The Odd Angry Shot

The Odd Angry Shot
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTom Jeffrey
Written byTom Jeffrey
Based onThe Odd Angry Shot
by William Nagle
Produced byTom Jeffrey
Sue Milliken
StarringGraham Kennedy
Bryan Brown
John Hargreaves
John Jarratt
Graeme Blundell
Ian Gilmour
Richard Moir
CinematographyDonald McAlpine
Edited byBrian Kavanagh
Music byMichael Carlos
Production
companies
Distributed byRoadshow Film Distributors
Release date
  • 1 March 1979 (1979-03-01)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$600,000[1]
Box officeA$866,000 (Australia)

The Odd Angry Shot is a 1979 Australian war film written, directed and produced by Tom Jeffrey (with Sue Millikin).[2] 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.

The film focuses on the soldiers in their cantonments away from the battlefield, where they spend the bulk of their time playing cards, smoking, drinking beer, nursing their tinea, making jokes and messing about with American forces. The film also contains some small scale battle scenes. When the men return to Australia, they reflect on how both they and the general Australian society have changed. The film was sold to several countries including the US, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and Greece.[3]

  1. ^ David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p123-125
  2. ^ "Principal credits The Odd Angry Shot (1979) on ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online". aso.gov.au. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  3. ^ "The Od dAngry Shot". IMDb.