Shoot on Sight (2008)

Let's be realistic.

Dreadfully Boring

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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.

Shoot on Sight is about a police investigation of the death of a Muslim by a Police Officer in the wake of the London Subway terrorist attack.What makes this film stand out. in fact way above most films of this type is that all sides of the issue are presented. We go into a mosque.we meet an Iman & other Muslims/ The chief police inspector is a Muslim superbly acted by an Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah, we meet his family,He is married to a Christian. Greta Scacchi,she sure is a superb actress.Brian Cox is the head police inspector,giving another brilliant performance.The director Jag Mundhra is from India & directs this drama expertly.What I especially liked was the fact, that we can easily transpose the Muslims, into Black, Jewish, Gay or any oppressed minority.. The film explores prejudice & our suspicions on people we think might be up to no good.Regretfully not many people saw this, as it had a very limited theatrical run. Which to me is a shame.The production is first rate.Since this is a police procedural type film, many scenes will be familiar. This cannot be helped.The film should be seen by all thinking people, no matter what our beliefs of feelings are.Ratings: ***1/2 (out of 4) 94 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (out of 10)

...on both sides. I like movies, that dare to go places. This little film, does that too. It's not afraid and it's not pulling any punches. You get to see both sides of a coin. It's not only about the terrorists and/or the Police/western world. It doesn't show you, that one side is right and the other one isn't. Life is grey and this movie is too, in many ways.It tries to do justice to every aspect of a real life incident (happened in London) and although I am kind of fed up, by movies with the "based on true events" movies, this one does it's title justice. As good as that is possible. Of course there are flaws (and I'm not talking about the budget or the documentary feel that it has, it's obvious this ain't Hollywood), but with a hot topic like that, it's just not possible to do everyone justice and/or satisfy everyone. If you want that, you have to watch other movies too, to get many sides and other perspectives on that subject matter. You could start with this one of course ...

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.