Synopsis

A group of skinheads wage war on the Asian people taking over their neighbourhood, only to end up on the run from the police.

A 1992 Australian action drama film written and directed by Geoffrey Wright, Romper Stomper follows the exploits and downfall of a neo-Nazi skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne. The film launched the international career of New Zealand born Russell Crowe and was supposedly loosely based on leading Melbourne Neo-Nazi skinhead Dane Sweetman.

The film follows the characters of Hando (Russell Crowe) and his friend, and second in command, Davey (Daniel Pollock), as they and their gang wreak havoc on the Vietnamese community in Footscray, Victoria. The film opens with the Neo Nazi's beating up a pair of Vietnamese Australian teenagers, Hondo and his friends concerned about the "Racial Purity" of their country and the influx of immigrants making the nation weaker. The gang comes along the drug addicted epileptic Gabrielle (Jacqueline McKenzie) who comes to them from a life of sexual abuse at the hands of her wealthy father.

When the skinheads discover their favourite pub has been bought by Vietnamese people, Hondo and his Skinheads decide to wage an all out attack on them. However little do they know that their victims have had enough of their racist bullies and have organised their own protection. When the attack takes place, the skinheads find themselves outnumbered and their warehouse is destroyed by their angry victims.

The gang talk about revenge while they take out their frustrations on Gabrielle's father, whose house they trash and who they eventually beat and tie up, an action Gabe justifies for all the years of abuse. As the gang talks about escalating the situation with the Vietnamese, Davey finds himself having doubts about his violent lifestyle. When Hando has a fight with Gabe, she leaves the group with Davey who has decided to leave also and the two head for Davey's grandmothers, however not before Gabe secretly calls the police on Hando and his gang.

As the police arrive to arrest the skinheads, Hondo narrowly escapes them and makes his way to find Davey, only to discover Gabe and Davey in bed together. Despite his apprehensions, Davey decides to stay with Hando until the trio commit a service station robbery and Hando gets out of control resulting in the death of the Asian attendant. With tempers on edge, Gabe confesses to calling the police on Hando only to have him attack her resulting in Davey rushing to protect her by stabbing Hando in the neck. The film ends with Davey and Gabe holding each other on the beach and Hando's corpse looking out onto the ocean while they are overlooked by a bus load of Asian tourists.