“Now how are we going to do our thing with a pig riding around with us?”

Drake’s rating: Murder attempt by crossbow is a pretty common tactic for an assassin in D&D.

Drake’s review: Australia’s history with outlaw motorcycle clubs goes back to at least 1960, with the formation of the Gladiators in New South Wales. Its movie history with MCs goes back to at least… well, 1974, since I’m not aware of any Australian biker* flicks preceding Stone. There have been a number since then, of varying quality, but as far as I can tell, Stone was the first, and it set a pretty high bar for all of the movies that came after it.

Which, honestly, isn’t really that difficult to do since most biker movies are shot on the cheap, with all of the cinematic downfalls that implies. Bad acting and amateurish direction are commonplace in these flicks, with storylines that range from the ridiculous to the inane. Still, a gem glistens through the heap every now and then, and Stone is one of the shiniest.

That’s probably because director Sandy Harbutt approaches Stone like a regular movie rather than a biker exploitation flick. Sure, the exploitative elements are there, but Harbutt isn’t really interested in dwelling on them. He captures the moments and then moves on, taking some time to explore the bikers’ lifestyle and trying to convey just who these people are and why they feel the need to form their own private subculture. Harbutt doesn’t get overly caught up in trying to portray the bikers as outcasts and misfits, but he does touch on it enough to make Stone somewhat distinct from its American cousins.

It’s also interesting because the bikers are the victims in Stone rather than the aggressors. Having been hanging around at a local politician’s speech, the Gravediggers MC flee as fast as they can when the man is shot by an unseen sniper. Although they don’t seem to be suspects themselves, they nonetheless come under attack by a mysterious third party. One Gravedigger is decapitated by a wire strung across the road while another is the victim of a bomb rigged to his motorcycle. A third is literally driven off the road, and off of a cliff.

The Gravediggers brush off the cops when they come around, telling them that they’ll find and handle the culprits themselves, even though they really have no more idea of what’s going on than the police do. So in a last-ditch effort, the department sends one of their younger detectives in to ask some questions of the club.

And if you’re thinking that Stone, the younger cop, is going to go undercover and hang out with the bikers until he can find the assassins, then you’re only half-right. You see, the gang catches on to his law enforcement career immediately, and Stone just openly admits that he’s a cop. That, plus a timely save of one of the Gravediggers from a hidden assailant with a crossbow, convinces just enough of the members that Stone is okay, for a cop, and they let him ride with them as he tries to solve the case.

Quite a bit of the movie is taken up with Stone learning more about the bikers themselves, and he forms something of a bond with them. Still, the gap between cop and biker is always there, and Stone is definitely an outsider in their world, a fact which becomes crucial as the bikers get closer and closer to finding out just who keeps targeting them. After all, while Stone wants to make an arrest, the bikers have a more permanent solution in mind for their assailants.

Stone is an interesting film and a solid directorial debut from actor Sandy Harbutt, who also plays Undertaker, the Gravediggers president. Although not a massive hit, it did do well at the Australian box office, which makes it something of a surprise that Harbutt never directed another movie. Considering the fact that he did have other projects that he was attempting to get made in the following years, it feels like a massive missed opportunity just as Australian cinema was starting to get some international notice.

Stone is one of the better biker flicks out there, and a great example of Ozsploitation filmmaking in its 1970s heyday. Similar to how George Miller one-upped the automotive mayhem movies a few years later, Harbutt takes a distinctly American movie genre and breathes new life into it by focusing on characters over action. Stone may have been Harbutt’s only film, but he made it a memorable one.

*I should mention that bikers in Australia are known as “bikies.”

Intermission!

• You’ll definitely be seeing a lot of Toecutter/Immortan Joe himself, Hugh Keays-Byrne, in Stone, which is his film debut. Also be on the lookout for Roger Ward, who played Captain Fifi Macaffee in Mad Max.
• “No swimming. Extreme pollution!” That sign has convinced me to stay out of the water. It didn’t even need to mention sharks.
• That dive off of the cliff! Australian stunt men really are a different breed.
• Blue beaded necklace and a Rolling Stones pin. It’s the Seventies!
• There’s a “Bad Max” among the Gravediggers.
• OK, I’ve had three ear piercings and never got put into a headlock for any of them.
• Messing with the suits. A favorite pastime for bikers and Mutants alike.
• Cheating at strip poker? Why, I am shocked!
• “All law is based on violence, man, and any cat who breaks the law gets clobbered.” Undertaker working on his law school dissertation.