Romper Stomper (1992)

Filmed - Aug 12, 1991 – Sept 20, 1991

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A gang of Australian Skinheads take their frustrations out on Vietnamese immigrants. Hatred kept the Skinheads together, but  a woman pulls them apart just as the foreigners they have been terrorizing decide to fight back. Nominated for nine Australian Film Institute Awards. It won Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Original Music & Best Achievement in Sound

The burning intensity of Russell Crowe (L.A. Confidential) first lit up screens as a hate-filled, Mein Kampf-spouting skinhead in this brutal Australian drama. Crowe glowers from under his deep-set eyes as Hando, the creepy but charismatic leader of a racist gang who declares war on the Asian immigrants pouring into Melbourne. His rage erupts in violent attacks on the local Vietnamese community, but when his victims fight back his gang breaks up, and Hando flees the city with his best buddy Davey (Daniel Pollock) and redheaded hellion Gabe (Jacqueline McKenzie), a rich girl runaway who turns the dynamic duo into a splintered love triangle. Writer-director Geoffrey Wright's matter-of-fact treatment of this subculture eschews social commentary for visceral immediacy. His portrait of white supremacist punks living like squatters on the fringes of Australian society is powered by coiled anger and simmering frustration, which finds its outlet in brutal fights and murderous rampages (the intense violence earned the film an NC-17 rating). The lack of moral position may bother some people, especially in light of Wright's sympathetic treatment of particular members of Hando's racist army, and the cold, hate-driven violence is sometimes hard to watch, but his vivid characters and richly drawn world create a compelling drama for adventurous filmgoers. --Sean Axmaker

Russell Crowe plays his most controversial character to date, Hando, a neo-nazi bent on destroying anything or anyone foreign that he feels is responsible for his problems in Melbourne, Australia. Hando and his gang take joy in terrorizing and beating a group of local Vietnamese, until finally the "foreigners" have had enough and retaliate. Now Hando and his group are the hunted and on the run.

Hando has a brief affair with Gabe (Jacqueline McKenzie), a troubled woman, but she quickly moves onto Hando's right hand man, Davey (Daniel Pollock). Not really a love triangle, but it is the closest the movie ever comes to one. Russell's fury in this movie frightened me, and his acting prowess was certainly established here. His role in Romper Stomper won him Best Actor in a Lead Role from the Australian Film Institute, and caught Sharon Stone's attention, resulting in Russell being cast as Cort in The Quick and the Dead.