You won't be disappointed!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

STONE is one of the best films of all time. Why was it panned by critics on release ? In my opinion,they just did not understand what Sandy Harbutt was doing. Listen to the man as he discusses the production : he is bright and articulate. The perceived 'flaws' of the film are its strength and its charm : have no doubt , Sandy knew EXACTLY the effect he wanted to create.He achieved this with aplomb. It was very much a film of its time,insofar as environmental and development concerns portrayed were at the fore in the Sydney of 40 years ago.Was the film corny? In many respects , yes it was. Who can forget the words uttered by the nightclub manager ,as he lets rip with all the '70's "hip" clichés ? What a marvellously scripted,marvellously hammed- up cameo!Other acting gems include the performance of the cemetery caretaker (was Sandy inspired by the 'gravedigger' in 'Hamlet' ?!),the laconic hostility displayed by the barman(Bill Hunter,RIP)to Stone and the young man who went to the pub to 'gawp' at the bikies(he really DID look intimidated by Toad!) The music was terrific : the rasping instrumental "Pigs"(played as the two policemen interrupt the funeral),Sandy's "Cosmic Flash" and his idea to turn Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" into a rock number. Billy Green(aka Wil Greenstreet)did a fine job with the musical arrangements. And who could forget Doug Parkinson's singing? He sounded like a cross between Tom Jones and Lemmy of Motorhead!If anyone is in,or gets to,Sydney , I recommend you visit the locations. The Middle Head fort / 'amphitheatre' (where Stone is initiated) is much smaller than it looks on film,but it offers a great view of the Harbour. The underground hideout is in fact in a separate location(the film combines the two,to make them appear as one place), a little further west,at the 'Beehive Casemates', near Clifton Gardens.This is well camouflaged,under a large asphalt mound visible from the road,but entry is restricted to people on a national parks tour. The cemetery at Gore Hill is closed,but is still maintained.It is a delightfully tranquil spot. The bike jump into the sea at Wisdom Street,Coogee, would be harder now - there's a small barrier on the cliff! The NSW Art Gallery (where Toad evades the assassin)is situated in the Botanic Gardens. The pub in Balmain,unfortunately,was closed before the film was made.So,great music,great locations,humour,violence,motorbikes,pathos(when the gang explain to Stone how they came together),politics and beer - all in one film ! Nobody could ask for more ! Thank you,Sandy Harbutt and everyone involved in this cinematic masterpiece.

Apparently a "cult favourite" all over the world, STONE is a low-budget crime-thriller centred around a bikie gang whose members are being murdered one-by-one by a political assassin (that's not a spoiler because we're told this during the opening sequences). Before seeing this film, I expected this to be a true bikie cult classic - instead it's rather soft, with very few expletives, sex scenes, and not much violence, particularly given that it's rated "R". Unfortunately, the film became more of a "let's make the bikies accessible to everyone else" film, as they were portrayed as misunderstood alternatives (thank goodness for the climax!!). The film COULD have been a "cult favourite" but somehow I find it hard to believe that it is... Rating: 5/10

Back in '74 the tag line for STONE was "Take the Trip!" By the time the critics had finished savaging this bikie saga, not that many people DID and STONE was headed for cinematic 'Boot Hill.' A funny thing happened though - somewhere along the line it was never fully erased from the collective public conscience and in due course the "legend of Stone" was created - to such an extent that now it is regarded as the "Bikie's bible" and sits proudly in the "70's Hall of fame" of Aussie film-making. It's not even a GOOD flick, either in script, acting or production values. What it DOES offer is high voltage energy and action sequences, mind you the flick is way overlong and quite tedious at times. The plot, such that it isn't, has cop Ken Shorter (at the time riding high on account of his role in YOU CAN'T SEE AROUND CORNERS) infiltrating a bikie gang to see who is knocking off their members with gay abandon. Now Shorter was about as realistic an underground cop as Mark Wahlberg would be playing Harry Potter. What the film DOES offer now in retrospect, is a cast-list not far short of the who's who of seasoned Aussie actors and actresses, all pretty much unknown then. Strictly 70's film-making it paved the way for such as MAD MAX and must be acknowledged for that. Check out the Funeral scene on the Gosford Freeway! - heady stuff!For me personally, I will always retain a soft spot for this film. I knew Sandy Harbutt and Helen Morse (then his wife) quite well during the making of this film as they purchased my beloved 1952 Riley 2 1/2 litre sedan from me, for the princely sum of $740. (You could add a zero to that today and then DOUBLE it!) Like that beautiful car, the film now remains a classic of its time!

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.