Fresh and Exciting

best movie i've ever seen.

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Gathering up a small pile of Video's that I'm hoping to sell during the Christmas period,I noticed a Video with a very cheap & tacky cover.Originally expecting the movie to be nothing but an extra low-rank Action movie,I was instead shocked to discover,that along with featuring Forest Whitaker (playing a boom-box carrying "gangsta" thug!) in his debut role,the film also had Linda Hamilton in the lead role,which led to me going back on the school play fields to play a deadly game of tag.The plot:Struggleing to find a subject to fill up the student newspaper,journalist Alex Marsh decides to do a report on the 6th annual Tag:Assassination tournament is being held at his university,where students are each given a dart gun,and told that they have to "take out" all of the other students,in order to become the number one Tag champion.Finding himself quickly drawn into the event's world,Alex finds himself following Tag whizkid Susan Swayze,who he witnesses quickly rising through the ranks.Unbeknowst to Susan,as she gets closer to reaching the Tag final,the reining champ decides that he is going to have to take extreme measures in order to hold on to his title… View on the film:Featuring name checks for Lauren Bacall and Raymond Chandler, (and also covering the student newspaper wall with a huge Bogart poster) writer/director Nick Castle gives his teen riff on Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game a terrific Film Noir edge,as Alex finds himself being unable to look away from the dangerous adrenalin rush of the Tag tournament,and also the sassy, witted charms of Susan.Whilst Castle's path into a Slasher-lite territory, (the reigning Tag champion is a complete nutter) does water down the movies Noir charm,and the roguish thrill of being caught up in the exciting,ruthless tournament,Linda Hamilton gives a terrific spirited performance as Susan Swayze,with Hamilton showing a proto-Sarah Conner level of daring and guts as Susan battles to dodge the final "Tag" that could lead to her game,being permanently over.

Odd blend of comedy and thriller has a writer for a college paper, Alex Marsh(Robert Carradine)deciding to follow a student(in psychology, no less), Susan Swayze(Linda Hamilton)as she plays a popular game, TAG, where opponents are pitted against each other, on campus, with guns that shoot rubber darts. One of the players, Loren Gersh(Bruce Abbott, REANIMATOR), has been champion for four years running, and when actually "killed", he doesn't take defeat very well..something snaps and Gersh loads his gun with real bullets and starts actually killing those on his game's hit-list. Talk about a sore loser! Anyway, Susan is quite a skilled "assassin", and a threat to Gersh's reign so that puts her life in grave danger. Marsh falls in love with Susan and even helps her at times when she runs out of darts and her gun is useless. Once student bodies start going missing, Gersh begins a transformation, cleaning himself up, even wearing a suit and tie, and eventually Susan will be his next target.While not in it much, Kristine DeBell has some nice work as Hamilton's pal Nancy, unfortunately a fellow TAG player who winds up on Gersh's hit-list. This also features an early performance from "human sound effects machine" Michael Winslow who is fortunately on Susan's hit-list and spared the fate of those targeted by Gersh.Abbott is quite effective as the psychopath who never appears very stable to begin with, obsessed with the TAG game maybe because it's the only thing that gives his life meaning. Hamilton is stunning, the camera worshiping her as much as Carradine's reporter. I've always been a fan of Carradine's and this film doesn't change my opinion of him, chomping on a cigar, just head over heels(as I was)for Hamilton, his character is one of those unlikely Hitchcockian heroes who saves the day in the nick of time, just because his reporter stumbles upon a novel idea for a story based on his infatuation for a girl who entered his room to avoid being "shot" by an "assassin" at the beginning of the movie.I think the film benefits from this great cast, but, gosh, this premise is pretty disturbing if you think about it. For instance, there's that one scene where Gersh walks underneath the bleachers as his victim is watching a potential boyfriend preparing for his run on the track, shooting her as the coach fires his pistol for the boys to take off. The potency of the murders is the very fact that Gersh doesn't play fair and his victims never stand a chance. The main problem I imagine others will have with this film, besides the idea that college students could commit to their studies and play this demanding game, is that the outcome will not be a surprise. I think a movie hinges on the suspense of the premise, but I figure, if you were like me, no one will be convinced that Hamilton won't be rescued by Carradine. Still, I thought TAG:THE ASSASSINATION GAME was a nice surprise, because I had never heard of it. And, when I noticed that Carradine and Hamilton were both in it, as well as Abbott, I was more than excited to see what might come of it. Lots of nice homages to classic film noir, and the score is very bluesy, appropriate for what inspires Carradine(this includes a loving nod to TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT where Hamilton gets to run that famous line from Lauren Bacall and steals Carradine's heart in the process). I got a kick at how Carradine's eyes would go puppy-doggish, as if entranced by Hamilton, when around her..he wasn't the only one. From the director of THE LAST STARFIGHTER, and John Carpenter associate, Nick Castle.

The late '70's and early '80's saw the release of some truly entertaining films that seem to have since vanished from all Earthly ken. Why this has happened remains a mystery. One of the more entertaining entries happens to have been T.A.G. Well-written and flawlessly crafted from start to finish, this one boasted a superb cast and a film noir sensibility that elevated it head and shoulders above the then-current run-of-the-mill murder movies. There are enough in-jokes to keep John Carpenter and Nick Castle fans satisfied, and the overall look and feel of this film makes it a must-see for students of the art.

Overall, I thought this movie was OK. Seeing Linda Hamilton in an early role was fun, as was the premise. This movie came out during the height of "assassination" games where you try to "eliminate" someone you've been assigned to, without that person knowing you're after him/her. Of course, someone is looking to eliminate you, too.If you want a fun movie to eat popcorn with, check this one out.