Surviving the Game (1994)

A homeless man is hired as a survival guide for a group of wealthy businessmen on a hunting trip in the mountains, unaware that they are killers who hunt humans for sport, and that he is their new prey.

Director:

Ernest R. Dickerson

Writer:

Eric Bernt

Stars:

Ice-T, Rutger Hauer, Charles S. Dutton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Mason, who lives on the streets, wants to cease his life when on the same day his two best friends die: His dog and an older man with whom he shared his food and roof. Just in time Cole, from a charity organization, can prevent his suicide and also offers him a quite well paid job as servant for a hunting party in the Rocky Mountains. Mason accepts the job and flies with them to a hut in the wilderness where they prepare everything for the four rich businessmen who want to hunt something special. Mason does not yet know that he is the victim of their sports that should lead to the basic insticts of man, but they did not count with his cleverness...

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Plot Keywords:

mountain | fire | spear through chest | disarming someone | rescue | 

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Taglines:

The ultimate manhunt.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anthropino thirama

Filming Locations:

Entiat, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,400,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$7,690,013 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Permut Presentations, David Permut Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The landing strip and cabin seen in the movie is actually Lake Wenatchee State Airport, which is very close to civilization, the exact opposite of the fictional location in the movie.

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Goofs

Soon after Doc Hawkins is killed we see him in the background riding his ATV with the rest of the group. A huge crowd of the production crew can also be seen in this very same shot.

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Quotes

Doc Hawkins: [Doc tackles Mason to ground with knife drawn. Doc Hawkins tosses knife] "Were going bare hands!"

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Connections

Version of The Most Dangerous Game

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Soundtracks

"Doing the Best I Can"
Written by C. Marshall and R. Matthews
Courtesy of Associated Production Music

User Reviews

An enjoyable slice of steaming 90's cheese

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.

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