Chopper (2000)

Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.

Director:

Andrew Dominik

Writers:

Mark Brandon Read (books), Andrew Dominik

Stars:

Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo

12 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vince Colosimo	...	Neville Bartos
Eric Bana	...	Chopper
Renée Brack	...	Television Interviewer (as Renee Brack)
Gregory Pitt	...	Prison Officer #1
Richard Sutherland	...	Prison Officer #2
David Field	...	Keithy George
Simon Lyndon	...	Jimmy Loughnan
Dan Wyllie	...	Bluey
Gary Waddell	...	Kevin Darcy
Andrew Dunn	...	Prison Officer #3
Caleb Cluff	...	Detective Creswell
Hilton Henderson	...	Detective Wyatt
Fred Barker	...	Gov. Beasley
Alan Close	...	Medical Officer
Carl Price	...	Brunswick Court Judge

Storyline

Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a murder sentence in prison. His book, From the Inside, upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | prison | criminal | arrogance | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

The truth, the half-truth, and nothing like the truth.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 2000 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Chopper - A kegyetlen

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,044, 13 April 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$234,259, 22 July 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Mushroom Pictures, Pariah Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Cinevex)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eric Bana spent two days living with Mark Brandon Read so he could get a better understanding of how to play his character in the film.

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Goofs

At Tanya's house you see the car lights are on as Chopper goes to her front door. When he comes back and beats the car in frustration - they are off.

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Quotes

Detective Downie: [about Neville] So you took him to the hospital?
Chopper: No, I didn't take him to the bloody hospital. Now tell me this, right? Why would I shoot a bloke - BANG - and then put him in the bloody car and whiz him off to the hospital at a hundred miles an hour? It defeats the purpose of having shot him in the first place. What's more, it's bloody insulting, it's bloody insulting. I mean, am I the only bloody standover man in the country who provides a medical plan for some of these characters?

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Connections

Featured in 20 to 1: Adults Only 20 to 01: World's Most Daring Movies (2009)

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Soundtracks

Release the Bats
Performed by The Birthday Party
Written by Nick Cave (as Cave) / Mick Harvey (as Harvey)
(Mute Song/Mushroom Music Pty Ltd)
Courtesy of The Birthday Party Pty Ltd

User Reviews

Chop, chop, chop, little Chopper chops

Thruth and fiction blend in a fun and in some places gross story about the most known criminal of Australia, Mark "Chopper" Reed. Now, I am not Australian, nor have I read Choppers books, so I really can't say how accurate this movie is to towards it's sources but what I can say it does work quite well as a movie.

And as it is stated in the film, the story isn't a salute towards crime, so it doesn't try to be truthful to the max

Chopper (Eric Bana) is a man with a dream: to become most notorious man of Australia. This he tries to achieve by doing crimes, looting and murders but not drugs. He also exaggerates his stories, so no-one actually knows what he has done and in what extent. This give possibilities to tell same stuff from the point of view of other occupants.

Good film, mostly because of brilliant acting by Bana. Defintly his best movie (as an actor) to date.