay nightclubs. However, I would like to point out that the music played in nightclubs (gay or otherwise) is usually a rousing combination of pop anthems, infectious musical motifs, throbbing bass and driving beats that shift and overlap in order to create and sustain various states of excitement and arousal. The music in APB is achingly dull in comparison. It appears that those reviewers who claim that the music in APB resembles nightclub music must have noticed the electronic score and conflate this with gay nightclub culture. While this is rather simplistic (and naive), it does however reinforce the point that the homosocial action in APB constitutes homoerotic imagery. How else would this conflation otherwise be made? Finally (although one could rant endlessly about the porn aesthetics of APB) the narrative of the film - commented on and criticized by a great many bloggers - lacks the linear causality one usually sees in action films. There is a clear absence of causality between scenes in the film. Certainly within scenes themselves, their is hermetic causality, but this is rarely carried from scene to scene. Characters thus wander in and out without clear motivation or explanation for their presence, and what little narrative exists is there to simply connect one sequence of violence to the next. This again resembles an aesthetic particular to porn films. Porn is infamously less concerned with story that it is with jumping from one sex sequence to the next. Likewise, APB makes a number of inexplicable narrative jumps that - like porn - allows it to move from one sequence of fisticuffs to the next. If ever you get the opportunity to see Aussie Park Boyz again (or if you're an APB virgin), do take the time to look twice and see what happens when a budding action filmmaker gets it really wrong. It's nothing short of mesmerising and, as others have noted, jolly funny. I would go so far as to argue that this film's lack of attention to issues of gender performativity actually increases its significance.

Lets try to be objective about this. Did this movie suck? On a technical level, this movie sucked like a two dollar whore. The camera work was criminal, the lighting was a disaster, and the sound? lets not even go there. But lets try to give this film a little credit for what it accomplished.Obviouisly the guy who wrote and directed this film had little to no previous film training, and yet he still went out and made a movie on a very (obviously) limited budget and was business savvy enough to get his project released to an international audience. As an independent film maker myself my hat goes off to him. He may have learned some valuable film making lessons from the project and his next film may turn out to be not so bad.Let's not forget Peter Jacksons first film "Bad Taste" which sucked as well. Look at Peter Jackson now.For all those who can only see the negative side of "Aussie Street Boyz" which to a certain extent I totally agree, the ultimate question still remains...... What have YOU done lately?This film is worth watching, if for nothing more than review what NOT to do when you make a movie.

Although i watched this film by myself(thankfully), i still felt embarrassed while watching it. I was tricked into renting it by the reviews on the front cover, and the bloody/gritty camera stills on the back-which led me to believe it was some sort of documentary. These actors are laughable throughout the entire film, not convincing at all. The story involves an Italian Australian(?) gang, just fighting other gangs, and then running,fighting,repeat. Supposedly they train extremely hard, which makes them way better than other gangs. For some reason I don't believe that they could actually beat up some of these other guys that are twice their size. I could be wrong... no I'm not wrong, this movie is not enjoyable on any level.The jail montage looked like it was a summer camp, just instead of kids, it was a sausage fest of horrible actors, just hanging out and laughing and trying to look hard. This movie is not worth your time, save your money, or throw it in the garbage, just don't waste it on this movie.

First of all let me start saying that anyone who says "This movie sucks" most likely prefer movies like Armageddon, Catwoman, etc (imo Hollywood crap).This movie shows how you can still make an exciting good movie using little money. Basically the flick is about "survival of the fittest" withing gangs. It tells the story of several gang-members moving out to another part of the city where sh8t hits the fan. They get in trouble with 4 other gangs.Fight scenes are really fun.Just don't expect Hollywood quality regarding special effect (thats the only thing they can do right). The acting talent is also pretty poor.