Bullet Points: 400 Bullets

If you are like me when you think of Shout! Factory, you think of some of the stellar special edition Blu-ray releases the company has put out over the years. But you may not immediately think of Shout! Studios.

Shout! Studios is the distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory and in this edition of Bullet Points I will review the latest release from Shout! Studios, 2021’s 400 Bullets…

• The Set Up: Noah Brandt (Andrew Lee Potts) is a British soldier who is traveling as part of a convoy led by Bartlett (James Warren) and his team of British soldiers in Northern Afghanistan. The convoy is carrying state of the art missiles and gold. But Noah has in his possession the most valuable cargo of them all, a case containing the missiles’ guidance chips. Without these chips, the missiles that the convoy is transporting are all but useless. It isn’t long before the convoy is ambushed by members of the Taliban. But this is no ordinary ambush, it was in fact a ruse planned by Bartlett and his Taliban business partner, Amir who plan on selling the missiles and making a fortune. Things don’t go exactly as planned, because Noah, who was supposed to be killed during this “attack”, manages to escape death and despite taking a bullet manages to scurry off into the cold, dark night with the all important guidance chips believing his fellow soldiers had all been massacred and knowing the Taliban militants would be after him.
• The Outpost: We are then introduced to Rana Rae (Jean-Paul Ly, Jailbreak). Rana is a Gurkha soldier, who is following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Rana is stationed at a British Outpost in Northern Afghanistan and on this night, he is part of a two man skeleton crew that were left behind to guard the place while the rest of the troops stationed at the Outpost were 40 miles away preparing to work a security detail for the upcoming election. This first scene with Rana establishes two key plot points that will come into play as the movie progresses, Rana’s family is experiencing some financial woes and the Outpost has a really shitty internet.

• The Meeting: While Rana is out on watch, he hears a noise in the darkness and goes to investigate… this is where Rana and the wounded Noah meet for the first time. Things are tense at first as Rana is trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Noah has a great line that really sums up the remainder of the movie, stating that his problem is about to become Rana’s problem too. And it isn’t long after that statement that the Taliban show up and the action picks up with Rana and Noah having to fight the odds.
• The Truth: Noah is desperately trying to communicate with the head honchos to update them on what has happened and arrange transport to get him and the guidance chips the hell out of Afghanistan. But the movie already established that getting a signal at the Outpost was no easy task… but Noah remembers the convoy had a sat phone on board, but since he is in no condition to retrieve it, Rana is the one who goes to retrieve the sat phone. Rana manages to not only find the phone, but he also finds out the truth where Bartlett and his fellow mercenaries are concerned!

• The Action: With time running out on making this lucrative deal, Bartlett and his crew end up at the Outpost as well desperately looking for the all important guidance chips. This opens the door for more action and as you might expect, the bullets were flying. But it would be a damn crime to have a movie with someone with Jean-Paul Ly’s skill set (Ly has stunt credits in movies big and small, like Hobbs & Shaw and Tiger Man) and not put them to use. Fortunately, 400 Bullets does take full advantage of Ly’s abilities as we get to experience Rana expertly wielding a blade in some close combat scenarios that definitely get the adrenaline pumping!

400 Bullets strikes a balance between the action and the storytelling and blends both elements into an enjoyable 90 minutes.

The action is well executed, which is to be expected when you are working with a star like Jean-Paul Ly, who has a wealth of experience in the field.

The story itself is logical, with Bartlett and his mercenaries believing they are about to commit the perfect crime and that the crime is completely justified with their reasons being clear and relatable. It is also completely plausible a guy like Rana is only a nudge away from being a guy like Bartlett which adds an element of intrigue.

I will now add an element of Bonus Bullet Points to this review…

• Double Duty: 400 Bullets was written and directed by Tom Paton. Paton is no stranger to pulling double duty, having done it in his previous five films, including 2020’s G-Loc.
• Lesson Learned: There is no honor among thieves.
• What’s In a Name: The name of the movie comes from a game the guys on guard duty play to pass the time and fight the boredom where they count the number of bullets stored in the guard tower.
• Coming Attraction: 400 Bullets will be released in the United States on Tuesday March 2, 2021.