*Blog posted started on April 17, 2020.
Four hours and 10 minutes left in the shift and I foolishly thought writing a movie review would get me through the rest of the day. Stimulus fever seemingly lasted for 48 hours. If you got they got their check, they cashed it out before the government knew it was gone. That had been the only story in the news, so I am back to needing to blog on and on and on.
I do have to thank the heroes at Netflix DVD.com warehouses. It is great to have the assurance that I will not pay an extra $2 to see a Rutger Hauer movie that has yet to be converted to HD.
Of course, people are surprised when they find out that I still have a DVD-rental subscription service. I may have just overblown the noble nature of this essential job. Are they having any issues social distancing in those distribution centers if 1 in 22,500 (population of Champaign divided by two) are requesting discs via mail?
I should not mock them when there are plenty of assholes who troll people just to say "Fuck you! Your wrong!" on Twitter and Facebook. They are just trying to survive, like Ice T in Ernest Dickerson's follow up to "Juice" (Please pardon that tacky transition.).
Surviving the Game - Why Can't F. Murray Abraham be Properly Billed?
Jack Mason has been down on his luck since his family died. He is homeless and both of his best friends have just joined his family. Wanting to take control of some aspect of his life, walking into an oncoming Peterbilt seemed to be a wise decision. Serendipitously, a volunteer at a food bank pushes him out of the way in time. This man wants to give Mason a reason to keep on living, so he directs him to Thomas Burn of Hell's Canyon Outfitters. Mason being able to survive the concrete jungle, surely he can be shaped into a hunting guide in the Pacific Northwest. At least, that is what Burns is selling him.
After an evening of libations with the psychiatrist, oil baron, and stock broker and son that he is to lead on a hunt, Burns and the good Samaritan awaken Mason with a .45 caliber pistol pressed against his temple. Mason will be leading these men out on a hunting trip, he just did not realize that he is the hunted. The hunters do give him a head start to get to civilization as they partake in a hardy lunch, but Mason quickly determines the best thing to do is to turn this anger management retreat back on his pursuers. Who is meant to survive this most dangerous of games?
As a child of the eighties, for some reason I think I was made aware of Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" during one of my lit or language arts classes in high school. Perhaps my overread sister told me about it. Maybe I was familiar with the concept because of Arnold Schwarzenegger films ("Predator", "The Running Man"). Regardless of how I was introduced to hunting man for sport, Ice T as a movie star was not going to sell me on checking out "Surviving the Game" when there were Jean-Claude Van Damme and action films with Keith David to watch.
Fortunately, HBO is free for a year with most cable TV packages, and it needed content. It is always easier to run ninety minute features when you are a programmer, so their Newline subsidiary came through with this stacked cast (It is short of a shame that F. Murray Abraham is never the true antagonist.). I am just curious how the studio were able to get this cast in the early 90's, a time when they were not known for trying.
And that is what you get from this feature, a lack of effort from those handling the money. Was it a subliminal message? You will cheer for Ice T killing off the one percentile because they are not trying to help amuse you thoroughly.
The generic and overdone soundtrack style and John C. McGinley's presence gave me a flashback to "Highlander 2: The Quickening". There are very few opportunities for the accomplished cinematographer to shine as a director. If you are a fan of "The Walking Dead" (There are just too many episodes in my opinion.) you can see what Dickerson had taken away from this film which is good, because otherwise you feel this is just a quickly produced knock off of John Woo's "Hard Target".
It is a tough task to approach a concept (JVCD versus Hunters led by Lance Henriksen) that Woo had tackled, but the action in "Surviving the Game" holds up pretty well. If "Judo" Gene LeBell is on your stunt team, the hand-to-hand will look intense. Even with that style of combat, you cannot compete with a Woo's film set pieces, so the script wisely takes time to focus on each antagonist.
All of the performers deliver when it comes to their roles with the exception of Ice T. In Ice T's defense, we want him to be Ice T. As long as he does that, you cannot be dissatisfied. Because the supporting cast delivers, you do invest in their plights as well. It is enough to make for a fun way to kill 90 minutes, and you do not have to worry about loud explosions to bother the neighbors.
"Surviving the Game" is a fun action flick that which makes me miss the time where live TV was all there was. This is a fun way to kill 90-minutes or at least serves as great ambience noise wise. Seeking out a quick take on John Woo is not something that most will partake in, but if it pops up on Tubi or Pluto, it might be that throwback you need in the time of pandemics.
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WarnerBros - Blade Runner
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