Cliff Robertson was involved in some pretty decent movies in 1976 "Midway", "Obsession" and the TV movie "Return To Earth" spring to mind. The same cannot be said for Ernest Borgnine for whom 1976 was an 'annus horriblis' in terms of film work. Not only did Borgnine find himself in the dire Italian sex film "Natale In Casa D'Appuntamento", he also co-starred with Robertson in one of the very worst films of the year the utterly wretched anti-gun thriller "Shoot". You will have to look far and wide for a more boring, obvious, unappealing and morally muddled film than this Canadian offering from director Harvey Hart. It doesn't even fall into the so-bad-it's-good-on-a-curiosity-level category.
By day, Rex Jeanette (Cliff Robertson) runs a successful furniture business, but he really lives for evenings and weekends when he and his buddies run an army club and go deer hunting in the nearby forests. One weekend, four of the regular deer hunters travel up to Rex's woodland lodge for a Saturday shooting expedition. Besides Rex himself, there are his pals Lou (Ernest Borgnine), Zeke (Henry Silva) and Pete (James Blendick). Whilst out in the forest they encounter another group of hunters, but for no obvious reason the other group open fire on them and Zeke shoots back, killing one of the opposite group's guys. In panic, Rex's group return home and contemplate their next move Lou wants to report the incident to the cops, but Zeke is worried that he might be jailed for killing a man, and Rex himself thinks the other group won't report the incident because it was them who shot first. As the week progresses it becomes clear that Rex is right when the story of the hunter's death finally appears in the newspapers, it turns out that his friends have fabricated a story about how he was killed by an accidental stray bullet. Rex realises that the other group want to have revenge their own way, and figures that the two sides are expected to revisit the site of their earlier encounter to shoot it out. Strangely excited at the prospect, Rex recruits extra men and gathers extra ammunition for the second shoot-out, almost turning the whole affair into a weekend military war game. But when the confrontation finally comes, which side will be most prepared?......
For about ten minutes, "Shoot" gives no indication of just how poor it is going to be. The opening sequence in which Rex and his hunting pals run across the other hunting party is put together with enough competence to suggest that a half-decent outdoor thriller might be on the cards. But from there forth, the film is a long-winded bore. We trudge through the whole week leading up to the second shoot-out, watching Rex and his buddies going about their daily lives, meeting up after work to plan their attack. This section of the film goes on and on and on, stumbling from one pointless debate/argument/meeting to another. Watching paint dry is preferable to sticking with the film through this particular segment. When the final shoot-out comes it is over faster than you can blink, and culminates with a pretentious "twist" that has been obvious for the entire length of the film. At any point you might think to yourself: "what if the other group are preparing themselves better? What if they want it more? What if they arm themselves stronger? What if they plan their attack with greater cunning?" If any of those thoughts occur to you, then you're smarter than Rex Jeanette . and you're infinitely smarter than director Harvey Hart expects you to be!
By day, Rex Jeanette (Cliff Robertson) runs a successful furniture business, but he really lives for evenings and weekends when he and his buddies run an army club and go deer hunting in the nearby forests. One weekend, four of the regular deer hunters travel up to Rex's woodland lodge for a Saturday shooting expedition. Besides Rex himself, there are his pals Lou (Ernest Borgnine), Zeke (Henry Silva) and Pete (James Blendick). Whilst out in the forest they encounter another group of hunters, but for no obvious reason the other group open fire on them and Zeke shoots back, killing one of the opposite group's guys. In panic, Rex's group return home and contemplate their next move Lou wants to report the incident to the cops, but Zeke is worried that he might be jailed for killing a man, and Rex himself thinks the other group won't report the incident because it was them who shot first. As the week progresses it becomes clear that Rex is right when the story of the hunter's death finally appears in the newspapers, it turns out that his friends have fabricated a story about how he was killed by an accidental stray bullet. Rex realises that the other group want to have revenge their own way, and figures that the two sides are expected to revisit the site of their earlier encounter to shoot it out. Strangely excited at the prospect, Rex recruits extra men and gathers extra ammunition for the second shoot-out, almost turning the whole affair into a weekend military war game. But when the confrontation finally comes, which side will be most prepared?......
For about ten minutes, "Shoot" gives no indication of just how poor it is going to be. The opening sequence in which Rex and his hunting pals run across the other hunting party is put together with enough competence to suggest that a half-decent outdoor thriller might be on the cards. But from there forth, the film is a long-winded bore. We trudge through the whole week leading up to the second shoot-out, watching Rex and his buddies going about their daily lives, meeting up after work to plan their attack. This section of the film goes on and on and on, stumbling from one pointless debate/argument/meeting to another. Watching paint dry is preferable to sticking with the film through this particular segment. When the final shoot-out comes it is over faster than you can blink, and culminates with a pretentious "twist" that has been obvious for the entire length of the film. At any point you might think to yourself: "what if the other group are preparing themselves better? What if they want it more? What if they arm themselves stronger? What if they plan their attack with greater cunning?" If any of those thoughts occur to you, then you're smarter than Rex Jeanette . and you're infinitely smarter than director Harvey Hart expects you to be!