Reviews of THE HIT 105

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  Dreams killed
  A review of THE HIT
  by chessaol on 08/12/2009
  The film has continuity and purpose. The storyline is completa and has continuity at least as far as we were drawn into the brief scene. The wow of the story is the emotional good time being had.Not much but it sets the scene. Then the hit. Only in the bios do we fimd that only one is a detective. The actors seemed to indicate differently. Not a big deal but the guy isn't... The film has continuity and purpose. The storyline is completa and has continuity at least as far as we were drawn into the brief scene.
  
  The wow of the story is the emotional good time being had.Not much but it sets the scene. Then the hit.
  
  Only in the bios do we fimd that only one is a detective. The actors seemed to indicate differently. Not a big deal but the guy isn't a detective so what is the motivation for the hit???
  
  Mechanics:
  Lighting: Rstaurant quality.
  Appropreate and adequate.
  
  Staging,Props,Costumes = ditto
  
  Film quality: good.
  The film was adequate to the task, The dim lighting and black actors can be a very hard shoot. The film easily illuminated the scene and performed without blurr or scratchiness and grain.
  
  Sound quality: Good.
  Volume is adequate to the task. The actors are clearly hears and there is no fade as the action goes. read
• 
  Great characters
  A review of THE HIT
  by antican on 07/28/2008
  THE HIT was a nice film with a not so hot ending. The beginning was great. The two actors talking were really good. Their chemistry was great and showed some awesome character development, which seems to be absent in most short film. You really get to know these characters, they had personality. The thing that threw it off was the ending, the "hit". The two cop buddies could... THE HIT was a nice film with a not so hot ending. The beginning was great. The two actors talking were really good. Their chemistry was great and showed some awesome character development, which seems to be absent in most short film. You really get to know these characters, they had personality. The thing that threw it off was the ending, the "hit". The two cop buddies could have hinted a little bit in their conversation that someone might be after them, or they put away a major mob boss, something like that so you know the two might be in trouble. The hit man just shows up and caps one of them. You don't know why.
  
  The music didn't really capture the emotion at the end. Directing was all right, generic shots. The shots of the hit man would be cool if they were all fast shots, the slow-mo didn't really do it. The lighting was great and the actors voices were clear. Overall, great start, ok ending. read
• 
  Needs a stronger message
  A review of THE HIT
  by **DELETED ACCOUNT** on 05/03/2008
  Your film left me feeling thoughtless about what I had just seen. This is because there really is no point or message within the story. The idea of two hitmen raising up in the ranks only to be taken out when things are getting good is neither original or interesting. Your film also lacks any cinematic intrigue. You simply have a two-shot setup for most of the film. Your... Your film left me feeling thoughtless about what I had just seen. This is because there really is no point or message within the story. The idea of two hitmen raising up in the ranks only to be taken out when things are getting good is neither original or interesting.
  
  Your film also lacks any cinematic intrigue. You simply have a two-shot setup for most of the film. Your shots are dirty - meaning you have a lot of other elements scene in the frame that distract from the characters. Look at your composition of your actor on the left - behind him i can see a mop bucket and the back door is open, revealing passing cars in the night. This is sloppy cinematographer and I found it to be incredibly annoying.
  
  Also, in your production notes, you have nothing but excuses as to why you felt the film is not good. It doesn't matter what you went through - in the end, your film is your voice and you have to back it up 100%. You are the director - you have control of the entire film, and thus you must take all the blame for things that did not work. Again, all that matters is what we see on that screen, not what you went through to make this film.
  
