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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I've waited 7 long years for this release!, June 10, 2004
One of my top five "most wanted" flix finally gets released in the U.S!!! While it's too soon to comment on the quality of the DVD, allow me to try to sell you on the flick itself... Brought to you by Geoff Wright, the writer/director of ROMPER STOMPER, this film, like its notorious predecessor, traces the troubled lives of a group of working class Aussie teens. However, unlike the racist skinheads of the earlier movie (which is excellent in its own right), the kids in METAL SKIN are far more relatable. They're just bored, broke teens looking for some kicks, looking to get laid, looking to fall in love, and, above all else, looking for a car that will kick-ass in the illegal drag races that make up the Friday night social scene in their town. Part of the beauty of this film is the way it introduces a quartet of standard-issue characters and then proceeds to blow away all of your pre-conceived, BREAKFAST CLUB-like notions of what's supposed to happen to them. There's Joe, the loveable loser who just wants to fit in; Dazey, the handsome, but selfish, stud for whom everything comes so easy; Savina, the misguided Goth chick who hopes to overcome her insecurities by dabbling in witchcraft; and finally, Roslyn, the beautiful girl who has it all. Or so it would seem. We all know how things would turn out for these characters in any other movie -- the good kids would triumph, the bad kids would get knocked down a peg or two, and everyone would learn a valuable lesson -- but Wright forces you to constantly re-evaluate your impression of who's good and who's bad in this flick, until the designations themselves dissipate into nothingness, like exhaust fumes in the chill night air. As with ROMPER STOMPER, the end result is brutal, poignant and totally unpredictable. I saw this film as part of a double-bill with ROMPER STOMPER at a film festival about 7 years ago and haven't been able to get it out of my head since, at least in part because it's been impossible to see since that time. Never released in the U.S., this film is equally obscure in its native Australia. From the articles I've read about it, the film was an infamous flop Down Under, playing a one-week run in a few select cities before being chased off the screen by vicious reviews and disappointing attendance. That's a damn shame, as this film packs one hell of wallop! Thank you, Pathfinder, for giving METAL SKIN a second chance at finding its audience. I know that I can't wait to finally see it again!!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Petrolheads, November 17, 2006
This review is from: Metal Skin (DVD)
Much like Geoffrey Wright's previous motion picture 'Romper Stomper', this is essiantially a love story. A love triangle with the impressionable Joe (Aden Young) in the middle. Joe so badly wants to be like Robert (Ben Mendelsohn in another great role for him). He wants the attention, the girls, the admiration from other youths and to be able to drive fast cars like Robert. And whatever Joe wants, Robert seems to get. In a world of fast cars and street drag racing, we see how far one young man will go, to get the woman he so desperately wants.
Building up to an exciting climax, this fast paced movie will leave you stunned by the end. The cars are great, anyone who loves V8's will get their kicks out of this movie.
Special features include a trailer, a commentary, interviews with director and 3 of the 4 main actors and a short movie 'lover boy' which inspired metal skin.
A good movie which captures the angst of one young man and the world he is trapped in. Explores the world of all 4 central characters perfectly.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A revhead flick that's far from a drag, October 19, 2006
This review is from: Metal Skin (DVD)
First let me say that the following review is not my own: it was written by Chris Stafford for People magazine back in the 90's. I am reproducing it here (including the review title) because it is simply the best and most accurate review of this great film I have read.
You can almost smell the petrol and burning rubber in Metal Skin, a pedal-to-the metal ride into the fractured world of a bunch of drag racing dead-end kids. Once again, the industrial outer suburbs of Melbourne are the background for an often grisly story of twisted love and faded dreams. Yep, that's Melbourne all right.
Young is terrific as the petrolhead wannabe Joe, an ugly, tongue-tied loser who'd give anything to be part of Dazey's fast crowd. Magnetic but dangerous, Dazey (yet another great part for Mendelsohn) is one of those people admired by blokes and chased by women - especially Roslyn (Garner), his deeply wounded girlfriend, and Savina (Morice), an equally damaged refugee from a loony religious family. In fact, all of the characters are damaged or doomed; even Dazey, who seems to be all guts and glamour, turns out to be a victim.
If the flick has one major fault, it's the gruesome, far-fletched subplot involving Savina's obsession with black magic - though Morice, now a long way from Strictly Ballroom, almost pulls it off in a gutsy, edgy performance.
Geoffrey Wright's last movie, Romper Stomper, said all it had to say in it's first five minutes. But this time, even though the best scenes are the thunderous car chases and a strobe-lit brawl at a party, Wright does take his foot off the gas every now and then. For obvious reasons, he had to ditch the original title, Speed. The change works fine because, more than any other recent Aussie flick, Metal Skin gets right under the skins of it's audience - whether they like it or not. It's scary, it's gloomy, it's sometimes downright miserable, but Metal Skin hits and runs.
So buckle up and ride.
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