‘One of the most realistic war film ever made’

The leading cast members The Odd Angry Shot have all moved on to have extensive careers. Many of them remember the experience fondly and have made comments about the filming of the movie. But very little formal interviews about the feature have been done with the crew or Tom Jeffrey.

Tom Jeffrey-Producer

Producer

Going Sane (1986) - Stock Squad (1985) (TV) - Fighting Back (1982/II) - Best of Friends, The (1981) - Weekend of Shadows (1978) -Weekend of Shadows (1978) - Removalists, The (1975) - "Delta" (1969) - "Pastures of the Blue Crane" (1969) -Fighting Back (1982/II)

William Nagle – Writer

Assistant Director

Red Line (1996) - Dangerous, The (1994) - "Hot Line" (1994) - "Love Street" (1994) - Indecent Behaviour II (1994)

Actor

Breakfast of Champions (1999) -Fist of the North Star (1995/I) - Guncrazy (1992)

Writer

Siege of Firebase Gloria, The (1989) - Death of a Soldier (1986)

Director

Winter (1998/I) - "Love Street" (1994) TV Series

Producer
"Love Street" (1994) - Death of a Soldier (1986)

Graham Kennedy – Harry

"Australia's Funniest Home Video Show" (1990) - Travelling North (1987) - Les Patterson Saves the World (1987) - Stanley: Every Home Should Have One (1984) - Killing Fields, The (1984) - Return of Captain Invincible, The (1983) - Club, The (1980) - "Blankety Blanks" (1977) - Don's Party (1976) - "Power Without Glory" (1976) - On the Beach (1959)

John Hargreaves - Bung

Lust and Revenge (1996) - "Blue Murder" (1995) Hotel Sorrento (1995) Beach (1995) - Country Life (1994) No Worries (1993) Day of the Dog (1993) Maxwell (1993) - Leaving of Liverpool, The (1992) Rome Roméo (1992) - "Marie Curie, une femme honourable" (1990) - Sweet Revenge (1990) - Alien Years, The (1988) - Boundaries of the Heart (1988) - Emerald City (1988) - Heroes, The (1988) - Opération Mozart (1988) - Cry Freedom (1987) - Place at the Coast, The (1987) - Comrades (1987) - Double Sculls (1986) - Malcolm (1986) - Sky Pirates (1986) - Great Gold Swindle, The (1984) - My First Wife (1984) - "Dismissal, The" (1983) - Last Breakfast in Paradise (1983) - Careful, He Might Hear You (1983) Hoodwink (1981) - Killing of Angel Street, The (1981) - Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980) - Little Boy Lost (1978) Long Weekend (1978) - "Young Ramsay" (1977) - Deathcheaters (1976) - Don's Party (1976) - Mad Dog Morgan (1976) - "Power Without Glory" (1976) - Removalists, The (1975) - Sunday Too Far Away (1975) - Essington (1974) - "Over There" (1972) - "Pastures of the Blue Crane" (1969) - Robbery Under Arms (1957)

John Jarratt - Bill

"Outriders" (2001) - "McLeod's Daughters" (2001) - Dead Heart (1996) - All Men Are Liars (1995) - "Blue Murder" (1995) - Talk (1994) - Joh's Jury (1993) - Pirates Island (1991) - "Fields of Fire III" (1989) - Belinda (1988) - "Tanamera - Lion of Singapore" (1988) - Touch the Sun: Top Enders (1988) - "Fields of Fire II" (1988) - Australian Dream (1987) - Dark Age (1987) - "Fields of Fire" (1987) - G'Day Australia (1987) - "Palace of Dreams" (1985) - Crime of the Decade (1984) - Naked Country, The (1984) - Chase Through the Night (1983) - Settlement, The (1983) - Fluteman (1982) - Next of Kin (1982) - We of the Never Never (1982) - "Last Outlaw, The" (1980) - Blue Fin (1978) -Sound of Love, The (1978) - Little Boy Lost (1978) - Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, The (1978) - Plunge Into Darkness (1977) -Summer City (1977) -Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - Great McCarthy, The (1975)

Bryan Brown – Rogers

Untitled John Hamburg Project (2003) (post-production)

