Chopper

Loved the movie but the Australian filmography left something to be desired

Eric Bana is excellent as Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, Australia's most infamous criminal. Chopper is a tough as nails sociopath but also has a certain dumb innocence to him, like he's just doing what he needs to to get by and can forgive "friends" even after they violently betray them. The first line of Read's autobiography (while written in prison) states, "I have been shot once, stabbed seven times, had a claw hammer stuck in my skull, been run over, beaten unconscious, and left for dead." This opening line of the book gives you a decent idea of what the movie will be like. The prison scenes at the beginning of the movie aren't for the feint of heart, where a young Chopper has several violent and very bloody encounters, one of which involves having a fellow inmate saw his ears off with a razor blade so he can get out of the unit where everyone is trying to kill him. Once released from prison Chopper wants to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld and ends up becoming a fascination of both the Australian public and press. The real life Read has so many stories and near death encounters going back to his childhood and I wish more could have gotten into the movie as there's not quite as much substance as I'd like, but overall a good watch for anyone interested in crime movies (especially ones based on real life).

" CHOPPER" IS A CULT TYPE FILM(2000) WHICH CHRONICLES THE LIFE OF AN AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL(MARK REED) WHOSE BEHAVIOR WANTS TO MAKE YOU DROP YOUR JAW IN ASTONISHMENT. ERIC BANA CAPTURES THIS MAN IN PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATION ALA ROBERT DENIRO IN RAGING BULL . IN FACT I DIDNT RECOGNIZE ERIC BANA THROUGH THE FIRST SCENE. NOT ONLY WAS THIS TRANSFORMATION SPECTACULAR BUT HE CAPTURES THE MAN (CHOPPER REED) IN SPEECH ,MANNERISMS AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN HIS HEAD(SEE BONUS FEATURE) .CHOPPER REED IS A CRIMINAL THAT SPENT YEARS IN JAIL FOR MURDER, SHOOTINGS, TAKING A JUDGE HOSTAGE AND OTHER SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR TO SAY THE LEAST.IF YOU WATCH THE BONUS FEATURES YOU MEET THE REAL CHOPPER REED. YOU CAN NOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BANA'S PORTRAYAL OF CHOPPER AND THE MAN HIMSELF. IT IS A TREMENDOUS PERFORMANCE.I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF CULT FOLLOWING FILMS BUT BANA'S TAKE ON THIS AUSTALIAN FOLK HERO AND BEST SELLING AUTHOR (AS DISTURBING AS SERIAL KILLERS HAVING IDOL WORSHIPPERS AND MARRIAGE PROPOSALS) IS RIGHT ON THE MONEY. BANA AS AN ACTOR CAUGHT MY ATTENTION IN FILMS SUCH AS "MUNICH" ,TROY, AND THE TIME TRAVELERS WIFE, AS AN EXCEPTIONAL PROTAGONIST ACTOR. THIS EARLY ROLE DOES SHOW A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STYLE OF HIS ACTING SKILLS.HIS VERSATILITY IS ASTONISHING. Five Stars for Eric Bana's performance which is unlke anything he has ever done before on film.

Eric Bana is one of my fave actors, my introduction to him in a great movie, Munich.Chopper is done creatively with an effort to present as street level and coarse.Chopper and his life appear to have been this way, rough, harsh, and devil-may-care. Desperate.The movie definitely will not appeal to that many people in my imagination.NOT a family show, nor for children, and doubtfully good for a date, who knows.WARNING: The violent scenes will make many people very uncomfortable if not sick.Maybe not as "bad" as the Scarface bathroom/chainsaw scene, but still could be an unpleasant surprise.Basically this is a guy's movie; for those who enjoy hoodlumism, violence, and a presentation of harsh bits of life.E Bana plays Mark Brandon Read seemingly MORE of an exageration than the guy really was. Watch the Special Feature "interview" of the real guy.BUT the movie does not make any claim to be an accurate bio and the details have been altered to entertain.Stark incidents of violence and language, stark whitewashed jailhouse walls, and pools of dark blood..

My all time favorite movie. Played by Eric Bana, also played the Incredible Hulk. This Australian movie is based in a high security prison. It's intense and jam packed with a little gore here, alot of hilarious there. Basically, he's getting even to his "so called" friends that turned on him in prison. This movie is based off of true events of Mark Branden Reads later years in real life. I took pictures of the back of the disc so you can see there's no scratches or marks. It was shipped on time. I recommend this movie to adults that like a little bit of everything in one hour and a half flick.