  Keep up the good effort though - keep shooting and never stop - you only get better with practice. read
• 
  Quick and Clean Is How He likes it.
  A review of THE HIT
  by silverberetta17 on 02/29/2008
  Watching the first two characters at the table was a relief because the actors were both very good and I think you made some good choices with camera shots. I have to say though, I didn't quite get that feeling they were cops. I think a line was dedicated to it here and there, but they kind of rushed through it and went straight back to the "good old days". While I thought... Watching the first two characters at the table was a relief because the actors were both very good and I think you made some good choices with camera shots. I have to say though, I didn't quite get that feeling they were cops. I think a line was dedicated to it here and there, but they kind of rushed through it and went straight back to the "good old days".
  While I thought the Hitman scene was pretty stylish and sleek, I thought it came out of nowhere and left me with a lot of questions. For instance, why was he trying to kill him? Who did he work for? Why was his friend such a bad shot? And why did he let the killer walk away? I think foreshadowing could have helped me out. Have the friend talk about his troubles with gangs, maybe his family or himself has been targeted before and they're scared.
  And to finish that thought, I don't remember seeing the employee getting gunned down. We just see his body.
  But in any case why end it there? Why not have the cop follow him and kill the hitman? It leaves the audience wanting more, and feeling lost. We need to see some resolution here. We need something to answer many of these questions. read
• 
  Great Acting
  A review of THE HIT
  by timhan on 10/21/2007
  The short was paced quite well. The dialogue was very well put together, and the camera work was okay too. I think overall it was a shame that there wasn't a little more thought put into the plot though, especially as the beginning with the two guys chatting was a very strong start. I was impressed straight away with the dialogue and acting, these guys seemed so natural,...
  The short was paced quite well. The dialogue was very well put together, and the camera work was okay too.
  
  I think overall it was a shame that there wasn't a little more thought put into the plot though, especially as the beginning with the two guys chatting was a very strong start. I was impressed straight away with the dialogue and acting, these guys seemed so natural, it was just a bit of let down then, with the ending.
  
  Well, thanks for uploading, keep up the good work, but work more on the overall plot, cya! read
• 
  far from paydirt....
  A review of THE HIT
  by Scotty C on 08/31/2007
  Well, firstly, and traditionally, kudos for getting out there and doing something. As Robert Rodriguez said, "every film maker has at least 30 bad movies in them, it's best to get them out of the system, that way you can start making better ones." That noted, I found this film to fall short in most all critical aspects of independent film making. Camera work, sound design,... Well, firstly, and traditionally, kudos for getting out there and doing something. As Robert Rodriguez said, "every film maker has at least 30 bad movies in them, it's best to get them out of the system, that way you can start making better ones." That noted, I found this film to fall short in most all critical aspects of independent film making. Camera work, sound design, audio recording, sfx, acting, lighting, etc etc etc...all were executed with base level home video calibre detail. Far from professional. The foundation of any short, or feature length work despite amount of funding or equipment for that matter is story, and here it is weak at best. STORY, STORY, STORY....recite, repeat. From the generic title "The Hit" I knew I was in for this tier of movie magic. The story itself, which had more holes in it than the diner did after the silent shoot out, was simply a rambling 3 minute mundane conversation between two supposed detectives, where each "actor" told us their backstory rather than delivering any emotion, action, or motivationally driven inflection or tone throughout the small talk to let the viewer know what was happening in their lives. Despite the dialogue itself lending these two to sound more like hoodlums than well educated, trained and decorated and seasoned detectives, a blatant casting error was made in regards to their age - period. Any idea how long it generally takes someone to rank detective within an agency? Research it. THEN, an unreferenced assasin walks in, caps one of the detectives, and his partner engages him in a shootout only to hang back and cradle his fallen fellow officer while Johnny Trenchcoat saunters out the door in slowmotion. Why wouldn't a trained officer follow an assailant out into the street? ESPECIALLY if he just shot his boy. We don't know, or care why he was killed.
  
  Thanks for the view, best of luck - Scott read
• 
  Good dialogue
  A review of THE HIT
  by NorthLion on 08/22/2007
  The characters seemed well written. However many technical things work against this film. A slightly disorientating cinematograohy, soso soundrecording, choppy editing and a lot of the elements in the film, apart from the dialogue was pretty unbalanced. I'd go through every step of the film and think of "how and why" for every frame, and every movement (specially conserning... The characters seemed well written. However many technical things work against this film. A slightly disorientating cinematograohy, soso soundrecording, choppy editing and a lot of the elements in the film, apart from the dialogue was pretty unbalanced.
  
