Shoot on Sight (2008)

I'll tell you why so serious

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Watching this I was reminded of "Who Dares Wins" (a paean to the SAS film from the early 1980s) blended with "Sapphire" (UK film on the late-50s race riots and the police response to them) - it's all very earnest and trying to balance (and it succeeds in the latter) but there's too much BBC2-school acting on "terrorist subjects" for it to seem new or fresh - there have been plenty of episodes of "Spooks" covering the ground only they are limited by BBC timidity of being seen to take a side (note for overseas commenters; the BBC is the UKs "national" state TV station and BBC2 is the previously artistic and cultural arm which has been drastically dumbed down), and Greta Scacchi and Brian Cox are disappointing (the Cox character would have been out of date in a film from the 1970s!) The comments likening it to a made-for TV are spot on - I don't see exciting film making here, just stacking up the pros and cons and trying to make cheap points rather than presenting the nuances through the film - the script is certainly written with a broad brush.

I'm failing to understand how anybody could give this more than three or four stars. Everything about it reeks of ITV drama; the entire premise has been simplified to a ridiculous point and the presence of serious budget restrictions are hard to ignore. Anyone who has complemented the soundtrack should get their ears checked, along with the rapid scene changes it just adds to the undue sense of melodrama.I was going to give one star but the performances of the lead characters deserve more than that. However the supporting cast are just shocking - although I feel a lot of this is due to the unnatural dialogue in the script.How this ever made it onto the big screen is beyond me.

I was never impressed with Jag Mundhra as a good director. He was an underestimated film-maker, not till you see "Shoot on Sight". This is a bold venture for any film-maker because of the content-but Mundhra cleverly dissects the message. The script was tight with some great dialog. Om Puri, is good in whatever he does since he has the diction which comes handy for a Preacher/Military Commander or any character that he may chose to portray. Nasirudeen Shah is good. The background music was good. I was impressed by the movie since it had no dull moments.The direction by Mundhra was an ace. It was very clever to have the British Characters speak (or dub) in Hindi and English. This makes it appealing to the narration. I enjoyed watching this movie setting aside the underlying sentiments.

I just came from the cinema from watching "Shoot on Sight". I have to say that the tag line cached my attention since I first saw it, being interested in the movie itself, and what was it about. Being a Criminology student, it's not hard to find interesting how people react to racism, and how people sometimes overreact to it. Some good points are made on that respect (when Ali learns about the wife of the "racist" cop, for example).Now, getting into the movie itself, it looks like a TV-drama. It's not a judgement, it's just an opinion that doesn't either make it good or bad. Some of the plot related elements look a bit forced, in order to make the characters more "popular" amongst the public, I guess. The pace is steady, and the movie doesn't refrain from giving some "shock moments", which I particularly love. This makes the whole thing a bit real. However, don't expect great shoot-outs, people jumping on the air whilst firing two guns, or people shooting to the air and shouting "AAAAH" (see Hot Fuzz). It has action, understand me, but in a more steady way.However, the important thing about the movie (and basically what I went to see it for) is the plot, and what it deals with. Islamic terrorism is something quite present on British society, and even more present in London, and even talking about it might be seen by some as racism. As one of the characters say, not all Muslims are Islamic terrorists, but all the Islamic terrorists are Muslim. Again, not being racist, just realistic. The film manages to stay in a neutral position, and not failing in a pro-Islams/anti-Islams position (which I feared, to be honest). It is neither a terrorist manifesto, nor an auto-criminalisation of all Muslims. Stays well balanced in very unstable grounds.I gave it a 8/10. Worth watching.