Chopper
"I never killed anyone that didn't deserve it."
Chopper (Eric Bana) is Mark "Chopper" Read, real-life convict and best-selling author of How to Shoot Friends and Influence People. His story is frightening, savagely funny and twisted.
The son of a devoutly religious mother and a one-time soldier with a fondness for sleeping alongside a loaded gun, Chopper dreams of making a name for himself as a legendary crime figure. His journey starts out as a wisecracking criminal failure, inside a maximum-security prison, but he manages to twist his life into a fascinating and wickedly funny take that the press and the public can't get enough of.
Member Reviews
Really disappointing. - estefan
I really wanted to like it and admittedly, it started improving in the final half-hour, but it was too little too late. Through the first hour, the whole film feels like it was done by an amateur filmmaker. It's choppily edited with the story all over-the-place and character motivation is barely explored. It all felt like a series of little scenes poorly connected and filled with bad dialogue. However, in the final act, Andrew Dominik starts becoming inventive. That sequence where Chopper is giving his version of events, about the Turkish man's death is very creatively done and managing to truly delve into the fantastical tales of Chopper, as does the rest of the film. If the rest of Chopper had that same level of depth to it rather than presenting a series of horror-show events, I would have liked it a whole lot more.
I also despised the cinematography. Throughout the whole production, he uses this two-tone colour scheme and it's not very visually appealing. I understand it's an artistic decision, but it just didn't work. A couple of bar scenes are a literal eye-sore as well and following one of those sequences with a bright yellow scene led to a lot of eyelid-massaging on my part (and I survived the Japanese dance scene in Babel!). It's interesting how Dominik then went on to direct one of the most beautiful shot films of the past decade, but then that tends to happen when you switch over to using Roger Deakins. The one consistent element is Eric Bana is very good. I also laughed at one really funny line where he becomes offended by a policeman asking him if he took the man he shot to the hospital. I could see there was a good film in there, but only cracks were visible and ironically, it's when Dominik channels his inner Tarantino rather than using his own individual style.And Bana emerges - DisposableHero
This was Eric Bana's first real movie, and it's obvious that it caught the eyes of Hollywood and vaulted him into stardom. I mean, his next movie was a large role in Black Hawk Down. This was one of those performances that I call "The Bale", where the actor completely dedicates and transforms their body, as we see an unrecognizable Bana as the notorious Australian criminal, and funnily enough their all time best selling author, Mark "Chopper" Read. We don't really see too much of a story, as we see a psychopath in prison, then we see a psychopath out of prison and actually working as an informant for the police. There are shocking moments and funny moments, but it's worth a watch just for Bana. He's been at the top of my favorite actors since BHD, and this role just cemented his place on my list.This one's a right cracker! Good on ya mate! Criminal minds of Australia, brilliant! - BadChad
This is a great crime movie. It is not involved in the Hollywood, high budget of organized crime. This is more of the low level criminal living in a world of violence and suspicion. This reminded me very much of two other great movies: A Clockwork Orange, and, The Assination of Jesse JAmes by the Coward Robert Ford. Bana is much like Pitts character in the respective movies as a criminal who must kill or be killed. He seems like a paranoid and violent animal to those who he suspects are conspiring against him. It turns out though that his behaviour was actually due to his acurate observation of human nature.
Without giving away any plot lines, I'll just say that this is one of the best movies about the criminal that I've seen in a while. Very solid. Eric Bana does a great job too. The extra material in the Special Features with the real life Chopper (on whom the movie is based) are mesmerizing and good fun. 4/5.
Member Reviews
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Really disappointing. - estefan
I really wanted to like it and admittedly, it started improving in the final half-hour, but it was too little too late. Through the first hour, the whole film feels like it was done by an amateur filmmaker. It's choppily edited with the story all over-the-place ...And Bana emerges - DisposableHero
This was Eric Bana's first real movie, and it's obvious that it caught the eyes of Hollywood and vaulted him into stardom. I mean, his next movie was a large role in Black Hawk Down. This was one of those performances that I call "The Bale", where the actor ...This one's a right cracker! Good on ya mate! Criminal minds of Australia, brilliant! - BadChad
This is a great crime movie. It is not involved in the Hollywood, high budget of organized crime. This is more of the low level criminal living in a world of violence and suspicion. This reminded me very much of two other great movies: A Clockwork Orange, ...