Surviving the Game (1994)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Ernest R. Dickerson

Writer (WGA):

Eric Bernt (written by)

Release Date:

15 April 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Jack Mason knows he's going to die someday. But today he's not in the mood.

Plot:

Mason, who lives on the streets, wants to cease his life when on the same day his two best friends die:...

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Blood | Washington State | Man Hunt | Fire

Cast

Ice-T	...	Jack Mason
Rutger Hauer	...	Thomas Burns
Charles S. Dutton	...	Walter Cole (as Charles Dutton)
Gary Busey	...	Doc Hawkins
F. Murray Abraham	...	Wolfe Sr.
John C. McGinley	...	John Griffin
William McNamara	...	Derek Wolfe Jr
Jeff Corey	...	Hank
Bob Minor	...	Security Guard
Lawrence C. McCoy	...	Hotel Clerk
George Fisher	...	Taxi Driver
Jacqui Dickerson	...	Taxi Passenger
Victor Morris	...	Homeless Father
Frederic Collins Jr.	...	Homeless Child
Steven King	...	Mercedes Driver

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | Iceland:16 | Canada:R (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Entiat, Washington, USA

Company:

David Permut Productions

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Near the end of the movie it states that it is "Three Days later in Seattle" and the skyline that is shown is clearly that of Philadelphia. Skyscrapers Liberty Place One and Two in Center City are shown.

Quotes:

Jack Mason: [aiming gun at Burns] BANG!
[unloads gun, discards bullets]
Jack Mason: Game over.
[Drops gun and starts walking away]
Burns: [picks up gun, sees one bullet] It's my lucky day.
[Loads gun with bullet]
Burns: Say goodbye, Mason.
Jack Mason: [close up of gun, camera pulls in tight: we see barrel is obstructed] Burns, there's something you should always do when you find a gun.
Jack Mason: [Burns fires - the gun explodes, killing Burns instantly] ALWAYS check the barrel.
[walks off into distance]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kicking and Screaming (1995)

It had great potential

For all this movie has going for it, nothing can overcome the weak dialogue and limp direction. Once the action kicks in it doesn't let up until the movie's climax and the villains are more than hissable.

Ice-T turns in an okay performance as Jack Mason, a man unwittingly hired to be the human prey for a bunch of rich psychos who have nothing left to get pleasure from other than 'breaking necks with their bares hands'. The bad guys are plentiful and are better written than Ice-T's character.

Gary Busey has (an unfortunately small) role as Doc Hawkins who killed his beloved dog when he was 12 and has never looked back in the kill=fun department.

John C. McGinley is John Griffin, a Texas oil tycoon who is convinced that Mason is the man who stalked and killed his daughter. He really goes over the edge and becomes some sort of obsessive maniac.

F. Murray Abraham is Mr. Wolfe, 'the most feared man on Wall Street' who proves that not all suits are wimpy, upper-class and civilized and wants his son Wolfe Jnr (William McNamara) to be the same way.

Rutger Hauer and Charles S. Dutton play Thomas Burns and Walter Cole, the men who organise and arrange the hunt but do not actually participate in it.

With all this character set up there is zero dialogue that is even slightly memorable or quotable and the direction leaves a lot to be considered. But Stewart Copeland's ace musical score and the beautiful Pacific Northwest scenery make up for that. I suggest that you buy this DVD if you can get a good price on it.

The DVD is in Dolby 5.1 and is anamorphically enhanced at 1.85:1.