Surviving the Game
April. 15,1994 RA homeless man is hired as a survival guide for a group of wealthy businessmen on a hunting trip in the mountains, unaware that they are killers who hunt humans for sport, and that he is their new prey.
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Pretty Good
best movie i've ever seen.
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
There's a whole bushel of 'Most Dangerous Game' films out there, tweaked versions of the same motif in which human beings are hunted for sport, and often large sums of money as well. Surviving The Game is probably the most bombastic and excessive one (John Woo's Hard Target is the way to go if you want something slicker), but it's a hoot of a flick, a dingy, mean spirited exploitation piece with an eccentric cast and thrills right up to the last scene. Ice T stars here under a giant heap of dreadlocks, playing a grumpy homeless man who is approached by an alleged social worker (Charles S. Dutton, intense) and offered help in the form of some vague rehab program way out in the woods. Soon he's out in the woods at the remote retreat run by a sinister ex military Rutger Hauer, joined by other oddballs from all walks of life including F. Murray Abraham and a hopelessly coked out Gary Busey, who chews enough scenery that those giant teeth of his actually go to good use. This is no sabbatical though, as Ice soon finds out, and before he knows it he's scrambling through the wilderness for his life as Hauer & Co. pursue him with a giddy amount of heavy artillery. The film isn't interested in the morality or ethics of it's concept, it's here for a down n' dirty romp and not much else, as long as you're in popcorn mode you'll get a kick out of it. Hauer is intense as ever, with some inspired costume choices and that ever present half smirk that signals danger and violence aren't far off the horizon. Busey is certifiably, completely off his head, spouting monologues that weren't even in the script (Hauer's autobiography provides hilarious behind the scenes insight) and staring down everything that moves in true loosey Busey fashion. Throw in a manic John C. McGinley as well and you've got just about as much crazy as the film can handle. The combat hunting scenes really are impressive and thrilling, well staged stunts against a wilderness backdrop and raucous gunplay all round. An oddball of a flick, in the best way.
I have watched this film over the years and it just gets better . The cast is unreal and the story great . Gary Busy is at the top of his game as Dco :) The wilderness shots are very well done. Great plot twist as Mason thinks his luck has finally changed only to be set into this game of survival . The trophy room mason finds later in the film is a nice touch ! Ice t plays the homeless man with a chip on his shoulder to perfection .If you like action films with great acting and not tons of CGI like films used to be made give it a shot. I would say I have seen this 30 to 40 times its priceless ! Some great one liners as well.
Homeless Mason (Ice-T) is taken under the wing of soup-kitchen worker Cole (Charles S. Dutton) and businessman Burns (Rutger Hauer), offered a comfortable position as a tour guide at Burns' ranch, and taken out there by private plane. Mason meets other hunters (F. Murray Abraham, Gary Busey, John C. McGinley, and William McNamara). Turns out things are good to be true, and the thing being hunted is Mason himself.A great movie. Flawless, and exactly what an action movie should be. It has you asking questions, wondering what you would do in that situation. It's a tour-de-force, with outstanding performances by everyone involved. The villains are vile and Ice-T is a great hero. The action is tight and believable.I can't endorse it enough, this is a great movie. Enjoy.
The "manhunt" action/suspense premise may perhaps be nearly as old as cinema itself, but it's also one that practically always guarantees a bloody good time! I've seen several film versions of the hunting-humans concept and loved them all; except for one (the abominable 60's bore "Bloodlust!"). Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack's original 30's classic "The Most Dangerous Game" undoubtedly remains the greatest version, but I particularly love how there exist numerous variations on the theme, like an excessively violent one set on a futuristic prison island ("Blood Camp Thatcher") or a super-sleazy one where they exclusively hunt scarcely dressed girls (Eddie Romero's "The Woman Hunt"). "Surviving the Game" is a rather rudimentary re-working of the premise, but nonetheless a very effective one with a downright awesome cast listing and a handful of genuine shocks. Jack Mason is an embittered and suicidal homeless man who loses his last will to live when both his dog and best friend in one day. The sly businessman Thomas Burns lures Mason to the wilderness with a false job promise, but instead he and his maniacal rich friends simply intend to hunt down Mason like an animal and kill him for sports. Mason may be suicidal, but he still wants to decide for himself when he dies, and so he successfully fights back. "Surviving the Game" is quite a gruesome and nihilistic-toned film; definitely not for people with vulnerable stomachs. The violence is pretty gratuitous and served without any form of morality, but what else do you expect from a B-movie. As indicated above, the film's main trump is the cast and particularly because each and every cool actor depicts a marvelously eccentric character. I can't even pick a favorite performance between F. Murray Abraham (as a sinister Wall Street big shot), Gary Busey (as an out-and-out deranged FBI psychiatrist), the overacting John C. McGinley (as a frustrated hunter with a vengeance) or of course Rutger Hauer as the mega-bastard. Ernest Dickerson formerly a skilled cinematographer does an admirable job directing his first long feature and he went on making the vastly entertaining Tales from the Crypt movie "Demon Knight". The forestry filming locations are impressive, the story doesn't contain any dull or unnecessary padding sequences and the level of suspense is continuously kept high. I don't know about you but that's everything I look for in an action movie.