When I first saw this movie I was convinced that the actors were in fact real SAS troopers who had been seconded to do a bit of acting. So realistic were their actions, behaviour and kit. Later of course I discovered they were all well-known Australian actors. If anyone wants to know what fighting in Vietnam was like, watch this film. It shows you how it should be done. One foot out of camp and all communication is by hand signals and whispers. Comparing this to some American units in Vietnam who actually went on patrol with transistor radios on their shoulders and you will quickly understand why the Australians did so well and overall the Americans did so badly.

I vote this the best war movie ever made.

I first saw THE ODD ANGRY SHOT in the early 1980s when my knowledge of the Vietnam war was very little and my knowledge of Australian involvement was zero . It also has the distinction of being - Apart from THE GREEN BERETS so that doesn`t count - the first feature film I saw to be set around the conflict of the Vietnam war which was fortunate because this low budget Aussie film doesn`t hold up very well compared to the big budget Hollywood productions of the 70s and 80s . For example the locations resemble the bush of Northern Australia rather than the jungles of Indo -China , that`s probably because this film was indeed filmed in Northern Australia , and the fact that Australia has such a small pool of actors means some of them are unconvincing as SAS soldiers , namely Graham Kennedy .

I wholeheartedly defend this film for not having massive battle scenes because that wasn`t actually the role of the Aussie SAS in Vietnam . Based in the province of Phouc Tuy about 70 kilometres South East of Saigon the regiment`s role was intelligence gathering , reconnaissance and identifying VC guerrillas in supposedly " friendly territory " , in other words their missions were totally different from the way the American military decided to fight the war ; ie as a conventional conflict . Though it should be pointed out THE ODD ANGRY SHOT goofs that several SAS soldiers died in the conflict , in reality the SAS lost their one and only trooper in a firefight in January 1967 .

Not to be totally negative the film makes the poignant and all too real statement at the end that instead of treating its former servicemen as heroes - Whatever the rights and wrongs of a war - no one will care because " They`re more interested in what`s happening on Coronation Street " . How true . How bitterly unfairly true

The Vietnam War, as seen from the perspective of a group of Australian soldiers. Members of an elite Special Air Services (SAS) Regiment, their lives are filled with drudgery in camp interspersed with intensity and the possibility of sudden death in combat.

Interesting capture of the Australian experience in Vietnam. Shows well how much of their lives were spent sitting around in camp, waiting for something to happen, followed by intense combat where death could come in many and unexpected forms.

Contains some profound one-liners on the war.

However, errs too much on trying to be amusing, which generally results in some fairly lame jabs. Could have been a lot better than that, an Australian Apocalypse Now / Platoon / Deer Hunter / Full Metal Jacket, but instead falls well short.