The Tournament (2009)

A tournament is watched by dozens of wealthy men betting on which one of the 30 assassins will survive the next 24 hours "kill or die" and claim the USD10,000,000 prize. It takes place in an English town with plenty of CCTVs.

Director:

Scott Mann

Writers:

Gary Young, Jonathan Frank

Stars:

Ving Rhames, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Hu

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Carlyle	...	Father MacAvoy
Kelly Hu	...	Lai Lai Zhen
Ian Somerhalder	...	Miles Slade
Liam Cunningham	...	Powers
Ving Rhames	...	Joshua Harlow
Sebastien Foucan	...	Anton Bogart
Craig Conway	...	Steve Tomko
John Lynch	...	Gene Walker
Nick Rowntree	...	Eddy Cusack
Rachel Grant	...	Lina Sofia
Bashar Rahal	...	Asa Sadi
Andy Nyman	...	Tech Eddie
Iddo Goldberg	...	Tech Rob
Scott Adkins	...	Yuri Petrov
Camilla Power	...	Powers Assistant

Storyline

Every seven years in an unsuspecting town, The Tournament takes place. A battle royale between 30 of the world's deadliest assassins. The last man standing receiving the $10,000,000 cash prize and the title of Worlds No 1, which itself carries the legendary million dollar a bullet price tag.

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Plot Keywords:

tournament | assassin | money | last man standing | prize | 

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Taglines:

Coming soon to a town near you!

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Bérgyilkosok viadala

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mann Made Films,Sherazade Film Development,Storitel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ian Somerhalder and Kelly Hu both play assassins in this movie. They both play vampires in The Vampire Diaries (2009).

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Goofs

In the High street scene a shop with the phone number 0161 displayed which is a Manchester phone number. Middlesbrough is 01642 where the film is set. The card that Lai Lai Zhen refers to when she gets off the phone also has a postcode M14... which is also Manchester. Middlesborough would be a TS postcode.

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Quotes

Father MacAvoy: Why don't we go to the police? Eh? You and I. I mean, you acted in self-defense. I'll speak for you.
Lai Lai Zhen: Is it my accent? Do I stutter? Is that it? The people who run this, they are more powerful than the police! They will get you anywhere.
Father MacAvoy: But the bodies. People will see the bodies.
Lai Lai Zhen: There will be an explanation. It won't be the truth, but it will be what people will buy. A madman with a gun, a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, a car crash. That's how the Tournament remains a secret!
Father MacAvoy: That's ...
[...]

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Soundtracks

Transmission
Composed by Laconia
Performed by Laconia

User Reviews

most ambitious of all in this genre... and it works

At first glance it checks all the boxes: madman running a contest between champions from a safe distance; greedy ultra-rich gambling on the lives of those they consider lesser; cameras everywhere; interesting cameos; mayhem and violence ...

But then you look closer and you see A-list production values and a novel "redemption" twist with a priest in the game (well played by Robert Carlyle) -- and this strange arc comes to dominate the film and hold interest, even with all the shooting and explosives.

And amazingly it more or less works. It entertains. Does what it is supposed to (within the confines of the genre).

Always great to see Kelly Hu in action too, arguably one of the most beautiful women in the world. She did not do enough movies.