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 The Alpha Plan - Episode One
 Goodbye Pork Pie
 Making Utu
 The Quiet Earth
 Numero Bruno
 Blerta Revisited

Synopsis

The Italian Job meets cheap jugs and a student union gig in this early Geoff Murphy (Pork Pie, Quiet Earth, Utu) heist tale. Tank Busters' plot follows some Vic Uni students — short on exam fees and beer money — and their scheme to crack a campus safe ... the things kids got up to before internal assessment! Murphy enlisted $4000 and a bevy of mates (including Bruno on bongos) to make the film over nine months of weekends. It screened on TV on New Year’s Eve 1970; its assured pace and tyro verve in stark contrast to the stage-derived telly standards of the time.

Credits (13)

 Geoff Murphy

Geoff Murphy
Director, Actor

 Peter Needham

Peter Needham
Actor

 Leslie Maughan

Leslie Maughan
Actor

See all credits ›

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Produced by

Acme Sausage Company

Source

 The Film Shop

The Film Shop

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Related Titles (13)

 The Quiet Earth

The Quiet Earth

Film, 1986 (Trailer and Excerpts)

Also stars Bruno and directed by Murphy

 Goodbye Pork Pie

Goodbye Pork Pie

Film, 1981 (Trailer, Excerpts, and Extras)

More Geoff Murphy action

 The Alpha Plan - Episode One

The Alpha Plan - Episode One

Television, 1969 (Full Length Episode)

Another stylishly shot contemporary TV show

 Blerta Revisited

Blerta Revisited

Film, 2001 (Full Length)

A doco on the Blerta troupe

 Numero Bruno

Numero Bruno

Television, 2000 (Full Length)

A doco on actor Bruno Lawrence

 Making Utu

Making Utu

Television, 1982 (Full Length)

More Murphy, Lawrence et al

 Utu

Utu

Film, 1983 (Trailer and Excerpts)

Also directed by Geoff Murphy

 Pukemanu

Pukemanu

Television, 1971

Also features Murphy as an actor

 Hunter's Gold - Episode One

Hunter's Gold - Episode One

Television, 1976 (Full Length Episode)

Another film about men looking for a quick buck

 Manurewa

Manurewa

Short Film, 2010 (Full Length)

A non-fiction robbery-gone-wrong story

 Infection

Infection

Short Film, 1999 (Full Length)

A computer animated varsity heist

 Loose Enz - The Pumice Land

Loose Enz - The Pumice Land

Television, 1981 (Full Length)

A later acting role for Geoff Murphy

 Never Say Die

Never Say Die

Film, 1988 (Trailer and Excerpts)

A later cops and crims tale from Murphy

Collections.   See all collections ›  

Included in:

 The Bruno Lawrence Collection

The Bruno Lawrence Collection

Curated by NZ On Screen Team
Added 10 February 2011

Quotes

As far as I’m concerned until you get your memory back, I’m not going to let you out of my sight. 

– Bruno to the winsome student clerk who’s forgotten where the stash is