The fairly basic plot follows the assassination of an environmentalist MP witnessed by a member of the GraveDiggers `motorcycle club', and the subsequent demise of various bikers as the inept hitman attempts to erase the witness. Unfortunately Stone (Ken Shorter) is not particularly convincing as an undercover cop sent to infiltrate the gang and solve the murders. His first scene ludicrously depicts him riding to meet the GraveDiggers dressed as some kind of white knight, and he fatuously asks the question in the bar `D'ya sell beer here?' The GraveDiggers discuss their philosophy and their own set of rules and when Stone transgresses their code he suffers the gang's bloody vengeance. The level of violence is expected but shown in a clumsy mechanised way firmly rooted to 70's style movie making. For the enthusiast the bikes are given plenty of opportunities to shine, including the highly original Gosford Expressway funeral procession and the low level shots of a street race, and Sydney's suburbs and coastline receive the scenic treatment.
Helen Morse (Picnic at Hanging Rock; Caddie) in one of her earliest film roles, gives one of the more credible performances as Stone's rather sexy high society girlfriend who objects to having to share him with his cause of `fearless gang busting', and she is also credited along with Margaret Ure for the costume designs.
Sandy Harbutt's quirky cult film (he also cast himself as the Undertaker) has obviously dated with its 1970's bikes, fashions, psychedelic rock music and colourful language (`I told you to keep your spanners off our molls'), and its authenticity in depicting `bikie gangs' maybe only slightly more believable than the Hell's Angels in the Clint Eastwood orangutan comedies (especially Any Which Way You Can). The recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald (3/9/01) of the Perth car-bomb killing of a former West Australian policeman embroiled in a dispute with bikie gangs, believed to be an act of retribution, illustrates the true menace. The real life intrigue involved a gang member being shot by a sniper soon after the ex-policeman had evicted him from his hotel, which was subsequently blown up. A spokesman for the NSW police stated that when it comes to organised crime, the bikie gangs are "the single biggest threat" confronting them and the community, and that compared to youth gangs and other crime syndicates, the bikies are "clearly more organised, ruthless, hierarchical and controlled in their organisation."
However, Stone remains an interesting piece of Australian nostalgia and justifiably a classic for its subject and style, rather than as a polished thriller, with youthful performances by some of Australia's seasoned actors.
The ScreenSound (Australia) Shop has commercial copies of the video for sale.
Helen Morse (Picnic at Hanging Rock; Caddie) in one of her earliest film roles, gives one of the more credible performances as Stone's rather sexy high society girlfriend who objects to having to share him with his cause of `fearless gang busting', and she is also credited along with Margaret Ure for the costume designs.
Sandy Harbutt's quirky cult film (he also cast himself as the Undertaker) has obviously dated with its 1970's bikes, fashions, psychedelic rock music and colourful language (`I told you to keep your spanners off our molls'), and its authenticity in depicting `bikie gangs' maybe only slightly more believable than the Hell's Angels in the Clint Eastwood orangutan comedies (especially Any Which Way You Can). The recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald (3/9/01) of the Perth car-bomb killing of a former West Australian policeman embroiled in a dispute with bikie gangs, believed to be an act of retribution, illustrates the true menace. The real life intrigue involved a gang member being shot by a sniper soon after the ex-policeman had evicted him from his hotel, which was subsequently blown up. A spokesman for the NSW police stated that when it comes to organised crime, the bikie gangs are "the single biggest threat" confronting them and the community, and that compared to youth gangs and other crime syndicates, the bikies are "clearly more organised, ruthless, hierarchical and controlled in their organisation."
However, Stone remains an interesting piece of Australian nostalgia and justifiably a classic for its subject and style, rather than as a polished thriller, with youthful performances by some of Australia's seasoned actors.
The ScreenSound (Australia) Shop has commercial copies of the video for sale.