Film & Water #191 – Hot Fuzz Commentary

Rob welcomes back Dr. Chris Lewis to present a commentary track for Edgar Wright's 2007 action/comedy HOT FUZZ, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost!

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8 responses to “Film & Water #191 – Hot Fuzz Commentary

  1. Haven’t listened yet, but my first thought on seeing the notes was that Dr. Lewis is an excellent co-host choice for this movie!

      1. Now I’ve listened. Great show, gentlemen. Rarely have my suspicions been so resoundingly confirmed, Dr. Lewis.

        To both of you, your knowledge and your enthusiasm for the source material made this quite enjoyable. I’m very selective (not to say tediously picky) about what horror I enjoy, and I find gore a little unpleasant even when I know it’s being exaggerated for humorous effect. Consequently, I’ve always been ambivalent (but not apathetic!) about this film, because I like the action and LOVE the humor overall. As you point out, the gags come at you on full auto, so if a few miss here and there it’s hardly worth mentioning. You may have inspired me to watch it again and muddle through the bleaker bits as best I can.

        As it happens, I did find Hot Fuzz on Hulu and fast forward to the armory scene. I was curious what firearms were difficult to identify. The two long guns mounted on Angel’s back so they look like Deadpool’s katanas are 12 gauge shotguns. They both have elastic sleeves on the stock that have little loops to hold extra shotgun shells. Those are the things you see with the red plastic casing and the brass caps on the back. See https://www.hunter-ed.com/montana/studyGuide/Shotshells/20102704_86991/ for cool diagrams of what’s inside. Here’s another page from the same site to show the differences between shotgun shells and rifle cartridges — https://www.hunter-ed.com/california/studyGuide/Basic-Components-of-Ammunition/20100501_66835/.

        To find out exactly what kind of shotguns, I returned to the Internet Movie Firearms Database. The shotgun with the black stock that Danny ends up taking is a Winchester 1300 Defender, which Winchester has since replaced with the XSP. Apparently, the town doctor also uses the Defender. I’ve shot the 1200. It’s a fine weapon, and the only difference I can find is that the 1300 holds more rounds. The one with a brown wooden stock is a Mossberg 500, which I’ve seen carried in the field as a door-breaching device. They’re both popular tactical shotguns and exactly the kind of thing you would find in a police armory.

        I know you’re not a firearm enthusiast, Rob, and I didn’t get the impression you were either, Dr. Lewis. However, you’re both curious about the world, and you both care about getting details right, so I thought I would share what I learned.

        1. I believe I speak for Rob when I say that you couldn’t have two commentators less qualified to talk about the details of the weaponry on display in the movie!
          Following the Dunblaine massacre in 1996, the UK has a relatively low level of gun ownership (4.6 guns per 100 population compared to 120.5 per 100 population in the US), which really does put the Hot Fuzz line “Everyone and their mums is packin’ round ‘ere” into some context!
          That’s good knowledge about the Defender shotguns – thanks for the research. (I always thought of them looking a bit like those strange antennae sticking out of the back of Jaimie Rayes’ Blue Beetle costume!)

          I’m with you on the gore effects – not my cup of tea either, and the impact of the spire onto poor old Tim Messenger’s bonce makes me wince every time (I think you can hear it on the recording!) That moment of him staggering around before falling to the floor gives the death a moment of gruesome humour, which makes it slightly less nauseating, I suppose.

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          1. Yes, Blue Beetle works, also! I had imagined all those firearms in the UK was one of the absurdities we were meant to laugh at, and your statistic confirms it.

            Dr. Lewis, I appreciate you coming back to talk with us in the comments. Rob rarely has time to write responses, what with the approximately sixteen podcasts we expect him to record and edit weekly. However, as a fellow Fire and Water fan, you know how much fun it is to have a real conversation with the podcasters (asynchronous though it may be).

  2. I’ve heard of this film, but never watched it. Now, I definitely need to see it. Thank you for the public service.

  3. Very late to this party, and I listened without benefit of the images, but you did a great job of continually situating me in the movie and made me wish I WERE watching it. Dr. Chris was, as usual, a superlative guest. You should do the entire cornetto trilogy with some knowledgeable Brit or other!

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