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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

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86
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84
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83
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83
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83
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82
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82
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82
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82
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81
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81
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80
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80
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79
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78
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78
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77
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77
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75
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74
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74
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74
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74
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74
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71
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71
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70
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70
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70
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69
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69
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67
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66
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65
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65
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64
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64
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63
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54
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54
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54
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52
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50
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48
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45
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42
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42
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40
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40
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38
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36
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35
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28
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28
Surveillance
22
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18
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16
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xx
Call of the Wild
xx
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xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Chopper
First Look Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Eric Bana,
Simon Lyndon,
Vince Colosimo,
David Field,
Daniel Wyllie,
and
Bill Young
A bold, blackly comic character study about a self-proclaimed "national icon" Mark 'Chopper' Read. A multi-sided examination of the pathology of a complex and violent man, a man who becomes a cult figure thanks to a colourful imagination and a wicked, old-world sense of humour. (First Look Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Andrew Dominik
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Andrew Dominik
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: November 13, 2001
Video: November 13, 2001
Theatrical: April 11, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
90 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Australia |
Original Australian release: 3 August 2000.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
90
Variety
David Stratton
The director has managed the difficult feat of making a nonlinear film that contains a handful of almost unbearably suspenseful sequences, each one undercut by bizarre black humor.

80
Newsweek
Devin Gordon
Hilariously unhinged, but also desperate and confused.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
A most ambitious first film. Dominik pulls it off impressively, assisted by a selfless cast, a driving score by Mick Harvey, and gifted cameramen Kevin Hayward and Geoffrey Hall.

80
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Bana, who appears in nearly every shot, talking all the while, gives a remarkably mercurial performance.

80
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Mr. Bana's Chopper is so scarily convincing that he makes you feel the eruptive force of each mood swing and the way his character's paranoia, egomania and conscience- stricken apologies are part of a volatile emotional cycle.

80
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
Not everyone's cup of tea, but it's actually rather beautiful.

75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Too quick to uncritically and unthinkingly accept its subject's rollickingly self-mythologizing take on himself.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
It's Eric Bana, a popular Australian stand-up comic, who justifies our interest with a dazzling performance of blunt humor, unpredictability and an edge of menace.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
An impressionistic portrait of the seductive nature of evil.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Its dabs of dark comedy and stabs of gore, still rings with a sense of the real. It's electric-charged.
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Pulls no punches - blood flows very freely (including the ear-cutting scene) and black humor abounds.
75
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
Bloody, profane and compelling, Chopper marks an impressive debut for Dominik and a revelation of Bana's talent.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Eric Bana's performance suggests he will soon be leaving the comedy clubs of Australia and turning up as a Bond villain or a madman in a special-effects picture. He has a quality no acting school can teach and few actors can match: You cannot look away from him.

70
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Grotesquely violent, horribly funny.

70
New Times (L.A.)
Andy Klein
Dominik's stylistic choices are savvy, but what really makes the movie work is Bana's extraordinary performance as Chopper.

63
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
It's galling to see such a low-life canonized in a film, but it's also riveting drama.

63
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
There's an awful lot of kinetic energy to Chopper, and the violence is portrayed as graphically as imaginable.
63
Chicago Tribune
Mark Caro
A point is being made about how a criminal creates his own myth, but the ways Read twists and embellishes the truth become progressively less interesting.
60
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
This fictionalized, frequently stomach-churning biography of Australian criminal Mark Chopper Read features the most bloody ear-severing scene since "Reservoir Dogs."
60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Bana's performance is nothing short of electrifying.

60
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
It's a great style, it's a fabulous performance, but it never quite finds what it's searching for.

60
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
The connection between his boasting about killing and killing so he can boast about it -- is made beautifully insidious.

50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
Much ado about very little because it takes no stand and gives little insight into the Chopper's psyche.

42
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
A movie overtly designed to win attention (and not to do much else).

40
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Amibitiously mediocre.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
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