Shotgun Stories Blu Ray Review (Sony)

Shotgun Stories is a 2007 thriller written, produced, and directed by Jeff Nichols (The Bikeriders, Mud, Take Shelter, and Midnight Special). It was produced by film maker David Gordon Green (Eastbound and Down, Halloween franchise, The Exorcist: Believer, The Righteous Gemstones, Joe, Nature Calls, and Vice Principals). The majority of the principal photography took place in 2004. The budget was $250,000 and it grossed $185,699 in it’s limited theatrical run. Son Hayes (played by: Michael Shannon from Bug, The Iceman, The Shape of Water, The Flash, Waco, Jonah Hex, Man of Steel, 8 Mile, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Boardwalk Empire, and Bullet Train) meets his younger brothers Boy (played by: Douglas Ligon from Mud) and Kid (played by: Barlow Jacobs from The Master), who live in his yard. He tells them that his wife Annie (played by: Glenda Pannell from Walk the Line) has left him over his gambling habit so they can live in his house for now. Son and Kid work at a fish farm. Boy is a struggling basketball coach at the local middle school. One night, the boys’ distant mother tells them that their father has just died. The brothers decide to crash the funeral, where their father’s second family is mourning their loss. Son gives a hateful speech that ruins the entire moment. Son starts a war with his four half-brothers over this. The eldest half-brother Mark (played by: Travis Smith from Hidden Figures, The Good Lie, and Necessary Roughness) says he wants revenge after the invasion. He tries getting his brothers John (played by: David Rhodes from Chrystal), Stephen (played by: Lynnsee Provence from The Gift), and Cleaman (played by: Michael Abbott Jr. from The Last Stop in Yuma County, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Bikeriders, Organ Trail, and The Death of Dick Long) to join him in this family dispute. After some very violent and tragic events, their beef gets much worse between the brothers. Shampoo (played by: G. Alan Wilkins from Hattrick) tells Son and Boy about a situation that triggers one final brutal showdown between the Hayes. Who will survive this chaotic vengeance between blood???? Shotgun Stories is a rural story of blood relatives feuding when they all lose their father. One side of the group experienced a completely different guy who changed his life after mistakes. The older side didn’t have the same dad when he was around. They dealt with his mistakes and he left them for the other family. There’s been all kinds of bad blood over the years but this event makes it all spiral out of control. The script is killer, all of the characters are fully developed in Shotgun Stories. The tension and suspense keeps building the entire time until it just finally explodes. It’s PG-13 but it’s a pretty dark crime feature. Acclaimed director Jeff Nichols made his impressive directorial debut here and it was produced by the talented David Gordon Green. Michael Shannon as Son is amazing in this. He’s the leader of his family and he’s the one who really starts this destruction. He has a gambling problem and he’s having issues with his wife so he’s already on the edge before all this happened. Michael Abbott Jr. as Cleaman is fantastic as the level headed brother from the other family that tries his best to keep everything civil before all hell breaks loose. It has a skilled unknown supporting cast that includes Douglas Ligon, Barlow Jacobs, Travis Smith, Lynnsee Provence, David Rhodes, Glenda Pannell, G. Alan Wilkins, Coley Campany (Creepshow), and Natalie Canerday (Sling Blade). I enjoy how everyone just feels real and natural in Shotgun Stories. It doesn’t feel like acting to me, it has more of a reality vibe to it. This drama is very complicated, it shows that one man can create two totally different families just depending on where he was at in his life during the time. Shotgun Stories is an interesting character study on how one moment can set up a chain of very violent events. It’s very entertaining, so underrated, and it has great replay value, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Sony Pictures Classics! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks fantastic on blu ray. The cinematopgraphy, production design, and locations shine here. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit) and English: Dolby Digital 5.1 on the disc. The audio is great especially for being an independent feature. All of the dialogue is crisp, the madness is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director, writer, and producer Jeff Nichols. He goes into great detail about the casting and the characters for Shotgun Stories. He tells you how he met Michael Shannon and the rest of the main cast from here. He gets very technical on the low budget production. He is full of information and he shares a variety of stories about the crime film. He goes over some of the most important scenes from the movie for this track. He brings up that the Shampoo character is really the devil and the reason why everything gets crazy in Shotgun Stories. Plus he goes over some of the stuff that was removed from the final cut. He mentions he took out the actual original shotgun story for his script so the audience could have their own version with their imagination. Jeff is very passionate about his directorial debut, he has great time revisiting this one. It has an almost 14 minute “Interview” with director, writer, and producer Jeff Nichols. He chats about the production. He talks about southern cinema is misunderstood and usually full of cliches. He brings up the characters and story of Shotgun Stories. It has a variety of clips from the feature in this. Jeff gets personal with this conversation. It has an under a minute “Photo Gallery”. It has a “Theatrical Trailer”. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!