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:

"Drugs are ruining crime"

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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

Referring to the police as 'Amanda Duncan' is unusual. The term may have arisen from an amalgamation of names from an Australian television series, Cop Shop (1977). Paula Duncan played a character called Danni Francis, while Lynda Stoner played a character called Amanda King.

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Goofs

Despite having his right ear cut off in prison, Chopper's right ear remains visibly intact throughout the movie.

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Quotes

Chopper: I used to be Chopper Read. Now I can't even get arrested in this bloody town.

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Connections

Referenced in A Weekend with Chopper (2001)

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Soundtracks

Black & Blue
Written by Matt Taylor (as Taylor), Phil Manning (as Manning), Barry Sullivan (as Sullivan) and Barry Harvey (as Harvey)
Performed by Chain
(Festival Music Pty Ltd, Australia)
(P) 1971 Festival Records Australia Pty Ltd
Licensed from Festival Mushroom Group

User Reviews

Amazing Performance By Eric Bana!

CHOPPER (3+ outta 5 stars) Nifty little character study of a notorious Australian criminal... well, notorious in his own mind, at least. The jury is still out on how much of the autobiographical details of the life of "Chopper" read are real and how much is fake... but it does make a compelling story either way. Eric Bana gives a great performance in the lead... nothing else I've ever seen him in prepared me for how good he really is. The character he plays is nasty, repellent, scary, ill-tempered... and still full of charisma. After a violent stint in prison (his motto appears to be "do unto others before they do it unto you") Chopper is sent back out into society. With no other skills besides his knowledge of crime, Chopper offers himself to the local police as a special undercover agent. They, of course, want nothing to do with his boneheaded scheme but he pretends that they do anyway. Inflicting pain (on himself *and* others) seems to be what he is best at and he gets plenty of opportunities to show his stuff. Amusing though it may be at times, the movie is not a glorification of violence... the ferocity and suddenness of it keeps the audience constantly on edge.