The Odd Angry Shot (1979)

Director:

Tom Jeffrey

Writers:

Tom Jeffrey (written by)
William L. Nagle (novel)

Release Date:

1 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | War

Plot:

In between drinking cans of Fosters beer, Australian soldiers tread on a few landmines, and generally experience the war in Vietnam. |

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Australian Soldier | Soldier | Australia | Bridge

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Graham Kennedy	...	Harry
John Hargreaves	...	Bung
John Jarratt	...	Bill
Bryan Brown	...	Rogers
Graeme Blundell	...	Dawson
Richard Moir	...	Medic
Ian Gilmour	...	Scott
Graham Rouse	...	The Cook
John Allen	...	Lieut. Golonka
Tony Barry	...	Black Ronnie
Brandon Burke	...	Isaacs
John Fitzgerald	...	Intelligence Corporal
Mike Harris	...	Sergeant Major
Johnny Garfield	...	Padre
Ray Meagher	...	Range Corporal

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Canungra, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

The Iroquois ('Huey') helicopters used by the SAS patrols in this movie are those of 9 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, on kind loan from the Australian Defence Force. This squadron - and indeed, the very helicopters seen in the film - actually served in combat during the Vietnam War.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the two American soldiers are arranging the tarantula vs scorpion match, one says their "2IC" meaning 2nd in command. The American word would be "XO" meaning executive officer.

Quotes:

Bill: [trying to drink a can of beer] I can't find the hole.
Harry: You could if it had hair 'round it.

Soundtrack:

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Could Have Done With A Bigger Budget

I first saw THE ODD ANGRY SHOT in the early 1980s when my knowledge of the Vietnam war was very little and my knowledge of Australian involvement was zero . It also has the distinction of being - Apart from THE GREEN BERETS so that doesn`t count - the first feature film I saw to be set around the conflict of the Vietnam war which was fortunate because this low budget Aussie film doesn`t hold up very well compared to the big budget Hollywood productions of the 70s and 80s . For example the locations resemble the bush of Northern Australia rather than the jungles of Indo -China , that`s probably because this film was indeed filmed in Northern Australia , and the fact that Australia has such a small pool of actors means some of them are unconvincing as SAS soldiers , namely Graham Kennedy .

I wholeheartedly defend this film for not having massive battle scenes because that wasn`t actually the role of the Aussie SAS in Vietnam . Based in the province of Phouc Tuy about 70 kilometres South East of Saigon the regiment`s role was intelligence gathering , reconnaissance and identifying VC guerrillas in supposedly " friendly territory " , in other words their missions were totally different from the way the American military decided to fight the war ; ie as a conventional conflict . Though it should be pointed out THE ODD ANGRY SHOT goofs that several SAS soldiers died in the conflict , in reality the SAS lost their one and only trooper in a firefight in January 1967 .

Not to be totally negative the film makes the poignant and all too real statement at the end that instead of treating its former servicemen as heroes - Whatever the rights and wrongs of a war - no one will care because " They`re more interested in what`s happening on Coronation Street " . How true . How bitterly unfairly true