The IMDb doesn't have a great reputation these days for a number of factors which I won't bother going in to ,but if there's a film that the majority opinion has got right it's this one . SHOOT has a rather Luke warm reception with comments saying it's a film that's never as good as it could have been , or is a mediocre movie or is unrealistic . Certainly it's a film I'd never heard of until accidentally stumbling upon it and considering it has two big name actors in the shape of Cliff Robertson and Ernest Borgnine that alone tells you there's a reason as to why it's so obscure
SHOOT is certainly a film with great potential . DELIVERENCE had spawned a subgenre that subsequently become known as " Backwoods brutality " . The Vietnam war had just ended in inglorious defeat for America so right away you're watching a film with massive potential for structuralism and political comment . For some strange reason any political subtext remains unexplored and when someone states " They look just like us " when the two hunting parties come across each other you soon come to realise this is probably coincidence rather than writer Dick Berg making a wider anti-war statement . Instead of making any subtle points the film concerns itself far more with setting up a totally unlikely and melodramatic plot turn featuring revenge that'll have you shaking your head as to how this would probably never happen in real life and then nodding your head that the IMDb reviews saying that this is an unrealistic movie are correct
Another annoying aspect to the film is a very cheap budget which gives the impression that it's a TVM , so much so that when characters start swearing it almost comes as a shock to the system . The bleak , murky , grimy cinematography also adds to this impression . Would I be correct in stating this is a badly directed movie ? Regardless of this the majority opinion on this page that it's a ridiculous mediocre movie is correct
SHOOT is certainly a film with great potential . DELIVERENCE had spawned a subgenre that subsequently become known as " Backwoods brutality " . The Vietnam war had just ended in inglorious defeat for America so right away you're watching a film with massive potential for structuralism and political comment . For some strange reason any political subtext remains unexplored and when someone states " They look just like us " when the two hunting parties come across each other you soon come to realise this is probably coincidence rather than writer Dick Berg making a wider anti-war statement . Instead of making any subtle points the film concerns itself far more with setting up a totally unlikely and melodramatic plot turn featuring revenge that'll have you shaking your head as to how this would probably never happen in real life and then nodding your head that the IMDb reviews saying that this is an unrealistic movie are correct
Another annoying aspect to the film is a very cheap budget which gives the impression that it's a TVM , so much so that when characters start swearing it almost comes as a shock to the system . The bleak , murky , grimy cinematography also adds to this impression . Would I be correct in stating this is a badly directed movie ? Regardless of this the majority opinion on this page that it's a ridiculous mediocre movie is correct