During the four-week trial the Mickelberg brothers were cross-examined in the witness box for days on end.

[2] The film is a fictional recreation of a crime which resulted in the defrauding of the Perth Mint of gold bullion then worth $650,000 in June 1982.

The film depicts the brothers Mickelberg as culprits in the theft of 49 gold bars from the mint in Perth, Western Australia and their subsequent arrest and questioning.

The Mickelberg brothers, two abalone divers (one of them an ex- SAS commando) and a helicopter pilot enter into a conspiracy to induce the Mint to hand over three lots of bullion in return for falsified building society cheques.

also The Australian Film and Television Companion called The Great Gold Swindle a "well made reconstruction ... A strong cast make it believable.