- Joined
- Apr 13, 2021
- Messages
- 297
hi all,
I posted this on another thread regarding performance enhancement but I thought it might be of interest as a thread on it’s own
it refers to a movie called Stone, about a bikie group and some murders set in Sydney probably about 1973.
it was rather prescient as it addressed the problems of Vietnam veterans returning to civilian life after the conflict.
It is a great movie and captures the thrill of riding fast bikes. Very different from Easy Rider, more gritty and much better riding. It helped nurture my love of bikes.
When it came out I was too young to get in and see it as it was R rated. Eventually I was able to sneak in to a theatre, I just loved it. It was an anthem to us. As a Northern Suburb Sydney boy I could recognise all the locations and when I somehow managed to buy a Yamaha TX 500 at 16 and 9 months (L Plate age), complete with custom paint and bikini fairing I was right there in my mind, through the bends of River Rd where many scenes were filmed.
Many rears later, perhaps the early 2000s, the producer of Stone visited our town (Bombala) to give a talk about the making of the movie and a special showing on the antique carbon arc projector equipment. The story of how it was made, the cat and mouse battle with the police who were trying to prevent the street scenes were unbelievable. The riders (A graders from Willoughby Motor Cycle Club) had large 16mm movie cameras strapped to their helmet. The first time this had ever been attempted.
Also amazing was Kawasaki Australia’s unbelievable generosity and faith in the production in giving them unlimited access to brand new Kawasaki Z900 motorcycles. And they wrecked a few! It absolutely put that fine bike on the map in Australia
Of course the big road race between the policeman (Stone) on his Commando and the aboriginal bikie on a 900 was the highlight of the movie for me (barracking for the Norton of course) . At the last minute the Norton crashes and the Kwacker wins.
At the special showing the producer mentioned the possibility of a sequel (it never occurred) and tongue in cheek I asked him if he would get the riding scenes correct in the next movie. He asked what I meant and I quipped that the Norton should have won, with a wink.
As a total coincidence, last weekend I was up in Sydney and visited the old abandoned fortifications on Sydney’s magnificent harbour foreshore that provided the set for the Gravedigger’s (ex army bikie group as Australian troops are referred to as ‘diggers’)
A great movie!
al
I posted this on another thread regarding performance enhancement but I thought it might be of interest as a thread on it’s own
it refers to a movie called Stone, about a bikie group and some murders set in Sydney probably about 1973.
it was rather prescient as it addressed the problems of Vietnam veterans returning to civilian life after the conflict.
It is a great movie and captures the thrill of riding fast bikes. Very different from Easy Rider, more gritty and much better riding. It helped nurture my love of bikes.
When it came out I was too young to get in and see it as it was R rated. Eventually I was able to sneak in to a theatre, I just loved it. It was an anthem to us. As a Northern Suburb Sydney boy I could recognise all the locations and when I somehow managed to buy a Yamaha TX 500 at 16 and 9 months (L Plate age), complete with custom paint and bikini fairing I was right there in my mind, through the bends of River Rd where many scenes were filmed.
Many rears later, perhaps the early 2000s, the producer of Stone visited our town (Bombala) to give a talk about the making of the movie and a special showing on the antique carbon arc projector equipment. The story of how it was made, the cat and mouse battle with the police who were trying to prevent the street scenes were unbelievable. The riders (A graders from Willoughby Motor Cycle Club) had large 16mm movie cameras strapped to their helmet. The first time this had ever been attempted.
Also amazing was Kawasaki Australia’s unbelievable generosity and faith in the production in giving them unlimited access to brand new Kawasaki Z900 motorcycles. And they wrecked a few! It absolutely put that fine bike on the map in Australia
Of course the big road race between the policeman (Stone) on his Commando and the aboriginal bikie on a 900 was the highlight of the movie for me (barracking for the Norton of course) . At the last minute the Norton crashes and the Kwacker wins.
At the special showing the producer mentioned the possibility of a sequel (it never occurred) and tongue in cheek I asked him if he would get the riding scenes correct in the next movie. He asked what I meant and I quipped that the Norton should have won, with a wink.
As a total coincidence, last weekend I was up in Sydney and visited the old abandoned fortifications on Sydney’s magnificent harbour foreshore that provided the set for the Gravedigger’s (ex army bikie group as Australian troops are referred to as ‘diggers’)
A great movie!
al