Die Geldhaie

The story of an armored car robbery, apparently based on a true case. The acting is solid and the action, especially for a small budget film, is deftly handled, There are a number of good twists and turns along the way.

On the other hand, there's a bit of a feeling something's missing, like a unifying theme or underlying ideas. Or even character development.

Unlike (for example) Ben Affleck's recent The Town", this is a pretty simple film, just telling you an exciting story as solid B movie entertainment, and not aiming for much more. But there's certainly room for that alongside more 'thoughtful' or character orientated crime flicks.

Well shot, well directed by a young Bruce Beresford, and worth seeing if you're a fan of the genre.

Money Movers is another highlight of Australian cinema of the 1970s. It is overshadowed by the more successful Mad Max and failed at the Australian box office when released.

This heist thriller is more inspired by British movies such as Get Carter or television shows of that era such as The Sweeney.

Brothers Eric Jackson (Terence Donovan) and Brian Jackson (Bryan Brown) work as security guards for Darcy's Security Services.

They plan to rob their own firm but crime boss Jack Henderson finds out about their plan and wants a big cut. He also plans to have them killed once the job is done.

Leo Bassett is an insurance agent who has gone undercover as a security guard suspecting something bad is about to take place. Dick Martin is a disgraced ex cop who gets a second chance at Darcy's.

Director Bruce Beresford has made a tough thriller adapted from a novel. You can sense there is a complex plot here as the disparate elements of the story start to converge.

The movie also explores police corruption. With all the subterfuge and double crosses, it has a ferocious bloodsoaked finale.

In between wowing international audiences with 'The Getting of Wisdom' (1977) and 'Breaker Morant' (1980) Bruce Beresford shot this raw, extremely violent little crime drama with a high body count shot mainly in Adeleide. At the time it swiftly vanished without recovering even it's tiny budget, but deserves to be much better known.

It has a much bloodier climax than 'Reservoir Dogs' and laced with that dry humour one associates with even the grimmest Australian movie; as when crime boss Bud Tingwell wearily tells a henchman to "bring in the nail clippers" when simple persuasion isn't working.

(When I originally saw it I loved the music. So I should. It turned out to be the Adagio movement from Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.)

You can almost smell the sweat and testosterone !

This is a movie for the blokes. It's full of tough blokes, violent blokes, bossy blokes, union blokes, angry blokes and blokes who tell the sheilas to go away and let the blokes get on with important blokey business.

Hugely talented Australian cast with an equally talented director. This is what Aussie society was like before we all became middle-class and comfortable.

Oh, the plot? Crooked blokes are practically lining up to rob an armoured-car security firm. The siege mentality builds as the story progresses, as the company tries to work out where the next hit is coming from.

If I had to pick a fault, it was sometimes hard working out who was double-crossing who, some of the dialogue was up to "Law and Order" fast snappy talking standard, but it mostly all makes sense towards the end.

Three stand-out treats - 1. Jeanie Drynan (the mum from Muriel's Wedding) looking very trim & terrific, not at all like the side of a house.

2. The Beaurepaires Tyre man playing a sadistic henchman. (He played a similar scary character in Mad Max).

3. Lucky Grils being excellent light relief as a "Bluey" character.

It was also interesting seeing a young Bryan Brown (un-imaginatively cast as "Brian" !) playing against (later) type ie having a lack of confidence and really feeling the pressure, almost the opposite of his roles in "Cocktail" and "Risk".

So crack open a beer, send the wife out of the room, turn up the volume and enjoy this under-rated Aussie movie.

It's an amazing film. The casting is amazing - notably Ray Marshall, Bryan Brown and Tony Bonne The planning of an armored car heist, you never quite know who's going to do right or wrong, until the very end when the sides are truly drawn and it culminates in an unbelievably violent finale. This, along with a toe clipping torture scene earlier on, gives it the feel of Tarantino/Avary and their ilk, but a good ten years earlier. The tension as the movies gets closer and closer to the actually heist is insane. Why this movie isn't as lauded as Beresford's films before and after this one is a mystery.