Surviving the Game (1994)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Very Cool!!!

The Worst Film Ever

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

I liked this movie very much! They should make more of them. Not only for the idea of a hunted man who is given the opportunity to survive the game by giving him a head start. What I especially like is the humour which is put in almost every scene. I guess it was done intentionally, but I'm not sure.. I laughed throughout the whole movie. The characters and dialogs are all over the top, but not in that matter that it;s not believable anymore.Rutger says to Mason: How many cigarettes do you smoke a day? Mason: As many as I can get my hands on. Rutger: then you are not suited for the vacancy, we need a fit person. If you can run on the mill for 30 minutes you get 20 dollars. Mason start to run and gets 20 dollars and has the job. The last supper in the wooden house in the forest is absolutely hilarious. The father who wants to make his son a man by taking him on a manhunt, great humour!

In Seattle, Jack Mason (Ice-T) lives on the streets. His dog got run over and he just lost his best friend. With nothing left to live for, Jack plans on ending it. Until he's stopped by Walter Cole (Charles S. Dutton). He offers Jack a job to be a guide for some rich hunters out into the wilderness. At first hesitant, the poor man agrees. But, upon touching down in the vast Wenatchee National Forest, Jack becomes increasingly suspicious of the hunters. Early the next morning, he learns the horrifying truth. Giving him a head start, the hunters are determined to track him down and kill him. So now, running for his life, Jack must try to find a way to outwit and defeat the group of sadistic maniacs. In some ways, this film is kind of like HARD TARGET. But with less of the wit and fun. In its place, however, the filmmakers put more fully-fleshed out characters and moments of questionable violence. It also has some telling things to say about the plight of the homeless people. Though not nearly as enjoyable as HARD TARGET, it's still a worthy action/ adventure film.

In one of our local video store chains, if a movie was considered morally objectionable it was emblazoned with a huge yellow sticker which proclaimed that it was 'Strictly over 18's'. To me, as a youngster, this was like showing a light bulb to a moth. By the time 'Surviving the Game' was released, I was already a seasoned Ice-T and Bodycount fan and so would happily devour any of the nonsensical films which he would associate himself with (a trait which still exists to a certain degree, albeit somewhat diminished at this stage – thanks a lot 'Leprechaun In Da Hood'). Those yellow stickers never failed me; they drew me to movies such as the Tom Savini remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990), Body Melt (1993) and Bad Taste (1987). The peculiar thing about 'Surviving the Game' was that it was only classified with a 15 certificate in the UK, but as I was growing up in Ireland and they had just introduced their own film classification system (one which still prohibits the release of many, many titles today*) one can only assume that they were being extra vigilant.Such vigilance, however, was not displayed by any staff members at any of my frequented VHS rental outlets and so I was pretty much free to choose whatever I wanted and on one fine day I took the afternoon off school and retreated to my abode to wallow in some Ice-T based goodness.I regret none of those actions and this all came flooding back when I re-watched STG last week. The first thing that struck me was the plethora of character actors on show, Charles S. Dutton, Ernest R. Dickerson, F. Murray Abraham, Gary Busey, Jack Mason, John C. 'Dr Cox' McGinley and Rutger Hauer all come out in force as a group of hunters in pursuit of the deadliest game of all…man.The man in question is Jack Mason (Ice-T) a man battling his demons to the extent that he has lost everything, his wife, his child, his home. Now living rough on the streets of Seattle, he even loses his best friend when his dog is run over by a careless taxi driver in the first few minutes of the movie. The altercation with the driver brings Mason to the attention of Walter Cole (Dutton), a man posing as a charity worker, but who is in reality a recruitment officer for Thomas Burns (Hauer), an entrepreneur who facilitates the immoral bloodlusts of the rich and ethically vacuous Mason is brought to Burns' offices whereupon he is offered a job (with very little details provided), he reluctantly accepts and before he knows it, he's held up in a remote cabin in the wilderness with half a dozen of the most peculiar characters you're likely to see share a dinner together. It doesn't take long before their motives are made clear and Mason is cast out on his own, given a small head start before being tracked by the hunters.Guess what? The hunters soon become the hunted and the tables get well and truly turned. OK, so it sounds dreadful and in many ways, it is. Yet, it is so enjoyably dreadful that you soon find yourself letting go and immersing yourself in Mason's plight. There is an intensity and a unique self-awareness which makes this stand out from similar movies and eventually, this makes this a remarkably endearing viewing experience.It's violent without being excessively so, it has just the right amount of humour to maintain a suspension of disbelief and by the time comeuppance is delivered, you'll be cheering along. It was refreshing to see a strong African-American lead actor at the time and whist one wouldn't go as far as to call it ground-breaking in any sense of the word, that fact is certainly notable. Ice-T is quite far removed from his hip-hop persona and suits the crusty, dreadlocked role very well. Hauer and Busey are typically and wonderfully bonkers and the support of Abraham and McGinley are both worthy additions.It was a pleasure to be reminded of a time when action movies could be so enjoyable and when character actors would partake in the movie without dominating it. Admittedly, the rush that I got for simply acquiring it wasn't there this time, but I think that was due to the lack of the yellow sticker.Read more reviews at zombiehamster.com

This 1994 updating of "The Most Dangerous Game" stars Ice-T as a homeless man, Mason, who has lost everything and everyone that he cares about and is ready to kill himself. However fate intervenes and he is offered a job accompanying a group of rich hunters (led by a ridiculously evil Rutger Hauer) out into a remote mountain wilderness. Unfortunately, it turns out that he is their intended prey and -though outnumbered and unarmed- the chase is on and he is forced to fight for his life.That is the plot in a nutshell and the film wastes as little time as possible before plunging the viewer into Mason's ordeal. There is high suspense throughout, excellent fight scenes, and some welcome doses of gallows humor along the way. The supporting cast (including Gary Busey being as OTT as ever) are very capable and the plot holes are easy to overlook. Great with popcorn, better with a few buddies and six-pack.