Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 21, 2017 13:36:28 GMT
"The rules are simple: kill or be killed."
With nothing to live for, Jack Mason (Ice-T) is on the brink of committing suicide, but his attempt are broken up in the last minute by a seemingly generous soul, who ends up offering the homeless man a second chance. And while Mason finds it a bit suspicious, he decides to accept the well paid job as a hunting guide for some wealthy businessmen.
But what Jack does not know, is that when the hunt is on, he will be the prey!
I remember seeing this at friends birthday party in the mid 90s on rental VHS, and of course back then I forgot the actors, but most importantly the title of the film.
But what I did remember was how cool it was, specially the whole build up to where Mason suddenly realizes that he is in some deep shit, the momement he comes over all the "trophies", that are locked inside the hunting cabin.
The plot might not be very original, it has been done many, many times over, probably a lot times better too, still Surviving the Game is a very enjoyable "survival of the fittest" action-thriller where the hunters become the hunted, and talk about a solid cast: Rutger Hauer, Gary Busey, Charles S. Dutton, F. Murray Abraham, John C. McGinley and of course Ice-T in the main part.
While the film at times feels a bit like TV-movie, it does feature some very strong acted scenes, such as when Gary Busey pulls out a little story about his "birthmark":
I have nothing against Ice-T as an actor, but I felt that with such a heavy and impressive cast of great actors as the bad guys, the heroic part was a bit of a letdown, and by watchin the film for the first time in years, recently, I thought he was too much in command, during several of the fights, and never really in any danger, which I felt hurted some of the tension in the movie.
Anyway, for fans of other films such as Hard Target (1993), or the actors invovled, this is a film that should bring along a lot of entertainment value.
