Hot Fuzz (2007)

Jealous colleagues conspire to get a top London cop transferred to a small town and paired with a witless new partner. On the beat, the pair stumble upon a series of suspicious accidents and events.

Director:

Edgar Wright

Writers:

Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg

Stars:

Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simon Pegg	...	Nicholas Angel
Martin Freeman	...	Met Sergeant
Bill Nighy	...	Met Chief Inspector
Robert Popper	...	'Not' Janine
Joe Cornish	...	Bob
Chris Waitt	...	Dave
Eric Mason	...	Bernard Cooper
Billie Whitelaw	...	Joyce Cooper
Nick Frost	...	PC Danny Butterman
Peter Wight	...	Roy Porter
Julia Deakin	...	Mary Porter
Tom Strode Walton	...	Underage Drinker #1
Troy Woollan	...	Underage Drinker #2
Rory Lowings	...	Underage Drinker #3
Bill Bailey	...	Sergeant Turner

Storyline

Top London cop, PC Nicholas Angel is good. Too good. And to stop the rest of his team looking bad, he is reassigned to the quiet town of Sandford. He is paired with Danny Butterman, who endlessly questions him on the action lifestyle. Everything seems quiet for Angel, until two actors are found decapitated. It is called an accident, but Angel isn't going to accept that, especially when more and more people turn up dead. Angel and Danny clash with everyone, whilst trying to uncover the truth behind the mystery of the apparent "accidents".

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Plot Keywords:

accident | village | police | arrest | partner | 

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Taglines:

They're bad boys. They're die hards. They're lethal weapons. They are...

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent content including some graphic images, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [ru] Official site [uk]

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 February 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Arma fatal

Filming Locations:

Barn Theatre, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,848,464 (USA) (20 April 2007)

Gross:

$23,618,786 (USA) (20 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was three weeks before any scenes were shot with most of the cast on the same set.

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Goofs

After Frank gets away from Danny at the model village near the end of the film and takes Danny's Police car, he drives the car through a fence into a very large, empty field. After the swan attacks Frank in the police car, it shows Danny and Nick watching from the model village as Frank's car careens into a tree in a much smaller field. For some reason they filmed this sequence in two separate locations.

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Quotes

[after supposedly stabbing Sgt. Angel, Danny is waving a sachet of tomato ketchup]
Danny Butterman: Ta-daaa!
Nicholas Angel: Danny, this is murder.
Danny Butterman: It's not murder, it's ketchup.
Nicholas Angel: It's Frank! He's appointed himself Judge, Jury and Executioner.
Danny Butterman: [agitated and defensive] He is not Judge Judy and Executioner.

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Crazy Credits

In the UK version, which is released by Universal Pictures, sound effects of police whistles, bells and sirens are perfectly timed to accentuate the graphics of both the Universal Pictures and Working Title logos. The US version, released by Rogue Pictures, misses out on this little bit of a joke.

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Connections

References Judge Judy (1996)

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Soundtracks

"Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)"
Written by Andy Partridge
Performed by Xtc (as XTC)
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

User Reviews

"The Fuzz" Keeps Black Comedies Alive!

"Shaun of the Dead" was probably one of the funniest (if not the best) British black comedy that had been released in 2004. With gritty violence that made you squirm, innocent humour (Nick Frost) with blaspheming insults that just made you laugh out loud, and the quick wit of Simon Pegg with some great fun and horror mixed together, "Hot Fuzz" had a huge task of competing with the sheer greatness, of which was "Shaun of the Dead".

After much keen excitement upon seeing the teaser trailers of Hot Fuzz last year, my stomach churned as if to say "At god damn last, a film I can look forward to in the new year!" I felt as though it was best however, to go in with an open-neutral-mind, as I didn't want to spoil the film with high expectations.

I actually was starting to get worried into the first segments of the film, the humour wasn't as sharp as SOTD's first 20 minutes, and there were so many characters to remember, most of whom didn't make sense for a while. It wasn't till Nick Frost was introduced - that the film started picking up its pace and then decided to grab me by the throat. The film from then, was so funny, action packed, gruesome and dark! You just do not expect anything which was what made SOTD so great. The spontaneous actions and humour just kept the film's pace fantastically back on track.

The great thing about Hot Fuzz was just how original it was, and the ending (no spoilers here) just gave itself the stamp of "Most Exciting & Fun Ending In British Comedy".

The mystery and murder factor was well done as well, leaving me guessing "who did it" all the way through the film, but as with SOTD, the dark and grotesque violence kept its mature rating of 15, very enjoyable, yet very squirming to watch.

I highly recommend this film for anyone who just wants a good laugh and likes simple great black comedies. If you loved Shaun of the Dead, you will love this film. Just go in with an open-mind and have fun. Definitely worth the £6.50 (and the £15 when it comes out on DVD)!