Shoot the DJ (2010) User Reviews

Shoot The Makers

[mrbblee · 1/10 · 29 August 2011]

Ever had the feeling you wish you'd done something better with your life? Me too… Especially after I sat through the mess that is "Shoot the DJ".

Made for a modest £5000 this is a poor attempt to create a Guy Ritchie film on a thrift store budget. With cameos from now faded 80's stars and acting that leaves you wishing you'd have watched an episode of The X Factor instead, this movie does nothing to add to the once-proud tradition of British Cinema.

I've seen a great deal of "independent" British movies and, if you were to twist my arm, I'd have to say 70% of them work. This movie, however, does not. It really is that clear cut. So, instead of going into my usual diatribe regarding movies I hate, I'm simply going to list the reasons why this movie is a complete waste of time:

A: The acting is so wooden you'd swear the film was made by Ikea. B:The camera work is so poor it looks like ¾ of the movie was filmed on a mobile phone. C: There is nothing in the way of character development. D: This was meant to be a "life-like" representation of the east end… Seriously, Alan Carr is scarier. E: See A, B, C & D.

OK, look, maybe I'm being a little too hard on this movie. To be fair to the makers you can't perform miracles on a budget of £5000. If it had been my debut though, I'd have looked at the rushes, scrapped the whole thing, re-written the script and waited until I found some investors to help me bring my vision to life. And that's where the director of this film fails with great gusto. I credit him on having the bravado to attempt such a project but seeing as how this movie took three years to make it only enhances the fact that this is nothing more than some mates with a video camera and weak script that produced a result not even worthy of YouTube.

Just awful

[JohnnyQuid1 · 1/10 · 22 December 2011]

Please see mrbblee's review. That pretty much says all that I was going to say about Shoot the DJ - a film with less production values than your own homemade VHS videos from the 1990s. And the acting was worse! And the dubbing was even worse than that! Unbelievably bad.

The story centres around two ageing DJs who need to make some money to pay their rent, so one of them conjures up a plan. It might have worked if they'd put a bit of detail and proper care into it. The film had FOUR DIRECTORS!... That right there tells you someone should have stopped and said 'hang on guys, what we're doing here is pish. We need a proper plan here'.

OK bashing over. Good things? Good things?... Ah yes, the music. Very good music. In fact the music might have bumped it up to 2 stars. But no, nothing can salvage this embarrassment of a movie.

Really, I'm amazed at some of the reviews here, however the 1.2 rating is about right. Well done producers, you'll be at number 1 of the bottom 100 any day now!

Oh dear and I bought it for a penny .... youget what you pay for i guess

[jimfrost-23881 · 1/10 · 9 September 2015]

I like giving the small budget films ago , and was a penny plus postage off a buyer from Amazon , don't even know i came across in the searches .... but.... this I have to put as one of the worst films I have seen.

Tony Hadley isn't really an actor but he was the best in it and he still wasn't much cop The Story was lacking The acting was lacking The ending well you get the point

and the other reviews which rated this good must of been from the directors/producers/crew/friends

It feels like they were following the footsteps of Guy Ritchie from a few miles away in the dark.

The helicopter scenes reminded me of some spares shots left over from the old TV series Treasure Hunt

And there some really offish dubbed voices in it (unless the mobile phone they shot film on had bad sound quality)

Sorry would like my penny back please .....

Entertaining even after a couple of views

[mfgrijs · 8/10 · 1 June 2010]

I first saw 'Shoot the DJ' on a preview DVD some months ago, and just received the 'regular' DVD this week. I've already seen the movie a couple of times and it keeps entertaining me on different levels. Since I've met some of the characters in real life, it's a bit of a screwing of the mind (I couldn't use the eight letter word here!) to see them as actors, but they really pull it off. It's been quite clever to write a story that's not too far removed from their own world (the DJ and music business), which allows them to act quite naturally. At the same time, it's really interesting to see clean cut Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley as some kind of mean criminal - and he really does this role justice. He's mean and not to be messed with! The story is quite good, has some interesting twists and turns, and is also very funny at times. If I were to name one flaw on the DVD, it's the omission of subtitles. I find it hard to keep up with foreign languages and although my English isn't particularly bad I prefer to read it when I watch movies - but that's just me.

What an interesting film!

