The Odd Angry Shot

The Odd Angry Shot (1979)

In Vietnam, the name of the game is survival.

A group of Australian SAS regiment soldiers are deployed to Vietnam around 1967/8 and encounter the realities of war, from the numbing boredom of camp life and long range patrols, raids and ambushes where nothing happens, to the the terror of enduring mortar barrages from an unseen enemy. Men die and are crippled in combat by firefights and booby traps, soldiers kill and capture the enemy, gather intelligence and retake ground only to cede it again whilst battling against the bureaucracy and obstinacy of the conventional military hierarchy. In the end they return to civilization, forever changed by their experiences but glad to return to the life they once knew.

Date of release
1979-03-01
TMDB
6.1 / 10 (29)
Runtime
1h 32m
Genres
War, Action, Comedy
Director
Tom Jeffrey

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Box office: A$866K
  • Based on: The Odd Angry Shot
  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

The Odd Angry Shot is a 1979 Australian war film written, directed and produced by Tom Jeffrey. It is based on the book of the same title by William Nagle, and follows the experiences of Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War. The movie, which was shot on location in New South Wales and Canungra, Queensland, traces the tour of duty of an Australian Special Air Service Regiment reconnaissance team from their departure to their return home to Australia. It avoids much of the political comment on Australia’s involvement in Vietnam, unlike Hollywood films which tend to explore the rights and wrongs of the Vietnam War.

Production

Finance for the movie was raised through the Australian Film Commission and the New South Wales Film Corporation.

Shooting started in July 1978 and went for three weeks. The Australian Defence Force gave filmmakers their full co-operation including providing the Army's Land Warfare Centre at Canungra as the main location. For instance the Iroquois ('Huey') helicopters scene in the film were from 9 Squadron, RAAF. This unit and the helicopters had all served in combat during the Vietnam War.

Some scenes of the movie was filmed at the Australian Army's Jungle Warfare Training Centre in Canungra, Queensland. Other scenes were filmed at the Anzac Rifle Range in Malabar, Sydney. All Australian soldiers - including draftees - who were to be deployed to Vietnam went through four weeks' specialised training in Canungra. The Boeing 707 departure scene was filmed at the rear of Hangar 131 at the Qantas Jet Base at Sydney Airport.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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