Dirty Deeds (2002) - Styx (2001) - Mullet (2001) - On the Beach (2000) - Risk (2000) - Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999) - Grizzly Falls (1999) - Two Hands (1999) - Dear Claudia (1999) - On the Border (1998) - Dogboys (1998) - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997/II) - "Twisted Tales" (1996) - Twisted Tales (1996) - Dead Heart (1996) - Full Body Massage (1995) - "Wanderer, The" (1994/I) - Age of Treason (1993) - Last Hit, The (1993) (TV) - Devlin (1992) - Blame It on the Bellboy (1992) - Dead in the Water (1991) - F/X2 (1991) - Sweet Talker (1991) - Prisoners of the Sun (1990) - "Shiralee, The" (1988) - Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) - Cocktail (1988) - Good Wife, The (1987) - Tai-Pan (1986) - F/X (1986) - Rebel (1985) - Empty Beach, The (1985) - Bones (1984) - Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) - Kim (1984) - "Eureka Stockade" (1984) - "Thorn Birds, The" (1983) - Far East (1982) - "Town Like Alice, A" (1981) - Winter of Our Dreams (1981) - Blood Money (1980) - Stir (1980) - 'Breaker' Morant (1980) - Cathy's Child (1979) - Palm Beach (1979) -Money Movers (1979) - "Against the Wind" (1978) - Third Person Plural (1978) - Newsfront (1978) - Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, The (1978) - Weekend of Shadows (1978) - Irishman, The (1978) - Love Letters from Teralba Road, The (1977)

The rest of the cast have similar resumes but the list would be too large to show.

Information Search

A large amount of my research was done at the University Library throughout their large catalogue as well as the other Western Australian Library databases. Having being released some 24 years ago the literature on the text was sparse. Most of the searching on Jeffrey’s came up with works that he has done on film and cinematography production such as how to set the perfect shot. No searchers that I could find came up with any reviews, information or even remarks about the text.

The film has been released on DVD as of March 2003 which I was told by only one of my internet searchers. (ABC online) Nearly all of the large internet movie databases listed the movie and knew the particulars of the film (actors and director) but had little to no review of the movie. A majority of the posting on IMDB were from ex defence force personnel who had seen the movie and were commenting on the precision of the work.

From this lead I interviewed two serving SAS soldiers from the Swanbourne Barracks. They knew the movie and told me it was the hit movie amongst the men within the SAS, they also interpreted what they knew about the work SAS work in Vietnam

Critical Review

The plot follows members of the Special Air Services Regiment, 21 Patrol from there posting to Vietnam all through the long days at camp, long days on patrol through to the long days as a returned serviceman.

The bulk of the feature is set in the camp in southern Vietnam were the members of the 21 patrol spend the bulk of their time playing cards, drinking beer, nursing their tinea and making jokes about masturbation and ‘queens’. From time to time the men are sent out on intelligence gathering missions, reconnaissance and Viet Cong identification in supposedly ‘friendly’ territory. These missions are not bloody or violent, in fact most of the time they spent sitting in or under trees waiting. Many great moments in the film built you up for a gory shoot out scene but in the end offer “bugger all”. As there time comes they take leave in Saigon. In the final few days of their tour the Viet Cong take one of their own and this wakes the men up to the war. The men return to Australia, different and while they have been away Australia has become different. Whatever the right and wrongs of a war - no one will care because “They’re more interested in what’s happening on Coronation Street”

Set during the Vietnam war, in the Vietnam war and about the Vietnam war but in a different way from the majority of Vietnam War movies. The Odd Angry Shot is far less a war film than a study, often played for a comedy, of a group of soldiers coping with boredom and each other. Having very little over bearing combat and violence turns the film from the war genre towards a quality Australian film of the era. Its concern is not with the Vietnam War, the involvement of Australians or the involvement of any other nation. Nagle has written a novel based on his own experience in Vietnam, which examines the unique Australian male humour and camaraderie in circumstances that increasingly place a great strain on these qualities. The power of the movie comes from this character building, we are invited to care for the men while they on missions, laugh with them when they are at camp and sympathise with them when they come home.

A major criticism many people have with the film is the fact it was set in Queensland and is sold of to be a jungle in Vietnam. I haven’t been to Vietnam therefore can not pick small changes in the landscape, but as I have stated the power of the movie is in the men not in the war, Vietnam or the Viet Cong.

I enjoyed the film as an insight to the men. The days of man to man combat fighting is close to and end. The film offers the greatest view of the war with the least political baggage. In this way it is similar to Sunday Too Far Away. The manliest of men dealing with emotions and life, with a little bit of shearing and fighting thrown in to lighten up the storyline.

Critical Uptake -- Then

When the film was released it came under a lot of misdirected critical flax because it wasn’t an obvious case against Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war. The film avoided political statements and treated all other nationalities evenly, Our SAS boys would just as soon fight one of their own in Saigon, the Americans over a spider or the Viet Cong over a war.

The Odd Angry Shot was made as a low budget Aussie film set on an army base using Austrian soldiers as extras. It didn’t hold up to the big budget Hollywood productions of the same era. Comments from the men who were in the real war say that they recognise every character as buddies they had. Many ex servicemen have billed this along with Platoon as being the most realistic war movie ever made. These writers also acknowledge that is terribly underrated and unknown.