Superb modern classic and directed and acted and photography was absolute perfection. Plus the seller had it to me fast and in great condition!!

Eric Bana is brilliant in this movie and, after putting on 30 lbs. for this role, he BECOMES Chopper, a criminal legend in Australia. It's the story of "Chopper" Read and his life of crime and incarceration. I believe this is Bana's first movie role and was the choice of the real Chopper to portray him. The movie is well done and the storyis interesting, especially because it tells the life of a real person.I became a fan of Bana after I saw the movie Munich. I didn't know who he was, but his performance in that movie was stellar. He, Bana, is really a fantastic actor.I gave this movie 5 stars because, especially, because of Bana's Brilliant performace.

This is either a you will love it or you will hate it kind of movie. I've found there isn't much in-between opinion. I however am the tweener here. I wasn't crazy about it but at the same I was very entertained by it. Good luck trying to decipher that non-sense in the previous sentences.

Interviewer "David McCulkty went missing & is still missing did u kill him??". Mark "Yes I did cause he demanded $8,000 even though I didn't want to go to his wedding THEN he snitched on me when I dropped him off at the hospital ok fair enough I shot him BUT he lived... (chuckles) only for another 1 & 3 months meet him at a booking signing had the balls to insult me about Eric Mana the man who got famous because I said he'd be good for the film that was the final straw". Interviewer "Where is the body??". Mark "Somewhere Outback have fun looking for it besides I'm tumorly ill guaranteed to die of said tumor what's the law going to do lock up a dying man let them waste the money I'm &%$#ed either way"

Eric Bana is brilliant as Mark 'Chopper' Read, Australia's most notorious criminal turned bestseller author, and the whole film by Andrew Dominik is shot in a very knife-edge way, veering from the most repellent violence in the first half-hour set against the austerity of a high security prison, to the lurid colours of what is shown after his release in 1986. This second section has a compelling quality that has to do with this murky visual intensity, where the low-budget feel adds to the effect. Chopper himself is shown as borderline psychotic, charismatic, sometimes comical, a man who seems surprised sometimes by his own violent reactions, which take over out of his confusion, or instinct. The notion of friendship in the film is impossible to fathom - there seems to be some genuine feeling, then the next minute they are pointing guns at each others heads; you never quite know where it is going next. The humour is effective, some of the dialogues even sounding a bit like John Cassavetes in their crazy riffs, and Bana is superbly edgy, even a bit sexy in his bulked up form, but the bloodletting really is grotesque. He looks as though he has already transformed into a negative 'Hulk', but in fact it is hard to believe it's the same actor ... Other performances by Simon Lyndon as his childhood friend who leads an assassination attempt against him, and Kate Beahan as an ex-girlfriend, stand out among many vivid supporting roles - but it is not for the squeamish. However it would be hard to see it as showing violence as anything other than misguided.

Chopper is a great film. Andrew Dominik, the director, did a splendid job. The film seems so realistic, the brutality, the dialogues, the places, the characters, it's all so well adapted to the kind of movie that Chopper is. The acting is really amazing, especially from Eric Bana, who plays Chopper. This man has the talent to make every single feeling of his character visible, and realistic. The violence, while being pretty graphic and brutal, isn't gratuitous or exaggerated (except for some scenes with too much blood letting). The violence "hits" the viewer, just like he was feeling the pain, it's very well reproduced. The character of Chopper is interesting, as a man who's trying to be a real tough criminal, but still has some feelings...it's Natural Born Killers with nuances...With funny moments, great acting, nicely-written scenario and one very interesting character, Chopper delivers that: Dark humor, attaching characters, great scenario, violence (for the people who like it), and it's a very nice movie. Eric Bana has a lot of future in acting...and Andrew Dominik is a great director that should definitely continue in this business. Chopper is very enjoyable.

Applause For Beating Illiteracy And Becoming A Successful Author.I Found The Majority Of The Dvd About Some Loud Mouth Braggard OTT

If you like your crime and a sense of dark humour then this film is a must.very brutal but very funny.not sure how much of this film is fact but even if it's all fiction then "chopper" has given us great entertainment value even if he is a homicidal maniac!!!This is a gritty film and skips along at a good pace with good,believable acting and you just can't help yourself laughing along the way.think that if your are actually looking at this type of film then spend your money.