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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 9781404968868
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 1404968865
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: December 21, 2004
Running Time: 111 minutes
Sales Rank: 48210
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: August 06, 2004
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Editorial Review:
Description:
When white police officer Andres Stander (played by Tom Jane) suffers a crisis of conscience after his involvement in a riot in Johannesburg, he goes from law enforcer to law breaker, becoming one South Africa's most notorious bank robbers.
Amazon.com:
Stander is the compelling, true story of Andre Stander (superbly played by Tom--formerly Thomas--Jane), an Apartheid-era, South African police captain whose disgust over official repression of the nation's black majority--and his own, lethal participation in those policies--leads to his career as a bank robber. Captured, imprisoned, and on the run after a successful escape, Stander joins two partners (Dexter Fletcher, David Patrick O'Hara) in a long string of bank heists across the country, uncertain of his destiny but yearning for his estranged wife (Deborah Unger). Co-screenwriter and director Bronwen Hughes (Forces of Nature) can't quite overcome the built-in redundancy of the film's latter half (lots of robberies, lots of disguises). But despite all the gunplay, Stander is most interesting for its understated fascination with the enigma of its anti-hero, who wreaks havoc yet is peculiarly committed to atoning--at great pain--for those actions he considers most unethical. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Thomas Janes Best
I had never heard of this movie but saw a program on Court TV about the real story of Andre Stander. I then found out that Thomas Jane had made a movie about it and thought I would check it out. This was a very good movie. I enjoyed it very much. Thomas Jane was excellent as was the rest of the cast. It is a very interesting story that is made even more interesting because it is true. It has political insight into the South African culture and also has a lot of action.
Check this movie out!
Rating: - Tom Jane does a superb job in this thrilling and crackling true story
Stander was a very good film about the real-life exploits of Andre Stander, Lee McCall and Allan Heyl who were known collectively as The Stander Gang. The Stander Gang was well-known for their daring and reckless bank robberies in their homeland of South Africa. The film stars Tom Jane (The Punisher, Deep Blue Sea) as the title character with Dexter Fletcher (Band of Brothers and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and David Patrick O'Hara (Braveheart) rounding out the rest of the Stander Gang.
The film starts off introducing Andre Stander as a highly decorated member of the South African Police Force in the late 1970's and the beginning of the anti-apartheid movement. It shows Andre Stander's growing disgust and disenchantment in his government's racist apartheid policies and his own role in enforcing it. After a violent and brutal break-up of an anti-apartheid protest gathering where Stander kills a protestor, the film begins to move into meat of the story. Stander's disenchantment with the government causes him to commit bank robberis in audacious fashion as a way to rebel and defy the very state he has sworn to protect and serve.
The scenes where Stander commits these bank robberies were shot well and showed just how daring Andre Stander really was in his exploits. There's even a sequence where he returns to the scene of his most recent crime to investigate the robbery. A robbery he just committed just hours before during his lunchtime. These scenes and the later ones ... Read More
Rating:  - PROPAGANDA WOVEN INTO A TRUE CRIMES TALE
STANDER is another political message flick (yes, another!), the message being how oppressive and brutal was the Apartheid era. No, that is not the entire story. STANDER is also a superb action and adventure tale of a white cop who goes bad and starts robbing banks. The writer of STANDER would have us believe that Stander's turn to crime is due to guilt for his actions against a black man during a riot. That may be true but it also just may be true that Andre Stander, played wonderfully by Tom Jane, was just a crook and a rotten cop. Leave it to Hollywood to tell us again and again how evil whites are. Of course, some years after Apartheid came Rwanda where black Hutus slaughtered a million black Tutus in one year, maybe a 1000 times the lynchings in the US in one hundred years. Yet, in this movie, Stander is so burdered by guilt for his "misdeed" that he starts robbing banks. In light of Rwanda, this seems grotesquely silly but strangely redeeming. How many Hutus felt guilty for hacking their brothers to death, man, woman and child, with machetes purchased from China so that they didn't have to waste bullets? I recommend STANDER for the action, the photography and for the compelling "true" story. It is a decent film about a brazen, tough cop who went bad. But it is always useful to keep history in perspective when watching subtle propagranda woven into an adventure tale.
Rating:  - Am I "Politically Correct" Yet?
After reading some glowing reviews of this movie, I made a point of seeing it. Was I disappointed!
Pompous, preachy, self-important, and--worst of all--really dull.
Despite being "based on a true story", it's a plot you've seen many times before, especially in Australian movies. (Think "Ned Kelly".) Especially when people start cheering Stander as a folk hero (for robbing banks?), I got a real sense of deja vu.
Don't waste your time, even if you're a big Thomas Jane fan--I am, and I still hated this movie.
Rating: - Deserves to be noticed, exciting and intriguing, based on true story
Based on a true story of a South African cop who has a change of heart after a bungled riot control operation, this film goes against many of the stereotypes of films based on "reality" but which are, in fact, highly fictionalized versions of the truth, with a bit of truth thrown in.
The story of Stander, former cop turned bank robber, stands apart because it is believable and generally compelling. You can't help but watch to find out how his story ends, what will happen and WHY he does what he does. The film doesn't reveal all but that is fine. Perhaps there weren't any absolute answers as to WHY Stander did what he did. Perhaps his behavior mystified him as much as anyone (the film hints at that).
I can see why this one didn't reach more people, as the accents can make it hard to understand some of the dialogue. There are also some slower parts that are necessary for understanding Stander but which viewers might find wearisome (I did not).
This is far above most of the "highly acclaimed" movies you'll find at the theatre or your local DVD/video/game store. It is well worth seeking out, especially if you like something with plenty of action and suspense but which is also a bit different.
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