[jeanpeters · 9/10 · 29 June 2010]

What a really interesting film. I was intrigued from the word 'go'! This film gives the viewer a chance to experience a side of life that most people miss. The main characters are very believable. Tony Hadley (who plays the part of a baddie!) is exceptional. It's hard to believe that this is his first venture into the film industry! The two DJ's play their parts well. the acting may be a little 'wooden' at times but as this is their first film,I think most viewers would over look this, in fact the plot is so good it takes over. The sound quality varies a little but the music is good...easy to spot the day jobs of the producers! The end of the film is brilliant! I can't wait for the sequel. There is huge scope for the next instalment in the adventures of the main characters.

Shoot the DJ

[terryh527 · 7/10 · 25 June 2010]

I enjoyed this film and found myself laughing a lot to the crazy, yet probably realistic (to a point)story-line. Sean, Dan, & Ricky played their parts well and although the acting could be a tad better, I still was engaged and it held my interest through-out! I didn't mind the choppiness of the filming as it seemed to go with the films storyline.

The sound track was good even though I'm not into club music. I felt it merged well with the scenes.

Some of the actors were exceptional...Tony Hadley played his part brilliantly and I still can't get over how well he did that...his daughter Toni makes an appearance and seems very natural as well to her part.

Lots of familiar faces, Kim Wilde for one. I really enjoyed it to be honest and I think it's worth a watch!

Shoot The DJ

[quirkyworks · 10/10 · 7 June 2010]

I came to find out about this film as being a fan and member of the Tony Hadley fan club.

When I read in the preview of the film that it was based around today's club culture and music, I was a bit apprehensive. But I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it and as someone over 50 - even the music! The film had a good story line, the dialogue was well written and was amusing all the way through.

Tony Hadley was worryingly convincing as Eddie, which proves to me he is a good actor as well as a good singer.

My only criticism is that I thought the sound was a bit 'iffy' in places.

The slide show says it all and I would say great work guys and good luck in the Cannes Film Festival.

Best Budget film of the year!

[hununalator · 10/10 · 28 June 2010]

To think this movie was made on a budget is truly amazing! With guest appearances such as Normski, Tony Hadley and Kim Wilde this film appealed to me from the beginning. I liked the gangster cross with the music industry and the vast amounts of scenes and characters. Helicopters, clubs, fast cars, girls, good music, is unexpected for a budget film.

The plot is about two young dj's who are fed up of touring grotty nightclubs off the back of a hit single a few years back. Now they have been forgotten by the mass, they move to selling drugs to push up the earnings and sustain a life of scraping by doing nothing. After getting into lots of trouble with local gangsters by selling fake drugs, the djs move from town to town on a tour. It all comes to a head towards the end as they have another hit record and are wanted again by the media and the local scum. There is a nice twist at the end which i will leave for now but ties the film up nicely.

An epic film, with a huge climax - A must see for true film lovers!

A funny combination of fact and fiction. A great story told on a budget.

[markloveslife73 · 7/10 · 24 May 2010]

I was given the DVD of this film by a friend who knew the film-makers. I wasn't really expecting to like it as i'm not really into dance music and i haven't been clubbing in years. I was surprised to find the story had much more to offer than the music related side which the blurb on the DVD suggests. It's not going to win any Oscars, but the story is really good. It held my interest to the end and my wife and i found ourselves laughing aloud a few times. The cast was quite diverse. The two main characters were playing themselves (i think)and they did a reasonable job. How much different they are in real life i don't know, but they seemed very similar in the out-takes. There's a few familiar faces that crop up. Tony Hadley doesn't appear until quite late in the film, but when he does, his presence is felt. I never thought he'd pull it off, but he does a great job as a menacing club manager type character. Kim Wilde make a very brief appearance as herself and someone else plays her back when she was starting her career too. If there's one thing that lets this film down, it's the quality of the picture. It was obviously where the money was saved and that's understandable. I've seen quite a few micro budget films and they all struggle to look as good as Hollywood blockbusters. However, the 4 strong directing team obviously have some talent as the shot composition and editing was well up to standard. One more point. The sound on these low low budget films is usually woeful, with unclear dialogue and cheaply produced music. Shoot The DJ has this area covered very professionally. According to the story, at least 3 of the team that made it work in the music industry as producers, so that would seem to make sense. Over all, i'd say this was an interesting look at the other side of the music industry with a very heavy leaning on the gangster/drug dealing type scenario. I wont give the end away as it is worth waiting for. I look forward to seeing what they do next.