  I'd go through every step of the film and think of "how and why" for every frame, and every movement (specially conserning the hitman) read
• 
  Shallow call!
  A review of THE HIT
  by Nathan Carter on 08/19/2007
  It was far too shallow and two dimensional for my particular liking! The production and post seemed well thought out but in my opinion the script was very basic and I was told by the actors lines rather than felt their bonding as partners! It was all very fashionable in it's tendency choices instead of taking advantage of having an opportunity to experiment under filming circumstances!... It was far too shallow and two dimensional for my particular liking! The production and post seemed well thought out but in my opinion the script was very basic and I was told by the actors lines rather than felt their bonding as partners! It was all very fashionable in it's tendency choices instead of taking advantage of having an opportunity to experiment under filming circumstances! I would recommend the artist to go for more depth emotionally! read
• 
  Review on 'The Hit'
  A review of THE HIT
  by Mike H. on 06/14/2007
  Well, to be positive, I thought the two 'cops' had some pretty good moments and were pretty beleivable some of the time. I know some cops and I have never heard any of them utter, "It was hot on that July afternoon", or anything to that effect. Although I have heard them tell me stories of being puked and/or crapped on. The set-up to the scene was a bit long and took up... Well, to be positive, I thought the two 'cops' had some pretty good moments and were pretty beleivable some of the time. I know some cops and I have never heard any of them utter, "It was hot on that July afternoon", or anything to that effect. Although I have heard them tell me stories of being puked and/or crapped on.
  
  The set-up to the scene was a bit long and took up a large percentage of the short film where there should have been more character development instead.
  
  If you want a person in a movie to have trouble lighting a cigarette, give him a lighter that doesn't work. The actor, not only obviously doesn't smoke, but looked dumb when the flame would appear and he wouldn't light his smoke after 3 times, it just got annoying because someone was too lazy to find a spent lighter, or empty one of it's gas.
  
  I don't like when a director assumes I'm stupid, so they have to lead me around by the nose with the music they choose.
  
  The Hitman...well, with no budget, you get who you can get. This guy didn't look scary, or unemotional, or ramped up, or really anything else a hitman should be. Not the actors fault, he is obviously just a nice guy in real life who had to play a hitman in a short film. Unless you have a budget for special FX, I'm not really concerned about the gun fire, suspension of disbelief lead me through that one on a wing and a prayer. If you can get music, you can at least get gun fire sounds and not have to worry about muzzle flash.
  
  All in all, a good attempt from a beginner, with some good cuts and transitions. The dialogue was good but verging on being way to wordy and out of character. But, there's an obvious vision and the director is at least attempting to say something. read
• 
  review
  A review of THE HIT
  by anthonylapenta on 06/09/2007
  this was so short i dont really know what to say... acouple seconds of interesting stuff: the sound FX when the gunman walks in the sound FX when he walks out the moment when he puts the guns behind his back, just for a moment, looks cool what needs to be remedied -- the typical i think: ACTING - leaves much to be desired... DIALOGUE - what little there was, was stuff... this was so short i dont really know what to say... acouple seconds of interesting stuff:
  
  the sound FX when the gunman walks in
  
  the sound FX when he walks out
  
  the moment when he puts the guns behind his back, just for a moment, looks cool
  
  
  what needs to be remedied -- the typical i think:
  
  ACTING - leaves much to be desired...
  
  DIALOGUE - what little there was, was stuff we've heard before -- heavy handed and unoriginal and/or lame
  
  ie. young kids coming out of the ghetto
  ie. love muscle? or whatever the guy said about his d*&k
  
  some suggestions (and i realize that budget and availability are always issues) but using that as a disclaimer:
  
  A) find some actors who can actually ACT
  B) DIALOGUE -- in short film, but ESPECIALLY in one this SHORT, you need to make EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE COUNT FOR SOMETHING... move the story along, tell something about the character or plot OR DONT USE IT AT ALL and LET THE ACTION DO THE TALKING... but to spend a minute and 30 seconds (HALF THE FILM!) rehashing the same lines over and over
  without ever even being clear who these two are or what they do is a waste of valuable time.
  
  we need to know more ... who they are and what they do ... who the hitman is and why he kills the guy ... we find out none of these things, consequently what we're left with is simply a 3 minute attempt at a visually stylized shot (that based on the budget cannot fill this bill anyway): kinda COOL but incomplete and therefore unsatisfying
  
  i cant even say whether it would be better once improved because really i dont know what story your trying to improve on.. this was a scene. not an act, let alone a movie... HELP!!!!!!
  
  read