Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Shot Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 27, 2018

It all began in the early 1970s when a gang of students at the University of Illinois decided they wanted to move from making short documentaries to a major motion picture. Devouring the supercop movies of the day, writer/director Mitch Brown and producer Nate Kohn settled on “Shot,” which attempts to make a “French Connection”-style ruckus with only a $15,000 budget to work with, leaning on University resources to see the project to completion. Created solely by college students (one of them being Chuck Russell, who would go on to a wildly uneven directorial career) trying to create a calling card for Hollywood employment, “Shot” is a weird but engaging compilation of stunts, shootouts, and cops and robbers, watching Kohn and Brown working within their means to assemble a smashmouth actioner while in the middle of rural Illinois, giving the feature the first of many distinctive marks.

Ross and Wilson are two cops working the Central Illinois area, on the prowl for bad guys while indulging in some criminal behavior themselves, paying little attention to the details of the law with their aggressive ways. Aspiring drug dealer Don has plans for the county, working with kingpin Mark to ship a massive amount of cocaine and marijuana into the area, only to have his plans disrupted by Ross and Wilson, who abuse their power to create informants and scare off spineless types. Putting together a major air drop in the area, Don doesn’t tolerate fools trying to undermine his vision, commencing a war with the cops, with Ross and Wilson determined to shut down the operation and remove Don from the criminal hierarchy.

“Shot” is a messy affair, but it does retain a healthy amount of attitude. Devouring genre achievements, Kohn and Brown try to replicate their favorite movies for the picture, only they’re stuck with limited funds to bring all their ideas to life. What they lack in budget they make up for in hustle, using the wilds of Central Illinois to create a war zone of cops and crooks, finding Ross and Wilson tired of the rules, preferring to handle justice in their own way, which typically involves shooting bad guys in the back and using their comfort with police procedure to intimidate witnesses, even sleeping with those they’ve arrested. There’s a moral gray zone to explore in “Shot,” but that’s part of the craziness, watching Kohn and Brown stomp around the area, showing complete disregard for civilian welfare and, at times, the very laws they’ve sworn to protect. It’s not quite a Popeye Doyle-level of corruption analysis, but as tiny projects go, the filmmakers enjoy their chance to play with police attitude, matching dented justice with criminal aggression.

Again, there’s no money here for Kohn and Brown to go crazy, so they make smaller moments count, using as many open areas as possible to stage gun battles and pursuits. We’re talking farmlands, a rail yard, forests, and empty county fairgrounds, giving “Shot” some room to generate chaos. It’s sloppy at times (I’m still not sure why there are so many squealing tire sound effects for car chases taking place on grass), but there’s momentum to the manhunt, with violence also visiting city streets and apartment complexes. Brown and Kohn are aware of their limitations, so they set up many stunts, sending bodies through glass and dumping them off parking garages, and foot pursuits are common. Oddly, most of the mayhem isn’t backed by any music, creating a spare viewing experience that focuses solely on speed and swerving, but “Shot” is mindful of police atmosphere, working to remain in the realm of realism with constant radio chatter, which gives the effort a slight feel of authenticity.

Shot Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Newly scanned and restored in 2K from 16mm reverse original," "Shot" comes to Blu-ray via Vinegar Syndrome, who do their very best to treat an obscure $15,000 production created 45 years ago with care. Obviously, age is apparent on the AVC encoded image (1.33:1 aspect ratio) presentation, with mild scratches and speckling detected, along with some jumpy frames. However, details reaches as far as the original cinematography permits, picking up on the feature's spare locations, delivering textured buildings and satisfactory distances. Facial particulars are healthy, clarifying actors without makeup, and costuming retains period tailoring. Colors are tastefully refreshed, keeping their wintry edge and fashion sense, and bloodshed pops with a paint-like red. Skintones are natural. Delineation is communicative. Grain is thick but filmic.

Shot Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There's a note at the start of the movie from Vinegar Syndrome explaining that inherent popping issues are present during the listening experience. It's certainly easy to hear the issue during the 1.0 DTS-HD MA track, but "Shot" isn't exactly polished work to begin with, leading with a muddier sound that encounters mild hiss and some sibilance issues. Dialogue exchanges are as strong as possible for a production like this, with heated conversations managing some level of clarity, supporting police procedure and drug dealer antagonisms. Music doesn't have sharpness, but there's power, giving soundtrack use some presence on the mix, adding to the mood. Sound effects lack crisp definition, but gunplay and car chases register with intensity.

Shot Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (22:19, SD) with writer/director Mitch Brown details the creation of "Shot," which was largely financed by the efforts of Cinemaguild, a student film society at the University of Illinois, which was looking to graduate from documentaries to features. Brown shares some production particulars, including casting and the purchasing of props and cars, also describing his work with the University's film crew to create as professional a picture as possible. Brown points out different locations, clearly stating how the production had permission to shoot everywhere they went. There's also a summary of the movie's release on campus and Cinemaguild's failure to mount another actioner, and Brown shares his experience after graduation, trying his luck in Los Angeles, which put him face-to-face with Orson Welles while assembling a documentary on chess.

• Audio Interview (22:32) with Nate Kohn also explores the early stages of "Shot," with the producer's interest in filmmaking taking him to the University of Illinois, helping to form Cinemaguild. Kohn doesn't have the sharpest memory, claiming he hasn't seen the movie in quite some time, so only the basics in creative approach and production achievements are covered, though he does go into detail about his effort to sell the movie, even traveling to Cannes with Cinemaguild's only print to show distributors the work.

• Still Gallery (1:20) includes University of Illinois ads and newspaper clippings, along with poster art.

• A Trailer has not been included.

Shot Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As super-cheap cop movies made by University of Illinois college students in 1973 go, "Riot" is one of the best of its kind, delivering unvarnished thrills and thickly defined characters pitting somewhat evil vs. evil for control of the Midwest drug trade. It's not fancy and it can't compete with the more refined productions it's trying to emulate, but "Shot" has moxie and a distinct desire to launch a role-playing experience for young professionals trying to figure out how to make a film, marching forward with an appealingly low-fi sense of street justice and bad cop authority.