-- & Now

Since 1979 and the release of this movie war has changed, what we consider news has changed, film production has changed and world attitudes have changed. Thankfully Australia has held some parts sacred and mateship is still a large part of Australians and our SAS are still the best crack fighting team in the world. This means; although Vietnam has faded from most people’s minds and now Saddam and terrorism have risen, the main focus of the film –Camaraderie – is as relevant as ever. A quick cut and paste will give you the same guys, in the desert in the Middle East with different weaponry and threats but similar grim humour and honest story.

The film is still being criticized, the latest review I found, and dated 28^th March 2003 is more about the recent wars than the movie itself. Andrew Frost writing for the ABC spends his first paragraph having a go at the Australian government for getting involved with wars that aren’t ours. He offers only one sentence to the camaraderie of the men but sees this as a side issue to the war not the movie itself.

Many critics pick up two points to slander the movie, -One the setting in Queensland and –Two the unconvincing work by the actors as SAS soldiers.

One, The recent critical writings use this point to show off rather than really believing that is has an effect on the film. During the last fighting scene over the bridge it is most evident that the movie is not in Vietnam, this is due mostly to the presence of the double white lines going over the bridge which look quite Australian. Apart from this scene the rest are close up in the jungle or at the camp and these could have been in any country.

Two, Critical writing now back to a war some 30 years ago shows up a lot of difference. We have to remember who these men were, Australian men who ended up in the war as opposed to the SAS who train now for 10 to 15 years before they are even considered. As Harry tells the story of how he was happily married one day then he left and joined the army. These men are different to what we think of as a SAS fighter now, when we see night vision shots of the rescue of Private Jessica Ryan in Iraq we can not begin to compare. When writers criticize the acting of Graham Kennedy, John Hargraves and Bryan Brown they should consider the writing of ex and serving soldiers who see themselves and their mates in the actors. Surely that is the biggest complement.

Prior and Subsequent Work

Tom Jeffery produced over ten features and TV specials from 1969 to 1986. Tom is also very heavy into the teaching of film techniques and cinematography within Australian cinema he has written text for use by budding film producers and also made a couple short instructional films on movies.

William Nagle was a member of the US Army Special Forces from 1965-1968 and this is evident in the films that he has worked with, Almost all of them have been bases on the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Nagle was only 18 when he went to serve in Vietnam and it was his novel on this experience which spawned his career. From 1979 to his death in March 2002 he was involved in 15 productions in a variety of roles.

Born in Melbourne in 1934 Graham Kennedy remains an icon in Australia TV, an accolade earned from his hosting of the long-running "In Melbourne Tonight" (1957) Kennedy pioneered live sketch comedy in Australia and kept IMT alive into the 1970s with his irreverent and often close to the mark humour and his famous anti-ads.

As Kennedy aged he appeared less and less on the screen and his last major appearance was as a late night newsreader in 2002. In recent years his health has been uncertain and he now lives in retirement in the Southern Highlands of NSW.

John Hargreaves was the quintessential Australian man, an actor of sparkling, biting wit. Despite his lengthy list of credits in his home country, he never really achieved international "stardom" because of his essentially Australian nature. John shifted easily between film, television and theatre. His gift for comedy was coupled with his dramatic intensity, with a career spanning from 1957 to his death from AIDS in 1996. He acted in some 43 films alone and has worked in many TV productions.

John Jarratt is best known recently for his work as Terry Dodge on the set of McLeod’s Daughters. But has also starred in about 40 films dating back to 1975

Ruggedly handsome Australian leading man, Bryan Brown started acting in 1977 and since then has come to stand for Australian cinema. Inducted into the TV WEEK Logie Awards Hall of Fame in 1989, he was a former insurance salesman who turned to the theatre, working in Australia and London.

He turned heads in one of his earliest movie roles, as one of the accused soldiers in Bruce Beresford's Boer War drama Breaker Morant (1979). Although he usually plays intense, stoic characters, Brown also projects likeability that, to date hasn't been sufficiently tapped. He is married to actress Rachel Ward.

The Future of this Film

The Odd Angry Shot is a cult classic among the Special Air Servicemen. One soldier told me when I started this study that if I could find it on DVD he would by ten copies straight away and would be back for more.

The power and size of Hollywood has pushed this film and many others out of shops and outlets, coupled with the commercialisation of video store chains, who sell off any movie that isn’t a classic after about eight years. Now if anyone wants to see a great film like this they can’t find it or have a lot of trouble. A friend of mine who owns Jumbo Video has not followed this trend and has a huge Australian cinema section, he acknowledges that the movies may only leave the shop once a year but as he says, “they paid for themselves in about the first two weeks they came out now any rental is a profit.” Each movie has a place in the history of our young, small, English, industry. Australian cinema only made a few movies in the late 1970’s and a good movie like The Odd Angry Shot deserves to be acknowledged as part of our quality history.

Written By Tim A Casey (30133591)