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.

It is a strong warning film about violence and its fatal consequences - no matter what the reason is, who much this need is justified etc. Youth violence has its roots often in the childhood, which is clearly visible in this film as well. And if we add problems with relatives, unemployment, shabby lifestyle/opportunities, gangs formed on the basis of ethnicity - it is all like a sparkle lit. Romper Stromper runs rather smoothly has includes very intense scenes well captured by cameramen: the big scuffle between skinheads and Vietnamese youngsters is presumably the highlight of this film. And the cast is evenly strong, leading with Russell Crowe as Hando, but Daniel Pollock as Davey and Jacqueline McKenzie as Gabrielle provide great performances as well. The soundtrack has also a big role in the film's success - raw songs with anti-immigrant slogans give additional tense and vigor.Not a family film, but worth watching. Even for Russell Crowe's sake.

A group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighborhood is changing.So this was Russell Crowe's breakout performance? Being a tough guy who beats people up? Sounds about right, at least as far as his image is generally concerned.I do not have much to say about this one. It lies on a plane somewhere between "A Clockwork Orange" and "American History X", with the racism turned against the Vietnamese rather than African-Americans. I know nothing about racial tension in Australia, so I cannot comment on this aspect -- I did not know they had a Neo-Nazi movement, even a small one.

There is so much good stuff going on in this one.The look of the film: It's gritty, and while you can tell it was lower-budget, the film reeks of quality in terms of the shots/overall cinematography. 16mm really did nothing but add to the realism of this one.The story:It's chock-full of interesting characters. Some good. SOme evil. And some that want to go from one side to the other, but can't.The sound: Amazing. The music is powerful. Especially in the final scene where the music will stay with you for long after the credits end.The acting: First rate across the board. These people could have been real for all I know.This film will divide audiences because of it's subject matter, but it's one of the best, lesser-known, low-budget foreign offerings you're likely to see. The current 6.8 rating is an absolute travesty. I was expecting to see about 7.8, and that's why I decided to write this review.This is a disturbing film, and one that I can highly recommend.It IS better than American History X.86/100You Might Like THis if you Liked: American History X(good, but not as good), THe Boys Next Door(perhaps the last time a low-budget, dramatic film disturbed me this much - not as good as this though), American Me(not quite as good as this), Boyz in the Hood(better), Tzameti 13(not as good).